News

Like thousands of Canadians stranded in airports this Christmas, Hamilton businessman Peter Turkstra killed the time by chatting up his fellow passengers.

He soon discovered that in Patriot Hills, home to Antarctica's only runway for wheeled jets, each story is more mind-boggling than the next.

Never mind the guy who had climbed Mount Everest 10 times. There was also 50-year-old Pushpa Chandra of Vancouver, who had just run 100 kilometres across Antarctica. And American Todd Carmichael, who had lost 55 pounds in 39 days in his quest to become the fastest man to ski to the South Pole from Hercules Inlet. Or Al Hancock, a millwright from Northern Alberta who had climbed Vinson Massif to become the 13th Canadian to reach the highest peaks on seven continents.

"There really wasn't a common thread, other than they all had the desire to do something that people think is on the edge," said Mr. Turkstra.

The 53-year-old could include himself in that category. He and three others, plus a guide, had skied about 200 kilometres through -40 C temperatures to raise more than $500,000 for a children's charity (a fourth companion had to be airlifted out mid-trip to save his frozen fingers).

Antarctica may be home to the coldest place on earth, but it's the hot new destination for adventurers determined to make their mark.

Right now, several knots of adventurers are plowing across the frigid continent, including a team attempting to complete the quest of explorer Ernest Shackleton (all members are related to the original Shackleton crew). Last Sunday, six more teams of competitors set out on a race billed as the first to the South Pole since Robert Scott and Roald Amundsen's historic rivalry nearly 100 years ago. And a trio of Canadians made history on Wednesday when they became the fastest men to ski and snowshoe more than 1,000 kilometres to the South Pole from Hercules Inlet, arriving five days faster than the 39-day record set by Mr. Carmichael last month.

"My legs are exhausted. I can't believe how tired I am!" exclaimed Ray Zahab in an interview from the South Pole, sounding surprisingly lively considering he and South Pole Quest teammates Richard Weber and Kevin Vallely had finished their journey, which they completed while each dragged a 73-kilogram supply sled, just hours earlier.

The wave of adventurers is matched by a growing number of travellers who are boarding cruise ships and hiring airplanes to take in Antarctica at a more leisurely pace - for prices ranging up to $35,000. Since the beginning of the modern Antarctic tourism industry in 1969, the number of tourists to the continent has grown from a few hundred to more than 33,000 last season, including 1,300 Canadians, according to the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators.

"Even this week we've been getting a number of calls for last-minute bookings, trying to get on in a month or so," said Herbert Fong, who facilitates Arctic and Antarctic bookings for Geographic Expeditions, a California-based tour company.

Tour company operators cite a number of reasons for the rising interest in Antarctica, including a last-ditch effort to see the polar caps before climate change wreaks its havoc, hype generated by films such as March of the Penguins, and cheaper ticket fares generated by increasing volume of passengers.

On the adventure side, the South Pole has caught the imaginations of thrill-seekers who are turned off by Mount Everest, which has become accessible to anyone with enough cash. And the North Pole, while extremely difficult, may not have the same cachet.

"People don't just want to go to unknown places - they want to go to places that have a story attached to them," says Michael Robinson, assistant professor of history at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. "What place has a better story attached to it than the South Pole?"

Prof. Robinson, who studies the role of exploration in American culture, says the quest to reach the South Pole has been shrouded in mystique since about 1910. That was the era of the harrowing and sometimes tragic expeditions of Mr. Shackleton (who died of a heart attack during a bid to circumnavigate Antarctica in 1922) and the rivalry between Norwegian Mr. Amundsen, who reached the pole first in 1911, followed a month later by Britain's Mr. Scott, who died on the way out.

Now, the records being set by swimmers, runners and skiers are gaining ever-finer distinctions. While stuck in airport limbo, Mr. Turkstra met a Russian university administrator who had flown to Antarctica toting a pile of dumbbells and a dream: to set the record for the most weight lifted, in the shortest amount of time, at the South Pole.

So is the South Pole the ultimate setting for brave feats? Depends on who you ask.

"The North Pole is much harder. There's no comparison in some ways," says Eric McNair-Landry, co-operator of North Winds, an Iqaluit-based polar tour firm. Mr. McNair-Landry, who has trekked on both poles, rhymes off a slew of treacherous reasons: polar bears, shifting ice, open sea and more unpredictable weather.

Mr. Turkstra, who has also skied to the North Pole, says nothing can compare with the desolation, remoteness and deep freeze he experienced in Antarctica. "It is as described," he says. "Awful."

Every adventurer agrees on one thing: No matter how difficult the journey, at the end there's always the question, "What's next?"

"I think we're going to take a deep breath," said Mr. Turkstra, who landed in Hamilton earlier this month after the winds let up at Patriot Hills. "But that's what we said last time."

*****

Polar express routes

It's been an unusually busy few months at the world's coldest continent. Driven by historic anniversaries, concerns over global warming and a fearless spirit, adventurers have set out to prove to themselves - and the world - that Antarctica's chilling temperatures and howling winds have nothing on them.

Here's a look at the routes of several high-profile expeditions.

AMUNDSEN OMEGA3 SOUTH POLE RACE

Start date: Jan. 4, 2009

(race portion)

Distance: Training segment covering approximately 100 nautical miles (185 km) then racing 430 nautical miles (800 km)

Time: 30-45 days (including training time and a mid-race point rest day)

Team: Six teams

Equipment: Skiing and climbing while individually pulling 70 kg supply pulks (sleds)

SHACKLETON CENTENARY EXPEDITION

Start date: Oct. 29, 2008

Distance: 900 miles (1,448 km)

Time: About 80 days,

weather permitting

Team: All six members have some relationship with the original Shackleton crew

Equipment: Travelling unguided on skis and individually hauling expedition supplies in 136 kg sledges

IMPOSSIBLE2POSSIBLE SOUTH POLE QUEST

Start date: Dec. 5, 2008

Distance: 680 miles (1094 km)

Time: 33 days, 23 hours, 30 min.

(New world record set Jan. 7)

Team: Three adventurers, including Ray Zahab, Richard Weber and Kevin Vallely

Equipment: Skiing/snowshoeing while dragging supply sleds weighing more than 73 kg