# Skiing to the South Pole **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 25, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793 "2009-03-25T21:30:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/1 "2009-03-25T21:30:31Z")
I was reading an article about a group of 8 women who planned to ski to the south pole next winter (summer in the southern hemisphere) completely unassisted. The article seemed to imply that some of the women have little or no experience with snow and ice. Of course, memories of Jack London stories spring into my mind. Not to mention John Krakauer. My question is this: Is this a difficult or dangerous trip? Can a well equipped person, reasonably healthy, with a few months of training, ski to the South Pole with little or no risk? Or is this madness? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/2 "2009-03-25T21:54:46Z")
I don’t know how cold it gets there in the Antarctic summer, but at a certain coldness ice and snow changes its characteristics so that you can no longer glide in it but rather it will stick and it would be like skiiing over concrete. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/3 "2009-03-25T21:56:33Z")
Part of the trip was done by a group last Dec. [http://southpoleforkids.ca/](http://southpoleforkids.ca/) ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/4 "2009-03-25T22:02:13Z")
Jack London is the first thing I think of too. I think you’d be OK if you had an experienced guide or two along. They’d know any necessary techniques, be able to select the right equipment and could spot any danger on the way. I know that there have been plenty of expeditions over the decades where relatively inexperienced scientists were escorted safely by the right guides. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/5 "2009-03-25T22:08:31Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I don’t know how cold it gets there in the Antarctic summer, but at a certain coldness ice and snow changes its characteristics so that you can no longer glide in it but rather it will stick and it would be like skiiing over concrete. A friend of mine has done a couple of year-round stints at the South Pole and they only fly people in during summer when it’s nice and toasty warm. A few years ago he landed during a record high temp for that day. It was -30C and he got frostbite on the inside of his mouth because he wasn’t wearing a mask while schlepping his bags off the plane and into the base. So to answer your question, “cold”. He did mention the 300 club, where you go through a 300 degree temperature change (steam room to very chilly outside, while nude). ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/6 "2009-03-25T22:34:22Z")
“To Build a Fire,” comes to mind, but I don’t think they have to worry about the trees on this trip. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/7 "2009-03-25T22:37:15Z")
You can’t go through a 300 degree temperature swing. Even if the steam room is 120F, you’d have to go out into -180F. It doesn’t get that cold anywhere on earth. Maybe he meant 200 degrees, but even that is a stretch. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/8 "2009-03-25T23:00:15Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > You can’t go through a 300 degree temperature swing. Even if the steam room is 120F, you’d have to go out into -180F. It doesn’t get that cold anywhere on earth. Maybe he meant 200 degrees, but even that is a stretch. The sauna at my gym has a thermometer near the ceiling that reads 190°F. This [cite](http://www.saunasociety.org/Howtobuild1.html) states that the “UL Safety Standard (UL 875) requires the maximum sauna temperature in the U.S. not to exceed 195°F,” so this tends to support the validity of the reading for the sauna at my gym. The lowest temperature ever recorded on Earth was [-129°F](http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/YongLiLiang.shtml) in Antarctica in 1983. Anyway, with a sauna at 195°F, and the lowest temperature ever recorded, this gives a change in temperature of 324°F. So, possible in theory, at least. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/9 "2009-03-25T23:08:31Z")
Phfft, UL standard–I’ve been in a dry sauna at 230 °F in northern MN. Drenched in sweat in less than 60 seconds. And breathing through your nose after smacking your face in touch football–every broken mucous membrane feels like a red hot needle. After three minutes, you run out to the lake to cool off. Do that seven times, and you sleep, as in deep, all-the-way-through-the-night-without-waking-up-once. Hmm, I miss those days… ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/10 "2009-03-25T23:42:49Z")
They’re not _skiing_ to the South Pole, they’re _cross country_ skiing to the South Pole. There’s a difference. Skiing is a blast; cross country skiing sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/11 "2009-03-26T02:04:00Z")
> [@sqweels](#): > > Skiing is a blast; cross country skiing sucks. Only if you use the wrong wax. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/12 "2009-03-26T02:14:54Z")
There are so many hazards, there would have to be guides, sat-phones, luck and all other forms of good spirits around them. It is a dangerous trip for sure. What **Ludovic** said is true too - the snow ceases to be snow and turns into a sandy hard ice that feels like concrete. It blows around dunes of snowy ice - exactly like the sahara, but with snow. I think they could do it. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/13 "2009-03-26T02:58:50Z")
Apparently there’s now a [Mcmurdo-South Pole Highway](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMurdo-South_Pole_highway). It’s an ice road intended for tracked vehicles, and it’s 900 miles long. I suppose it can be used for skiing, and is reasonably easy and safe. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/14 "2009-03-26T04:01:05Z")
A friend of mine skied to the South Pole (and North Pole). It’s a strenuous trip, and you need to be in good shape and be able to deal with cold. But there’s really no technically difficult parts of the trip. She’s an excellent athlete but didn’t know much about skiing. When you get to the South Pole you can go in McMurdo but you can’t order food or use the showers, just water and use the rest rooms. They were picked up by plane the later in the day they got there. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/15 "2009-03-26T04:03:06Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Part of the trip was done by a group last Dec. The full crossing of the continent was done in 1989-90 by Arved Fuchs and Reinhold Messner ([link](http://www.oneworldmagazine.org/focus/southpole/author.htm)). ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/16 "2009-03-26T10:43:31Z")
> [@sqweels](#): > > They’re not _skiing_ to the South Pole, they’re _cross country_ skiing to the South Pole. There’s a difference. Skiing is a blast; cross country skiing sucks. Well, yeah but since it is the South Pole it is all down hill, so no big diff. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/17 "2009-03-26T13:02:22Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > Well, yeah but since it is the South Pole it is all down hill, so no big diff. Actually, it’s up hill and against the wind pretty much the whole way. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/18 "2009-03-26T14:48:43Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > I was reading an article about a group of 8 women who planned to ski to the south pole next winter (summer in the southern hemisphere) completely unassisted. The article seemed to imply that some of the women have little or no experience with snow and ice. > > Of course, memories of Jack London stories spring into my mind. Not to mention John Krakauer. Not to mention Robert Falcon Scott - and _he_ had experience with snow and ice. The good news is that the Antarctic conditions will preserve their bodies for burial :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/19 "2009-03-27T17:44:27Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > …When you get to the South Pole you can go in McMurdo but you can’t order food or use the showers, just water and use the rest rooms. They were picked up by plane the later in the day they got there. I think you mean the [Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amundsen-Scott_South_Pole_Station). [McMurdo Station](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMurdo_Station) is on the coast. Anyway, you’d think that the folks at Amundsen-Scott would have a bit more hospitality for anyone who managed to make it there on skis… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793/20 "2009-03-28T02:13:28Z")
> [@robby](#): > > you’d think that the folks at Amundsen-Scott would have a bit more hospitality for anyone who managed to make it there on skis… I think they wish not to encourage this, since they lack hospitality facilities (and budget to provide same). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skiing-to-the-south-pole/490793.md?page=2)