When he was 17 years old, Patrick Woodhead was jealous of famed British explorer Ranulph Fiennes, who among other things was the first person to cross Antarctica unassisted on foot. Wanting to discover the world for himself, Woodhead set on his adventures, traversing unclimbed mountains in Kyrgyzstan and Tibet and travelling down rivers in the Amazon and the Congo. He even broke a few records along the way: he was part of the youngest and fastest team to ever reach the South Pole in 2002 and went on to lead the first-ever East to West expedition of Antarctica, covering 1,850km in 75 days.
In 2004, huddled against a brutal storm in the remote depths of Antarctica with his team, Woodhead came up with the idea of what would become White Desert. “‘Here we are, sitting in a tent, having spent almost 80 days starving to death, dreaming of luxurious food and a beautiful bed,’” he remembers. “Why couldn’t we create a camp where normal people could experience the interior but do it in a luxurious way? Why is it that polar explorers and the odd scientists are the only ones who get to experience the interior of this continent?”
That question led to the formation of a pioneering luxury travel outfitter that transports guests—and a few hundred scientists on their way to their research bases—from Cape Town, South Africa to the Antarctic for a 24-hour, five- or seven-day experience. Guests land at White Desert’s privately operated runway at Wolf’s Fang to enjoy activities like ice climbing, abseiling, cross-country skiing, ziplining, rock climbing, rope walks, glacier treks and mountain hikes deep in the interior of the continent.
On their return to camp, guests can relax with a sauna, massage and yoga, and gaze out from a large transparent dome which offer views of tall mountains, vast blue glaciers and frozen lakes that make them feel they are on another planet entirely. Evenings are spent with great food, excellent wine and presentations on the region’s fascinating history, wildlife and local scientific endeavours.
The experience comes with a hefty price tag of course. The “Greatest Day” adventure starts at INR 1,335,465 (USD 15,950) per person and provides guests the chance to experience the real interior of Antarctica in 24 hours. The “Emperor Penguin” itinerary is priced at INR 5,986,568 (USD 71,500) per person for an experience of around five days, while the company’s signature “South Pole and Emperor Penguins” journey is priced at INR 9,201,105 (USD 110,000) for seven days.
Those who have gone on White Desert tours include well-known entrepreneurs, musicians, celebrities, royal family members, astronauts and people who have dreamt of visiting Antarctica their whole lives and saved up for years. The reasons they come are manifold: to be inspired, to feel awe, to stand at the bottom of the world, to reconnect with a family group, to celebrate life and milestones, to view the incredible wildlife of the Emperor Penguins, to scale a mountain or to support the dream of a spouse. However, the company does turn away clients who seek to exploit the continent for personal gain.
“A journey to Antarctica will present unique encounters and profound sensations that only the pristine, untouched wilderness of the “White Continent” can offer. Even amongst seasoned explorers, a journey to Antarctica forges a profound connection to the wilderness that few are lucky to experience. We hope that our past guests will go on to make a difference through their networks, helping to secure the future and protection of Antarctica, especially given there is no natural human population who calls the continent their own,” Woodhead says.
White Desert has left no stone unturned in its original mission of making luxury travel as sustainable as possible. The team removes all waste from the continent and was the first operator in Antarctica to use sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for their logistics and South Pole journeys. The SAF they use is produced from waste oils and greases as opposed to bio-crops. The team is currently testing a high blend of up to 50 per cent for use in their plane journeys as currently permitted SAF blends of 30-50 per cent provide a 24-40 per cent overall carbon saving. This year White Desert is also creating solar arrays to move to a fully renewable power source for their Echo and Whichaway camps over the next couple of seasons.
"When I first began White Desert and what would become a life-long journey into Antarctica, I was adamant that the core tenets of sustainability would remain at the heart of our operation. Almost 20 years later, I’m proud to say this philosophy still stands true. We are constantly looking to the future of sustainability and pioneering new technologies in our operations. Our team ensures that exploration into these exceptional wildernesses can be done mindfully, always in harmony with the environment and without losing our signature sense of pioneering luxury. I think it’s worth considering that the impact that is happening to Antarctica is not due to science and tourism on the continent, but mainly due to the choices all humans make in our daily lives at home," Woodhead says.
Furthermore, the company works with a specialist environmental consultant to shape internal policy, who inspects and advises on logistics and systems and continuously identifies ways to reduce White Desert's environmental footprint. To address residual carbon emissions that cannot be avoided, the company offsets them through schemes specifically approved by the International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance. To that end, it has been a Carbon Neutral certified company since 2007.
Woodhead is also planning to launch a foundation this year to explore new ways to sequester carbon from the atmosphere and be pro-active in their approach to sustainability. Under consideration are Blue Carbon projects, namely kelp forests, salt marsh regeneration and seagrass meadow plantations. The latter captures carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests and absorbs 10 per cent of the ocean's carbon each year despite covering only 0.2 per cent of the seafloor.
Asked what kind of legacy Woodhead wants to leave behind, he says that bringing people to Antarctica who aren’t scientists or explorers is a critical step in protecting the continent since small changes in a person’s daily life can still have big ripple effects. “We believe tourism can support science and are seeing this in the way we have hybridised our logistics to support both national government programs and also university-backed science projects. We agree with Sir David Attenborough’s statement that people will protect what they care about and they will generally only care about what they’ve experienced,” he says.