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« on: August 08, 2016, 04:25:19 AM »
I came across this forum by accident and read through this post. It appears to be quite evident that most everyone that has posted on this thread is simply googling information and posting their opinions. That is quite normal because it is exceptionally unlikely that any bonafide world traveler would be posting on these forums. Luckily, I have noticed this silly thread. I warn you that this post will be quite long.
Here is part of my business CV. I am a professional world traveler. My clients pay for my expertise to lead them on exotic excursions around the world. I have been to Mount Everest, every major mountain range in the world and to the north and south poles. I have an international back grounding in mountaineering, ice climbing, rescue and things of that nature. If the circumference of the earth is nearly 30,000 miles round, I have circled the globe over 30 times. These credentials should place me as the most qualified poster so I do hope that you pay attention to the information that I am providing.
Let us begin! We have all heard about tourists that have "visited Antarctica". The primary story is that someone flew to Santiago, Chile and then took a jumper flight south to Punta Arenas, jumped on their cruise ship which took them to surrounding islands and then onto part of the Antarctica peninsula, which is most definitely not the interior. A trip like this will run you anywhere from $7,000USD to $25,000USD depending on your flights and cabin class. In my professional opinion this is the equivalent of flying from Asia to Liberty Island, seeing the Statue of Liberty, flying home and telling everyone that you went to America. Be it West or East there are cruises that will take you to surrounding islands and barely onto the landmass of Antarctica itself. The main focal point of these cruises is to see Penguins. Seeing icebergs and leopard seals would be a plus. Attempting to explore the vast interior would be utterly pointless as there is nothing to do there and these people have quite literally no experience.
Have you ever met anyone that has completed a mountaineering expedition in Antarctica? Probably not! A summit attempt of Vinson Massif, the highest mountain in Antarctica will typically run you $120,000USD. This cost is typically paid through a variety of sponsors. The expedition is quite easy from a technical perspective and would be on par with climbing Cho Oyu in the Himalayas. You get dropped off a Patriot Hills at the foot of the Ellsworth Mountain range and then you need to hike for 5 days into the Sentinel Range before reaching the base of Vinson. The clothing and gear you will have with you is valued at around $60,000 or more. The temperatures during a summer ascent are around -80F. Have you ever been in -80F? No, you have not. You have probably never been in -30F either. There is nothing wrong with that, but let us not pretend like we know what we are talking about until we have experienced -80F in Antarctica. Dealing with subzero temperatures requires a significant amount of training. I need you to understand that in order to be prepared for daily temperatures of even -30F you need a significant amount of training and preparation.
What type of experience is required?
Nationally first aid certified
CPR certificated
Mountain rescue certified
Mountain survival certified
Arctic survival certified
No less than 20 hours of igloo formation practice
No less than 3 years of training in subzero conditions
Pretend you are some idiot tourist that dished out $110,000 for this "cool" expedition to Vinson. You get separated from your team for THREE DAYS. Do you think you will survive on your own? How much subzero bivouac training do you have? One of my friends, a world famous mountaineer got lost during an expedition on Shishapangma, the 14th highest mountain in the world for FOUR DAYS. The rescue team had pronounced her dead but somehow miraculously found her on day 4. Her vast world experience and training is what allowed her to survive. For tourists at Vinsion, I assure you that there would be a 100% death rate over a three day separation period. Climbing and exploring in Antarctica is only done by VERY few experts in the world per year and they have set goals. There is no concept of just wandering around Antarctica trying to prove if the world is flat. This is a very serious place where people die very quickly.
Have you ever met someone that has WORKED in Antarctica? No, you have not. I know a guy that worked in Antarctica for 6 months straight and hated every minute of it. He worked at Amundsen and McMurdo and had a horrible time. You are stuck inside virtually all day and when you do actually go outside, guess what you can do? Nothing! It is just a vast expanse of nothing, in every direction. If you have a useful skill you can volunteer to go work in Antarctica and go see what this is like for yourself. There is no government conspiracy or lock-down like people are trying to push. You have to understand that a RESEARCH center like McMurdo has a very finite amount of supplies and it is also not a HOTEL. There was a quote earlier in this thread about the researchers being shocked when someone shows up there needing help. He said "if you do not want people showing up, then do not build bases there". This perspective is exceptionally wrong. Imagine there are 5 Indonesian men working in a sewer that is full of feces. Their job is to really get into these clogged pipes and be covered in feces all day long. Their pay is shit (pun intended) and they work long hours. The work is absolutely terrible and they would rather not be there. Then imagine there is this feces explorer that LOVES exploring sewers around the world. He VOLUNTEERS and goes and works in the sewers with the Indonesian workers. The Indonesian workers are looking at him like "are you fucking stupid?".. this is how the researchers at McMurdo are looking at these people that show up there. These researchers, scientists and volunteers at these stations are removed from their families and friends for many months at a time, living in almost complete isolation from the rest of the world.. and this guy knocks on their door because he was wandering about..for fun. Honestly think that over for a while. The same guy that worked in Antarctica for an extended period also volunteered for 4 months at the physical North Pole. He loved working there because he was mainly on a ship and since he had grown up on ships he was able to gain experience and see more things. If you meet anyone that has ever worked in Antarctica.. not a TOURIST but someone that actually WORKED there, they will all tell you that it is very crappy and you are stuck inside regretting being there.
Antarctica is very inaccessible, very dangerous and very expensive. This post is to address the naive posters that are suggesting people should just wander to Antarctica and set across the continent. Stay away from Antarctica! Go see penguins at the zoo and certainly do not attempt to enter the interior as you will most likely die within days. Attempting a north-south crossing of Antarctica would literally take YEARS to accomplish and to be honest there is at least an 80% chance that most anyone attempting that crossing would die in the process. The sheer THOUGHT that anyone would even ATTEMPT to cross the entirety of Antarctica is suicidal and asinine on the face of it.
What is in Antarctica? The main topographical features of interest on Antarctica are the ice shelves, specifically the Larsen and Ross shelves. Lake Vostok is another place that is of high significance as it was universally agreed that there was no life present deep within this lake. Scientists were baffled when they discovered life living in the depths of this lake that was covered by 13,100 feet of ice. More recently scientists have discovered and confirmed the largest canyon in the world underneath the Antarctic ice. The glacier is three times larger than the Grand Canyon in the Ellsworth region. There is an entire continent under this ice that we know very little about and these "bases" around Antarctica are actually research centers that help with paleogeology, atmospheric earth sciences, paleoclimatology and many other disciplines of science. Having these research stations IN Antarctica is integral for the study of the land. You do not build a "base" in Australia and then attempt to fly to Antarctica and gallivant around the interior attempting to sort of conduct research. Anyone that suggests the presence of military bases on Antarctica that are trying to "keep us from learning the truth of what is beyond" have A) quite literally no idea what they are talking about. B) Have not conducted serious geological or scientific research C) Have never actually been to Antarctica.
Ships - There is also no reason that anyone in world history would circumnavigate the Antarctic circle. Anyone suggesting that one would simply chart a course around the entirety of Antarctica is CLEARLY not familiar with the ACC!! The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the most important current in the Southern Ocean..yes, Antarctica is surrounded by an Ocean. This is the only current that flows completely around the globe. It is arguably the mightiest or roughest current of any ocean! I cannot even conceive of ANYONE being stupid enough to even attempt such a suicidal voyage. The ship required to circumnavigate such an undertaking would need to be massive, like a cruise ship and everyone on-board should presume that they are going to die.
You people speak in such abstract terms, so far removed from the reality that we live in. "Just fly across Antarctica" sure, no problem.. "Just sail around Antarctica". Strap a rocket to the back of my car and we can fly to Mars! The majority of posts here is what so heavily discredits the FE concept from being taken seriously in the scientific community.
I got bored with writing this so I will just stop here. I hope everyone enjoyed reading this. I will not be checking replies.
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