But this isn’t a luxury hotel experience; this is the drive of your life. And while it’s expected to take 10 days from start to finish, you can never really know.
“Wind is the most detrimental factor,” said Shepherd. “Visibility can be zero on certain days. You can get snowed in. You’d have to stay in camp those days, play cards, and wait for the first clearing.”
Who's Going
“As much as this is sold as a tourist trip, it’s not a jolly old holiday—it’s an expedition,” explained Shepherd, who spoke to Bloomberg by phone from her headquarters in Gloucestershire, U.K. For each traveler in the convoy, there are about four staffers: medics, researchers, and local experts who are adept at navigating the all-white landscape.
Travelers need to pass physical fitness evaluations to make sure they can handle the extreme conditions.
“People lose a lot of weight on these trips, just because your body is working so much harder to keep warm,” Shepherd explained, adding that none of the excursions would be considered physically demanding in any other climate.
So who’s the target audience? British fund managers and Swiss bankers have been the ones to book thus far.
“It’s not necessarily for extreme adventurers who have already climbed Kilimanjaro,” said Shepherd. “It’s more for people who have a fascination for Antarctica but don’t want to go on a great big ship with hundreds of people. Or for those who want to do something different to stretch themselves and understand their own great potential.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.