White Desert

Patrick Woodhead has spent months in the ­Antarctic wilderness, setting records as part of the youngest and fastest team to reach the South Pole in 2002, and later as leader of the first team to make an east-to-west traverse. Once, trapped in an expedition tent during a storm, he fantasized about enabling travelers to immerse themselves in the sense of remoteness and isolation one experiences on the high polar plateau, only with gourmet meals and a cozy bed.

In 2005, he started small with a few mountain tents on the lunar Schirmacher Oasis, a spot never seen by tourists. Now, White Desert welcomes fewer than 300 guests per eternal-­daylight season at two luxury camps made up of convivial bubble huts in Queen Maud Land, surrounded by majestic nunataks, or rocky outcrops. Once-in-a-­lifetime activities include visiting the South Pole and the ­emperor penguin colony at Atka Bay, and exploring ice waves threaded with turquoise rivers. 

“We’re able to see the penguins really early in the season, when the chicks are still fluffy, resting on their parent’s feet,” says Woodhead. “It’s incredible what they go through, with life at the mercy of the weather for them and for us alike.”

Living in harmony with the environment here is a key concern. Antarctic tourism numbers have steadily risen in recent years, and the continent now sees more than 100,000 visitors each year. The cumulative impact can be significant: emissions from ships, a risk of oil spills and hitting marine animals, importing invasive species, potentially changing animal behavior patterns, and erosion of fragile environments concentrated around key landing sites. 

Although the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting and the Protocol on Environmental Protection set regulations for tourism organizers, day-to-day management remains self-regulated, and some travel groups have been accused of greenwashing their efforts. With White Desert, Woodhead is charting a less impactful path, and striving to set best practices. 

While most visitors to Antarctica approach the coastlines by cruise ship, White Desert brings its visitors in on one weekly flight from Cape Town, which for efficiency is shared with scientific teams traveling to the continent for work. The whole operation hinges on its private blue ice runway and small propeller aircraft fitted with landing skis. White Desert was the first on the continent to use sustainable aviation fuel, which has a lower soot content (to reduce any albedo effect that hastens melting), blending the maximum 50% regulations currently permit.

White Desert’s comfortable, all-weather living quarters are also designed to leave no trace. The hard-shell pods have no ­foundations, all waste is shipped out, the water is heated by solar arrays, and soaps are biodegradable. Green hydrogen power is in the cards soon as well, Woodhead says. 

For visitors, gazing out over the raw, untouched white desert is breath-taking and humbling all at once, a stark reminder of the planet’s power, and its need for us to protect its coldest corners. A soft blanket and a whisky on the rocks await.

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