Calling all intrepid explorers, the South Pole is waiting!

Are you willing to pull a sled in the harshest environment on earth to reach the South Pole as part of an incredible expedition team? If the answer is yes, then this is the opportunity for you.

Applications are open now for the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust’s 2022 Inspiring Explorers Expedition™. To celebrate 150 years since the birth of legendary polar explorer Roald Amundsen, a team of New Zealanders and Norwegians will ski some 1000 kilometres to reach the Geographic South Pole, first attained by Amundsen and his party. Trust Executive Director Nigel Watson, and expedition leader, says this journey will test the team’s limits.

“This will be an extreme expedition. We’ll have to navigate challenging terrain and weather on skis while towing heavy sleds. While there’ll be breathtaking scenery and moments of sheer joy, there’ll also be times during the 40-day plus journey when bodies will ache, you will want to give up and you will need all your mental strength and resolve to pull you or your teammates through,” says Nigel.

Applications are now open to both New Zealanders and Norwegians, ideally aged 35 or under. Applications close on 13 June 2022.

“We want to create a team of Kiwis and Norwegians who embody the spirit of explorers like Amundsen who would be excited to be part of this incredible journey and share it with
others. Overall, we’re looking for people who can demonstrate explorer qualities like resilience, teamwork and curiosity to work through the challenges we’ll encounter.” Nigel says this will be one of the most challenging yet rewarding expeditions the Trust has ever undertaken. “For those few people who are lucky to experience the beauty and vastness of Antarctica, they have the responsibility to return home and to share their stories with their communities to highlight the importance and fragility of Antarctica to the world.”

This is the Trust’s sixth Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ following a crossing of South Georgia in 2015, the summit of Mount Scott in Antarctica in 2017, a successful crossing of the Greenland ice cap in 2018, and kayaking expeditions on the Antarctic Peninsula in 2019 and 2020. Nigel Watson is confident they’ll find the applicants keen to undertake the South Pole mission.

“This is an opportunity of a lifetime for explorers. We have an incredible network of young explorers from previous expeditions, who were all handpicked from hundreds of applicants. We are thrilled to be able to reinstate the international Inspiring Explorers™ programme, having had to defer expeditions because of the pandemic.” The expedition, in partnership with Ousland Expeditions and organised by Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions, will be guided by Norwegian polar guide Bengt Rotmo. Hollie Woodhouse, who completed the Antarctic Heritage Trust’s Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ 560km crossing of the Greenland ice cap in 2018, says while the expedition was tougher than she could imagine, the sense of achievement could not be matched elsewhere.

“It was a life-changing experience going beyond what I thought I was capable of. The opportunity to share my journey, experience the power of the polar regions and share the legacy of exploration in the 21st century has been a great privilege,” she says. Applicants will be selected by late June, before completing several months of rigorous training to prepare them for the journey. Explorers can find out more and apply online at nzaht.org.

ENDS

For more information and interviews, please contact:
Liv Kerr
Great Scott
027 316 2308
liv@greatpr.co.nz