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I have a dream of skiing across the Antarctica continent. After some research it seems there is no scheduled flight to Antarctica, and the tours out there just reach the entrance of Antarctica and come back.

The question is how do the people who cross Antarctica get there?

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    You seem very unexperienced for something like this. Please stop that suicidal plan until you had some years time to get experience. ... I bet the company mentioned below will plainly refuse to take you there anyways even if you have the money, until you make it believable you're prepared, but still that has to be said here.
    – deviantfan
    Oct 12, 2019 at 13:29
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    Like ... ski 1000km through Russian winter without entering any heated house, and of course start smaller first, and learn some medics, navigation plus emergency contact things, handling/avoiding/eating wildlife (including those of Antartica), ... Do it again. Go up some Himalaya glacier. etc.etc. ... Get permission from some country. ... And don't forget preparing your things at home for your death, because even with the best preparation it's still an extreme plan you have there.
    – deviantfan
    Oct 12, 2019 at 13:41
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    Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Oct 14, 2019 at 22:55
  • Just remember to keep an eye out for Polar Bears whilst you are there - travel.stackexchange.com/questions/7821/…
    – Doc
    Oct 15, 2019 at 0:00

2 Answers 2

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Companies such as Antarctica Logistics provide transport to and from the continent. Prices in general appear quite high.

I would suggest doing multiple long ski tours before attempting this, for somewhat obvious reasons...

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    "Prices in general appear quite high" could use a rough order of magnitude to make this less fo a link-only answer.
    – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
    Oct 13, 2019 at 18:49
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    @R.. roughly $25,000 - $65,000 for trips with Ski trips starting at around $30K.
    – Benjamin Gruenbaum
    Oct 13, 2019 at 19:33
  • Guys there is no way you could get there "not on a tour" for that little money. Just FYI those prices are for a tour group visit (probably 20-50 folks at a time.)
    – Fattie
    Oct 14, 2019 at 19:25
  • @Fattie Realistically, the OP could get away from the coast, for a much lower cost than a private expedition, by doing e.g. a ski the last degree tour (ski from 89 south to the pole). The very fact that it is a group activity, with experienced organizers, makes it much safer.
    – Patricia Shanahan
    Oct 15, 2019 at 0:27
  • @PatriciaShanahan - I guess, but .. ? The question is absolutely specifically how not to take a tour!
    – Fattie
    Oct 15, 2019 at 13:01
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Couldn't be easier.

You just hire a plane (I mean "a private plane charter") to fly you there, and another one to fly you back from the other side.

enter image description here

Any jet charter in NZ will do it, and any number of companies do it enough they actually have Google-Ad-Words web sites for the function.

Simply google "private jet charter, NZ to Antartica".

Or phone any major jet charter company in NZ (or perhaps Tasmania, or just Melbourne - I mean what the hell is the odd thousand miles one way or the other here?) and ask for a price for the two legs.

My guess is it would actually cost less to hire a jet than to have a boat/ship of some type take you on both legs.

I'd guess the cost of two such jet rentals would be perhaps around $150,000 all-up.

(The tiny figures mentioned elsewhere, 20 grand etc, are almost certainly for a tour of some 10-30 I'd guess people, and it seems OP does not want a tour-bus approach - and fair enough!)

It's very easy to get to Antartica, you just rent a jet - in answer to your question.

Has anyone ever crossed Antartica solo ?

It looks like yes, a couple different blokes have arguably done this:

https://explorersweb.com/2018/12/27/obradys-antarctic-crossing-was-it-really-unassisted/

It takes two months.

Interesting, there is a HUGE difference and debate between unsupported and unassisted in the Exploration Thrills world.

Has anyone actually "crossed" Antartica anyway ?

NOTE that these dudes took the shortest imaginable route "across" (ROFL) Antartica:

descrip

OP, the field is wide open to be the first to actually go "across" Antartica.

Godspeed.

Actually it looks like a Norwegian bloke, Borge Ousland, actually did it properly without using roads back in the 90s.

enter image description here

Random photo of impossibly rugged Norwegian Borge Ousland who did what OP asks about.

Seems he ingeniously used a kite where possible, like ski-kiteing.

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    it's cheaper to get a boat from "The End of the World" (Ushuaia) in Argentina
    – Aaron F
    Oct 14, 2019 at 8:58
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    @AaronF , I really don't think that's the case. Hiring a small boat (like, "a 50 foot sailboat" when you hire a yacht for a few weeks in the Caribbean for a holiday) is pretty expensive, but hiring a largish ship is an expensive business. You'd be talking about chartering a whole ship and crew for weeks, maybe months - very expensive. Ships cost millions.
    – Fattie
    Oct 14, 2019 at 10:38
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    it's about $5000 mundoexplora.com/descubriendo-la-antartida-bordo-del-ushuaia OP might be able to get a discount for only needing to travel one-way ;-)
    – Aaron F
    Oct 14, 2019 at 12:58
  • (oh, now I notice the bit where OP discounts a cruise, because they only barely touch Antarctica before coming back; ok then you win ;-P )
    – Aaron F
    Oct 14, 2019 at 13:00
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    Right, I hear you, it's a confusing question because there are many "canned solutions" to just have a look at Antartica. (For example, I believe for those living in Aussie, it's pretty common to take a "scenic flight over Antartica" where someone has a jumbo jet they simply fly down there on clear days with 300 people for a couple grand each ...)
    – Fattie
    Oct 14, 2019 at 13:24

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