1
00:00:44,718 --> 00:00:49,508
0ur plan to reach Antarctica by ship
from Cape Town has failed.

2
00:00:49,678 --> 00:00:54,991
But we have discovered a company
which says it could get us to the Pole.

3
00:00:55,158 --> 00:00:58,628
We must take a risk with them or go home.

4
00:00:58,798 --> 00:01:04,794
But their base is in South America -
we're at the end of the wrong continent.

5
00:01:06,318 --> 00:01:12,427
We must fly 6,000 miles across the Atlantic,
turning our back on the 30 degree meridian.

6
00:01:14,038 --> 00:01:20,193
0ur route goes via Rio de Janeiro
and the Andes to Santiago in Chile.

7
00:01:23,598 --> 00:01:26,829
The Virgin is closed when I arrive in Santiago,

8
00:01:26,998 --> 00:01:29,637
but the view is worth the walk.

9
00:01:30,998 --> 00:01:35,230
In this well-ordered capital,
a celebration is underway.

10
00:01:35,398 --> 00:01:40,153
The band of the Palace Guards
strikes up an oddly familiar refrain.

11
00:01:40,318 --> 00:01:43,754
(ROUSING VERSION OF "HAPPY BIRTHDAY")

12
00:01:54,558 --> 00:02:00,076
It's the president's birthday.
The Chileans aren't always nice to their leaders.

13
00:02:00,238 --> 00:02:06,473
18 years ago, they bombed the palace
and President Allende took his own life.

14
00:02:07,958 --> 00:02:12,554
Chileans may seem subdued
compared with other South Americans,

15
00:02:12,718 --> 00:02:15,710
but there are many pleasures here.

16
00:02:19,718 --> 00:02:26,351
I meet our guide, Patricio, for lunch at one
of the world's most elegant fish markets.

17
00:02:26,518 --> 00:02:30,306
(ANDEAN PIPE MUSIC PLAYS)

18
00:02:35,358 --> 00:02:38,350
Both the cuisine and the music are local.

19
00:02:38,518 --> 00:02:43,512
Patricio gives me the low-down
on the pipes they call "quena".

20
00:02:45,198 --> 00:02:48,474
- They're difficult to play?
- Yes, it is.

21
00:02:48,638 --> 00:02:52,074
It's difficult to put in tune all the little pipes

22
00:02:52,238 --> 00:02:56,311
and it's difficult to keep the tune

23
00:02:56,478 --> 00:02:58,833
because you are playing long notes

24
00:02:58,998 --> 00:03:04,391
and you have to have strong muscles
in your stomach to keep the air going.

25
00:03:18,758 --> 00:03:21,909
General Pinochet, who got rid of Allende,

26
00:03:22,078 --> 00:03:27,550
tried to ban these instruments
as being "too representative of the Left".

27
00:03:29,238 --> 00:03:35,268
He had more success with human beings -
2,000 of those he arrested are still missing.

28
00:04:00,638 --> 00:04:06,235
It's a further 1,700 miles down the coast
to the town of Punta Arenas,

29
00:04:06,398 --> 00:04:12,189
which lies beside the Straits of Magellan
and opposite the island of Tierra del Fuego.

30
00:04:12,358 --> 00:04:18,149
It grew up as the safest harbour for ships
making the journey round Cape Horn.

31
00:04:20,198 --> 00:04:26,148
From its airport, Adventure Network flies
the only commercial plane into Antarctica.

32
00:04:26,318 --> 00:04:31,187
We've crossed continents,
we're now at the tip of South America,

33
00:04:31,358 --> 00:04:37,354
and we're here on the appointed day
for our departure. The plane's behind us.

34
00:04:37,518 --> 00:04:42,228
But the weather conditions here
are unlike anywhere else on earth,

35
00:04:42,398 --> 00:04:49,156
and the final decision as to whether we go today
rests with the pilot and the weather station here.

36
00:04:49,318 --> 00:04:52,196
The pilot is a Canadian, Bruce Allcorn.

37
00:04:52,358 --> 00:04:56,510
His plane cannot put down for long
in the cold of Antarctica.

38
00:04:56,678 --> 00:04:59,909
He can only fly out
when he knows he can get back.

39
00:05:00,078 --> 00:05:04,276
He's looking for 18 hours
of continuous good weather.

40
00:05:04,438 --> 00:05:09,307
There are a lot of low pressure areas.
Is that common in Antarctica?

41
00:05:09,478 --> 00:05:12,948
It's a phenomenon of the South Polar regions.

42
00:05:13,118 --> 00:05:17,828
Back here a few pages, a few days ago,
there's a classic example.

43
00:05:17,998 --> 00:05:21,229
I don't know if you can see it here.

44
00:05:21,398 --> 00:05:23,832
Just in the area here,

45
00:05:23,998 --> 00:05:28,992
we have two, three, four, five low pressure areas

46
00:05:29,158 --> 00:05:34,676
in an area that normally would only have
one or two in other parts of the world.

47
00:05:34,838 --> 00:05:38,035
- We're not going today?
- Definitely not.

48
00:05:38,198 --> 00:05:41,270
When will you decide about tomorrow?

49
00:05:41,438 --> 00:05:46,831
7.30 a.m. We have a schedule at 7 a.m.
with Patriot Hills to get their weather.

50
00:05:46,998 --> 00:05:49,910
I'll come over here at about 7.15,

51
00:05:50,078 --> 00:05:56,233
see what the weather man thinks,
look at the satellite and we'll make a decision.

52
00:05:56,398 --> 00:06:00,311
- What are the chances?
- 50-50 at this time.

53
00:06:00,478 --> 00:06:03,675
If you're a gambler, I'll give you better odds.

54
00:06:05,438 --> 00:06:09,909
While we wait for the weather,
I find out more about Adventure Network

55
00:06:10,078 --> 00:06:12,751
from the local manager, Anne Kershaw.

56
00:06:12,918 --> 00:06:16,069
Have you ever had to abandon an expedition?

57
00:06:16,238 --> 00:06:21,915
Once in the early years, 1985,
people had planned a three-week trip

58
00:06:22,078 --> 00:06:27,311
and after over two weeks in Punta Arenas
with bad weather, we abandoned it.

59
00:06:29,358 --> 00:06:34,113
The only remotely encouraging advice
is to go to the main square

60
00:06:34,278 --> 00:06:39,477
and visit the statue of Ferdinand Magellan,
who led the world's first circumnavigation.

61
00:06:39,638 --> 00:06:45,668
If I want to return safely from my journey,
I must kiss the Indian's foot.

62
00:06:56,558 --> 00:07:00,710
Now I can get back safely, but when can I go?

63
00:07:05,078 --> 00:07:07,546
Patriot Hills, Romeo Bravo.

64
00:07:08,838 --> 00:07:14,231
OK. Weather is 15,000 scattered...
20,000 broken...

65
00:07:14,398 --> 00:07:18,994
If you want to know the conditions
in Antarctica, you call someone there.

66
00:07:19,158 --> 00:07:22,628
There's no weather satellite, just the radio.

67
00:07:22,798 --> 00:07:27,508
OK. Copy all.
Bruce's plan as of this moment is to fly.

68
00:07:27,678 --> 00:07:33,150
The DC-6 will fly.
Planning wheels off eleven local. How copy?

69
00:07:34,078 --> 00:07:36,546
This is the news we've been waiting for.

70
00:07:36,718 --> 00:07:42,076
At the airfield, the engineers
can start putting the plane together.

71
00:07:42,878 --> 00:07:46,757
Bruce's DC-6 was first put together in 1953.

72
00:07:46,918 --> 00:07:53,312
In aviation terms it's a geriatric - taking on one
of the most demanding journeys in the world.

73
00:07:54,238 --> 00:07:59,187
I've taken some risks so far,
but none have made me quite so nervous.

74
00:07:59,878 --> 00:08:03,587
As you can see, we're here,
action stations, ready to go.

75
00:08:03,758 --> 00:08:09,071
After 24 hours on the edge of our seats...
well, our hotel beds in Punta Arenas,

76
00:08:09,238 --> 00:08:12,310
we've been told the weather is OK to fly.

77
00:08:12,478 --> 00:08:19,350
Planes have been known to turn back,
so we could still have to go back,

78
00:08:19,518 --> 00:08:22,157
but it looks as though we're off.

79
00:08:22,318 --> 00:08:27,995
It's unlike any other departure we've made so far.

80
00:08:28,158 --> 00:08:32,868
A bit alarming, a bit exciting.
It really is a voyage into the unknown.

81
00:08:33,038 --> 00:08:36,269
Well, here goes.

82
00:08:39,118 --> 00:08:44,476
The adventure starts right away.
Climbing aboard is a feat of mountaineering.

83
00:08:44,638 --> 00:08:48,836
0n this airline
you have to be your own baggage handler.

84
00:08:50,638 --> 00:08:54,108
When all is loaded, the pilot shuts the door.

85
00:08:54,278 --> 00:08:58,908
All part of the service -
and he's the only one who knows how to do it.

86
00:09:00,198 --> 00:09:05,192
Half the cabin is for freight,
half for passengers - 25 of us today.

87
00:09:05,358 --> 00:09:08,873
Climbing out of here
I expect it to be a little rough.

88
00:09:09,038 --> 00:09:12,826
There'll be some turbulence over the mountains.

89
00:09:12,998 --> 00:09:18,709
The weather is generally good all the way.
The landing at Patriot Hills is different.

90
00:09:18,878 --> 00:09:23,110
If you haven't experienced it before,
the ice is a little rough -

91
00:09:23,278 --> 00:09:27,430
the airplane wheels around,
lots of noise from the engines.

92
00:09:27,598 --> 00:09:31,113
It's quite normal. Don't be concerned.

93
00:09:31,278 --> 00:09:33,838
The seat belt sign means what it says.

94
00:09:33,998 --> 00:09:40,153
When it's on, be in your seats with the belt on.
I don't leave it on for nothing.

95
00:09:40,318 --> 00:09:46,427
When the seat belt sign's off,
you can wander around, come up to the cockpit.

96
00:09:46,598 --> 00:09:50,227
If you're using a flash camera, please warn me.

97
00:09:50,398 --> 00:09:55,074
It startles the hell out of me
when they go off behind my head.

98
00:09:55,238 --> 00:09:59,516
Willy and Rob will give you
the rest of the evacuation stuff

99
00:09:59,678 --> 00:10:02,272
and we'll see you in Patriot Hills.

100
00:10:02,438 --> 00:10:06,431
We'll be about seven hours
and 40 minutes, I anticipate.

101
00:10:10,998 --> 00:10:13,751
In case of ditching...

102
00:10:13,918 --> 00:10:19,436
Willy, the co-pilot, is, we're told,
a fully qualified stunt man.

103
00:10:37,478 --> 00:10:39,275
Turn number three.

104
00:10:54,438 --> 00:10:56,747
OK. That's it.

105
00:11:01,118 --> 00:11:04,110
As Bruce finally nurses us along the runway,

106
00:11:04,278 --> 00:11:08,908
I'm seized by an uncontrollable reluctance
to part with Chile.

107
00:11:14,518 --> 00:11:16,986
The trouble with fear of the unknown

108
00:11:17,158 --> 00:11:22,232
is that you never know what the fear
will be like until it's too late.

109
00:11:33,198 --> 00:11:37,350
0nce clear of South America,
we have a 1,500 mile journey

110
00:11:37,518 --> 00:11:40,954
to Adventure Network's base at Patriot Hills,

111
00:11:41,118 --> 00:11:44,667
which is 600 miles from the South Pole.

112
00:11:49,918 --> 00:11:52,910
The flight is self-catering.

113
00:11:54,558 --> 00:11:58,995
It's quite liberating not to have to wait for trolleys.

114
00:11:59,158 --> 00:12:04,835
It's also easier to meet fellow passengers.
There's not a sane one among them.

115
00:12:04,998 --> 00:12:08,388
Australian dentists who want to be mountaineers

116
00:12:08,558 --> 00:12:12,517
and Japanese
who want to ride motorbikes to the Pole.

117
00:12:13,638 --> 00:12:18,428
This is the way to do it.
All airline catering should be like this.

118
00:12:24,558 --> 00:12:29,552
I pressed one once and it exploded.
I don't touch them any more.

119
00:12:37,518 --> 00:12:41,989
Four hours after setting out,
we're over the pack ice.

120
00:12:44,518 --> 00:12:51,037
We've reached what Bruce drily refers to
as "PNR" - "The Point of No Return."

121
00:12:51,198 --> 00:12:55,874
There is no longer enough fuel
to get us back to Chile.

122
00:13:00,998 --> 00:13:07,312
The mood in the plane changes.
Public jollity turns to private contemplation.

123
00:13:07,478 --> 00:13:12,074
Everyone prepares themselves in their own way
for what lies ahead.

124
00:13:38,118 --> 00:13:43,238
There are no in-flight movies
to break the mood, just in-flight maps.

125
00:13:43,398 --> 00:13:47,914
We've been going five and a half hours.
Where are we now?

126
00:13:48,078 --> 00:13:51,150
We've come from Chile over here.

127
00:13:51,318 --> 00:13:54,549
Our approximate track is the inked-in line.

128
00:13:54,718 --> 00:13:57,915
We're now south of the Antarctic Circle.

129
00:13:58,078 --> 00:14:04,916
We've come past the... You saw the icebergs
that were carved off of these ice shelves.

130
00:14:05,078 --> 00:14:08,787
Was that real coast or was that ice shelf?

131
00:14:08,958 --> 00:14:13,429
That's ice shelf extended from this area
west of Alexander Island.

132
00:14:13,598 --> 00:14:19,230
We're coming up to the Ronne Entrance area
and we'll be coming over this coast shortly

133
00:14:19,398 --> 00:14:24,028
and then on to Mount Rex
and over the mainland proper.

134
00:14:24,198 --> 00:14:30,512
(PALIN) Yeah. How big are the icebergs?
It's hard to tell from up here. What size are they?

135
00:14:30,678 --> 00:14:35,752
(ROB) The ones we've been seeing
have been up to a kilometre or two across.

136
00:14:35,918 --> 00:14:38,637
The scale is difficult from altitude.

137
00:14:38,798 --> 00:14:44,794
There was an iceberg 100 kilometres across,
the iceberg that would break off an ice shelf.

138
00:14:44,958 --> 00:14:47,631
Those happen only every few years.

139
00:14:47,798 --> 00:14:54,909
Apart from your base at Patriot Hills,
what else is around this area? Any settlements?

140
00:14:55,078 --> 00:15:00,311
The next closest people would be
at one of the scientific bases either on the coast

141
00:15:00,478 --> 00:15:06,872
or South Pole Station -
at least 600 miles to the next closest humans.

142
00:15:14,198 --> 00:15:18,430
We have arrived at the emptiest continent
on earth. No one lives here.

143
00:15:18,598 --> 00:15:24,673
An area one and a half times that of the USA
is temporary home to some 3,000 scientists.

144
00:15:24,838 --> 00:15:27,796
The mountaineers glimpse their goal -

145
00:15:27,958 --> 00:15:33,749
Mount Vinson, 16,000 feet -
the highest point in Antarctica.

146
00:15:33,918 --> 00:15:39,914
But the collective pulse really starts to quicken
when the Patriot Hills rise toward us.

147
00:15:49,598 --> 00:15:54,797
These are the tips of mountains submerged
beneath an ice cap 15 million years old

148
00:15:54,958 --> 00:15:57,950
and, in places, three miles thick.

149
00:16:08,358 --> 00:16:10,918
For Bruce, this is a testing moment.

150
00:16:11,078 --> 00:16:15,594
He must put down a four-engined,
fixed-wheel aircraft on blue ice,

151
00:16:15,758 --> 00:16:18,431
without using brakes.

152
00:16:53,318 --> 00:16:56,355
(CHEERING)

153
00:16:57,358 --> 00:17:01,317
Everyone knows what a risk we've just taken.

154
00:17:01,478 --> 00:17:07,269
If anything had gone wrong, there are
no emergency vehicles to help us here.

155
00:17:18,798 --> 00:17:22,791
This is all there is at the terminal at Patriot Hills.

156
00:17:27,278 --> 00:17:32,750
The plane must be turned round fast.
If the engines stop for two hours, they freeze.

157
00:17:32,918 --> 00:17:38,948
There's no time for a helping hand
onto a new and slippery continent.

158
00:17:45,838 --> 00:17:48,830
This is the bit we've all been warned about.

159
00:17:48,998 --> 00:17:54,152
I know why. Jesus...
It's absolutely like plate glass.

160
00:17:56,118 --> 00:17:58,473
Too late to go back.

161
00:17:58,638 --> 00:18:01,869
- Bruce!
- How you doing?

162
00:18:02,038 --> 00:18:06,634
The arrival of Bruce's plane
is the major event at Patriot Hills.

163
00:18:06,798 --> 00:18:11,588
Everything needed to sustain life here
comes in and goes out on the DC-6.

164
00:18:14,398 --> 00:18:17,947
Apart from unloading 25 passengers
and their equipment,

165
00:18:18,118 --> 00:18:21,747
there are large stocks of supplies for the base.

166
00:18:21,918 --> 00:18:27,276
If bad weather set in, it could be
a month before the DC-6 is seen again.

167
00:18:32,678 --> 00:18:37,274
All the fuel has to be flown out
and the empty drums taken back.

168
00:18:37,438 --> 00:18:40,635
It makes it as expensive as Scotch whisky.

169
00:18:59,118 --> 00:19:05,114
Skidoos and sledges keep up a constant shuttle
of freight between plane and camp.

170
00:19:09,158 --> 00:19:13,037
The rest of us - the human freight - walk.

171
00:19:14,358 --> 00:19:16,349
Conditions are good today.

172
00:19:16,518 --> 00:19:21,467
It's high summer and the temperature
has soared to minus six centigrade.

173
00:19:34,998 --> 00:19:41,267
I don't know quite what I expected to find here,
but I think it was more than this.

174
00:20:07,678 --> 00:20:11,353
Next morning, after a calm night
of unbroken sunshine,

175
00:20:11,518 --> 00:20:16,512
I take my first faltering steps
in the art of Antarctic survival.

176
00:20:27,238 --> 00:20:30,355
I learn that here, in this ice desert,

177
00:20:30,518 --> 00:20:35,512
even the most mundane human tasks
take on an epic quality.

178
00:20:43,038 --> 00:20:48,908
That is the most extraordinary view
from any lavatory anywhere in the world.

179
00:20:49,078 --> 00:20:55,631
I'm probably the only person sitting
on the toilet for the next thousand miles.

180
00:20:57,798 --> 00:21:04,067
It doesn't matter there's no roof on it.
I'd like to spend my whole life here.

181
00:21:04,238 --> 00:21:08,595
The trouble is it's bloody cold -
you can't really hang around.

182
00:21:08,758 --> 00:21:14,230
All human waste has to be removed from
Antarctica. You can't leave anything here.

183
00:21:14,398 --> 00:21:21,076
So anything I may pass today
will be airfreighted out to Chile

184
00:21:21,238 --> 00:21:26,153
where it's made into models
and sold at the Duty Free shop there.

185
00:21:29,718 --> 00:21:32,186
Makes you think.

186
00:21:33,958 --> 00:21:36,916
Better be a good one.

187
00:21:48,038 --> 00:21:54,716
The Patriot Hills base is a unique gateway -
distributing adventurers around Antarctica.

188
00:21:56,358 --> 00:22:02,672
Shinji Kazama hopes to be the first person
to reach the South Pole by motorbike.

189
00:22:08,238 --> 00:22:11,435
He's already ridden to the North Pole.

190
00:22:11,598 --> 00:22:17,070
He's accompanied by that indispensable aid
to 20th-century travel - a camera crew.

191
00:22:43,318 --> 00:22:46,515
While Kazama tests the snow surface,

192
00:22:46,678 --> 00:22:52,674
the doctors, dentists and accountants
prepare to be airlifted out to Mount Vinson.

193
00:22:52,838 --> 00:22:56,433
Their leader is Peter Hillary,
son of Sir Edmund Hillary -

194
00:22:56,598 --> 00:22:59,237
one of the first two men to climb Everest.

195
00:22:59,398 --> 00:23:05,837
Just the logistics of an operation like this -
like catering. Give us a day's menu.

196
00:23:05,998 --> 00:23:09,354
It's a sumptuous mix of porridge in the morning,

197
00:23:09,518 --> 00:23:12,351
crackers for lunch and rice for dinner.

198
00:23:12,518 --> 00:23:17,148
- Doesn't that sound Cordon Bleu?
- How do you get people to sign up?

199
00:23:17,318 --> 00:23:20,116
I haven't told them about the menu yet!

200
00:23:20,278 --> 00:23:26,467
You're from an illustrious climbing background -
your father was the first man up Everest.

201
00:23:26,638 --> 00:23:32,190
When you were young, were you given any option
but to become interested in climbing?

202
00:23:32,358 --> 00:23:38,149
If anything, Dad almost discouraged us
from going to the mountains - certainly to climb.

203
00:23:38,318 --> 00:23:40,513
We went there skiing.

204
00:23:40,678 --> 00:23:45,388
He didn't particularly want his children
to get into mountaineering.

205
00:23:45,558 --> 00:23:49,676
But I guess it's like
if you're brought up in a cricket family,

206
00:23:49,838 --> 00:23:56,311
you have a famous cricketer popping round
every so often and asking the young

207
00:23:56,478 --> 00:24:01,029
if he wants to throw a ball around,
and it's an infectious situation.

208
00:24:01,198 --> 00:24:04,270
You weren't given crampons at the age of three?

209
00:24:04,438 --> 00:24:09,637
No, but I soon located where Dad kept his,
so I had no problem with equipment.

210
00:24:12,838 --> 00:24:15,306
While the climbers board their plane,

211
00:24:15,478 --> 00:24:21,872
we're served the sort of meal
which Peter Hillary's party won't see for weeks.

212
00:24:22,038 --> 00:24:23,357
Spaghetti!

213
00:24:23,518 --> 00:24:27,033
0ver Chilean wine, we compare crazy schemes.

214
00:24:27,198 --> 00:24:31,510
What is so special about the bike you're using?

215
00:24:31,678 --> 00:24:34,795
- What's different from a normal one?
- Yeah.

216
00:24:36,238 --> 00:24:39,196
- No pollution.
- No pollution?

217
00:24:39,358 --> 00:24:43,067
- No noise.
- No pollution? If you've got an engine...

218
00:24:43,238 --> 00:24:47,993
It's got special things on it.

219
00:24:48,158 --> 00:24:53,835
- Low pollution. Low noise.
- Low noise. And what else?

220
00:24:53,998 --> 00:24:57,115
Wider tyre and white colour!

221
00:25:00,678 --> 00:25:05,149
So no one will be able to see you
in the snow. You'll disappear.

222
00:25:05,318 --> 00:25:11,029
You've been to the North Pole and the South
Pole and even driven your bike up Everest.

223
00:25:11,198 --> 00:25:13,837
What is there left to do next?

224
00:25:13,998 --> 00:25:17,752
(THEY SPEAK JAPANESE)

225
00:25:17,918 --> 00:25:20,591
Yes, I have. Moon.

226
00:25:20,758 --> 00:25:24,546
Moon? You're going to motorcycle to the moon?

227
00:25:24,718 --> 00:25:28,313
You'll have to go very fast to get the leap.

228
00:25:34,158 --> 00:25:40,267
You can tell the regulars from the visitors -
the regulars have given up shaving.

229
00:25:49,758 --> 00:25:52,670
Even the regulars aren't out here for long.

230
00:25:52,838 --> 00:25:58,629
The Antarctic summer lasts four months.
For the rest of the year it's dark and cold.

231
00:25:58,798 --> 00:26:05,431
There's no option but to abandon the base -
as head of operations Mike Sharp explains.

232
00:26:05,598 --> 00:26:10,308
We take it all down, pack it in boxes
and slide it into a snow cave.

233
00:26:10,478 --> 00:26:16,189
It's about four feet underground.
It's one big room which we have to dig out.

234
00:26:16,358 --> 00:26:22,354
- What happens to the planes?
- Two of the aircraft go back up to Canada.

235
00:26:22,518 --> 00:26:25,635
The Cessna we get to keep here.

236
00:26:25,798 --> 00:26:30,918
We dig a big hole and bury it.
The only thing sticking out is the tail.

237
00:26:31,078 --> 00:26:35,993
We cover it in boards and planks and canvas.
It's very successful.

238
00:26:36,158 --> 00:26:41,755
We take the skis and the legs off
and slide it into this monster hole.

239
00:26:41,918 --> 00:26:47,356
Then when we come back we drag it out,
put the skis on and away we go.

240
00:26:47,518 --> 00:26:51,113
It gets its certificate of airworthiness.

241
00:26:51,278 --> 00:26:56,272
We have an engineer in to check it,
and then we're away again.

242
00:26:59,118 --> 00:27:05,591
Last season they weren't so lucky.
An oil drum took the tail off one of the planes.

243
00:27:05,758 --> 00:27:12,197
A replacement is being fitted
by Bill Aleekuk - a man of the Arctic.

244
00:27:12,358 --> 00:27:15,907
Major surgery.
How long have you been in the Antarctic?

245
00:27:16,078 --> 00:27:21,232
I've been down here since
the 15th of November, here at Patriot Hills.

246
00:27:22,718 --> 00:27:26,597
Actually, this is the first time
I've been to the Antarctic.

247
00:27:26,758 --> 00:27:32,071
I'm probably the first Eskimo that's ever
been down here, so I'm proud of that.

248
00:27:32,238 --> 00:27:34,832
- Show them how to do it.
- That's right!

249
00:27:34,998 --> 00:27:39,037
Do you remember anything of igloo life yourself?

250
00:27:39,198 --> 00:27:42,031
I don't remember. I know how to build them.

251
00:27:42,198 --> 00:27:47,226
I was probably one of the last few
that was ever born in an igloo.

252
00:27:49,558 --> 00:27:54,586
You can put a roof on the lavatory!
Someone started. Is that your work?

253
00:27:54,758 --> 00:28:01,357
No, that isn't mine.
I would never have air conditioning!

254
00:28:02,318 --> 00:28:06,391
If the weather holds,
we could be going to the Pole tomorrow.

255
00:28:06,558 --> 00:28:09,026
There's just time to ring home.

256
00:28:09,198 --> 00:28:11,393
(RADIO STATIC)

257
00:28:11,558 --> 00:28:13,833
(INDISTINCT VOICE)

258
00:28:13,998 --> 00:28:18,913
- OK. Hello, Helen. Can you hear me?
- (SQUEAKING)

259
00:28:19,078 --> 00:28:25,028
If you can hear me, that's fine.
All I get from you is a strange birdlike noise.

260
00:28:25,198 --> 00:28:27,996
If that's your reply, that's great!

261
00:28:28,158 --> 00:28:33,107
I just rang to say I'm in Antarctica
600 miles from the Pole.

262
00:28:33,278 --> 00:28:35,667
- (STATIC)
- Are you impressed?

263
00:28:35,838 --> 00:28:38,955
- (SQUEAKING)
- Definitely. Very impressed.

264
00:28:40,118 --> 00:28:46,591
I was always pulling the birds!
We're going to the Pole tomorrow afternoon.

265
00:28:46,758 --> 00:28:52,549
We're leaving here about five
and we'll be staying there 36-48 hours.

266
00:28:52,718 --> 00:28:55,915
- Over.
- (SQUEAKING)

267
00:28:56,078 --> 00:28:58,717
Yes, I have got clean underwear.

268
00:28:59,758 --> 00:29:05,867
I really can't hear your voice very well,
so I'll just tell you the salient information.

269
00:29:06,038 --> 00:29:13,069
It's very nice here. The sun is shining.
It's about minus eight degrees.

270
00:29:13,238 --> 00:29:16,150
It'll be about minus 25 at the Pole.

271
00:29:16,318 --> 00:29:19,276
I only have one set of thermal underwear,

272
00:29:19,438 --> 00:29:23,511
but, apart from that, I hope I do the family proud.

273
00:29:23,678 --> 00:29:26,988
- How are you?
- (STATIC)

274
00:29:27,158 --> 00:29:31,117
- (SQUEAKING)
- Are you?

275
00:29:31,278 --> 00:29:33,587
You should try using the other one.

276
00:29:34,558 --> 00:29:37,118
(WIND BLUSTERS)

277
00:29:47,078 --> 00:29:51,549
It's about 6.30 on the day
we're due to leave for the Pole.

278
00:29:51,718 --> 00:29:56,667
The wind, which we haven't heard recently,
has suddenly got up

279
00:29:56,838 --> 00:30:00,672
and it sounds as though
the weather could be changing.

280
00:30:00,838 --> 00:30:05,354
I wonder whether it'll affect
our chances of leaving today.

281
00:30:05,518 --> 00:30:08,510
I'd better find out what's going on.

282
00:30:34,358 --> 00:30:37,828
With the wind
comes a vicious drop in temperature.

283
00:30:37,998 --> 00:30:41,832
But what's important
is how conditions are at the Pole.

284
00:30:41,998 --> 00:30:45,070
Mike Sharp calls up the American base there.

285
00:30:45,238 --> 00:30:48,833
South Pole, Patriot Hills. How is your weather?

286
00:30:48,998 --> 00:30:52,911
(CRACKLING AND SQUEAKING)

287
00:30:53,078 --> 00:30:58,277
It may sound like Marconi's first broadcast,
but this is a voice from the Pole.

288
00:30:58,438 --> 00:31:01,635
I just pray it's good news.

289
00:31:03,518 --> 00:31:05,986
It is. High pressure over the Pole.

290
00:31:06,158 --> 00:31:10,151
As the wind drops,
there's nothing to keep us here.

291
00:31:11,918 --> 00:31:15,433
First to take advantage is Kazama

292
00:31:15,598 --> 00:31:21,070
with a message he hopes to nail to the Pole,
though he doesn't know what it says.

293
00:31:21,238 --> 00:31:23,706
I can't read it.

294
00:31:26,158 --> 00:31:29,355
His back-up team works almost casually.

295
00:31:29,518 --> 00:31:35,150
They could be planning a trip
to the supermarket instead of a month on the ice.

296
00:31:39,278 --> 00:31:42,156
As if saying goodbye might be tempting fate,

297
00:31:42,318 --> 00:31:47,711
there's little ceremony as Kazama rides off
into the never-setting sun.

298
00:32:22,438 --> 00:32:25,271
Their departure makes my feet even itchier,

299
00:32:25,438 --> 00:32:29,670
but it's late afternoon before our turn comes.

300
00:32:30,678 --> 00:32:35,513
This plane will be carrying
seven people, fuel and survival equipment.

301
00:32:35,678 --> 00:32:38,750
It's a single-engined 0tter of 1950s design.

302
00:32:38,918 --> 00:32:43,230
This is the single engine
that will take us to the Pole.

303
00:32:43,398 --> 00:32:47,710
I seek reassurance from our pilot, Dan Baldwin.

304
00:32:47,878 --> 00:32:51,871
Dan, have you a message of hope for us?

305
00:32:52,038 --> 00:32:56,031
Yes. The weather looks good.
Shouldn't have any problem.

306
00:32:56,198 --> 00:33:01,670
Got a little wind blowing snow,
but it looks like being a good trip.

307
00:33:01,838 --> 00:33:05,194
- Have you been to the Pole often?
- Never been there.

308
00:33:05,358 --> 00:33:09,670
- You've never been there?
- No. It's a first for both of us.

309
00:33:09,838 --> 00:33:14,354
- Do you know the way?
- I'm not from down south here.

310
00:33:14,518 --> 00:33:18,033
I just come down to enjoy the nice weather.

311
00:33:18,198 --> 00:33:21,588
This aircraft must be a veteran of polar flights.

312
00:33:21,758 --> 00:33:27,276
No. This will be the first trip for
a single-engine Turbine Otter to the Pole.

313
00:33:27,438 --> 00:33:32,592
So the plane's never been to the Pole,
you've never been, we've never been.

314
00:33:32,758 --> 00:33:38,628
- I can just land you anywhere, then!
- Well, we're all in it together.

315
00:33:38,798 --> 00:33:43,269
- What are we landing on?
- We're landing on skis.

316
00:33:44,798 --> 00:33:47,358
Are those trickier than wheels?

317
00:33:47,518 --> 00:33:50,316
No, not so much.

318
00:33:50,478 --> 00:33:54,517
Whether they're wheels, skis or floats,
they're all different,

319
00:33:54,678 --> 00:33:58,068
but there's not much difference in landing.

320
00:33:58,238 --> 00:34:02,993
OK. Well, if you're optimistic...
I bet you're raring to go.

321
00:34:03,158 --> 00:34:05,877
- I'm raring to go.
- OK. Here goes.

322
00:34:31,478 --> 00:34:34,117
So this is it - the last leg.

323
00:34:34,278 --> 00:34:36,838
I ought to feel confident, elated even,

324
00:34:36,998 --> 00:34:42,994
but I know from the Arctic that happy endings
can never be taken for granted.

325
00:34:53,718 --> 00:34:59,236
Rudy Driscoll, another customer,
only took up adventures like this in his 50s.

326
00:35:00,518 --> 00:35:03,510
I don't know how they did it without sunglasses.

327
00:35:03,678 --> 00:35:07,512
At the base of each mountain range
is a blue ice field

328
00:35:07,678 --> 00:35:11,512
like a little lake attached to the mountain.

329
00:35:13,998 --> 00:35:16,990
Would you rather be doing it on skis?

330
00:35:17,158 --> 00:35:23,154
- Frankly, I think this is a bit nicer.
- I wouldn't like to cross it on a motorcycle.

331
00:35:23,318 --> 00:35:29,314
It's such an expanse of white.
How can you do it without getting disoriented?

332
00:35:32,198 --> 00:35:36,191
(RUDY) No landmarks
except for an occasional mountain.

333
00:35:36,358 --> 00:35:41,352
It makes you think how resourceful
the early explorers were

334
00:35:41,518 --> 00:35:46,831
when they didn't have navigation satellites
or electronics, radios.

335
00:35:46,998 --> 00:35:50,991
They found their way
across that sea of emptiness.

336
00:35:52,518 --> 00:35:57,512
At the heart of Antarctica is a plateau
with an average height of 10,000 feet

337
00:35:57,678 --> 00:36:02,468
and an average annual temperature
of minus 50 centigrade.

338
00:36:11,238 --> 00:36:14,867
It's a five-hour flight,
but there's little time to sleep.

339
00:36:15,038 --> 00:36:21,193
Halfway through we must stop and refuel.
First we have to find the fuel.

340
00:36:21,358 --> 00:36:27,593
A chart gives a rough position, but the precise
location is marked by a bamboo pole.

341
00:36:31,638 --> 00:36:35,313
Dan has never been here before,
nor has co-pilot Scott -

342
00:36:35,478 --> 00:36:39,835
who, it turns out, is not a pilot but a doctor.

343
00:36:43,878 --> 00:36:46,312
Dan goes down for a closer look.

344
00:36:56,598 --> 00:37:01,991
No one seems to mention
what happens if we don't find it.

345
00:37:12,798 --> 00:37:17,189
After a few abortive passes,
Dan catches sight of something.

346
00:37:59,398 --> 00:38:04,108
We've put down at a remote spot
called King's Peak.

347
00:38:07,158 --> 00:38:12,835
We squeeze off the plane
and are put to work erecting a tent.

348
00:38:16,558 --> 00:38:19,868
- Is that what you wanted?
- Thanks, Michael.

349
00:38:20,038 --> 00:38:25,112
Scott the doctor supervises Rudy and myself.
It is bitterly cold.

350
00:38:27,518 --> 00:38:33,787
Hang on to anything that might blow.
It'll be a long walk to Patriot Hills to get it.

351
00:38:33,958 --> 00:38:38,110
It blows back home, does it? Return to sender.

352
00:38:38,278 --> 00:38:43,068
It's difficult to grip anything
with these mittens on.

353
00:38:43,238 --> 00:38:46,230
I'm just going to pin out one corner.

354
00:38:52,038 --> 00:38:54,677
Holding my end up.

355
00:38:57,358 --> 00:39:03,354
As we continue our imitation of Laurel
and Hardy, Dan digs for aviation fuel.

356
00:39:25,038 --> 00:39:30,670
The 0tter's tank fills with what we hope
will be enough to see us to the Pole.

357
00:39:48,678 --> 00:39:52,637
What seems like hours later,
we have the tent up.

358
00:39:54,958 --> 00:39:58,951
0nly then does it become apparent
why we put it up.

359
00:39:59,118 --> 00:40:05,273
Dan is leaving us here while he flies
50 miles to drop fuel for Kazama's expedition.

360
00:40:33,118 --> 00:40:36,793
Watching him go fills me with foreboding.

361
00:40:36,958 --> 00:40:41,986
I've never had such an acute sense
of being nowhere.

362
00:40:47,318 --> 00:40:51,550
Scott tries to cheer us up
with tales of savage weather

363
00:40:51,718 --> 00:40:55,916
and people being trapped for days.

364
00:40:59,758 --> 00:41:03,797
At last comes the sound we've been waiting for.

365
00:41:12,638 --> 00:41:16,597
Watching Dan approach is a comforting sight.

366
00:41:16,758 --> 00:41:19,830
Watching him land is terrifying.

367
00:41:42,838 --> 00:41:49,027
We take the tent down and, after one last
weather check, Dan sets course for the Pole.

368
00:41:50,998 --> 00:41:54,468
It's difficult in an unpressurised cabin.

369
00:41:54,638 --> 00:41:58,153
We're at the equivalent
of 15,000 feet above sea level.

370
00:41:58,318 --> 00:42:04,268
Rudy, especially, is finding breathing hard.
Scott administers oxygen.

371
00:42:14,958 --> 00:42:19,110
Slowly and uncomfortably,
we draw nearer to the Pole.

372
00:42:20,398 --> 00:42:24,869
South Pole, South Pole, 5-8 Juliet Hotel.
Do you copy? Over.

373
00:42:25,038 --> 00:42:27,506
(RADl0) 5-8 Juliet Hotel. South Pole.

374
00:42:27,678 --> 00:42:32,194
Roger. We're about 15 minutes out.
How's the weather holding?

375
00:42:32,358 --> 00:42:36,146
(RADl0) I have a couple of pieces
of information.

376
00:42:36,318 --> 00:42:41,995
When you land on the skiway,
you'll see a number nine marker.

377
00:42:42,158 --> 00:42:47,391
We recommend you pull off - well off
the runway - and park the plane there.

378
00:42:48,518 --> 00:42:50,509
How copy?

379
00:42:50,678 --> 00:42:53,715
You're coming in five square there.

380
00:42:53,878 --> 00:42:58,588
(RADl0) Roger.
I've got one more piece of information.

381
00:42:58,758 --> 00:43:02,068
There is no certified runway available

382
00:43:02,238 --> 00:43:07,790
and the US government
cannot authorise a landing. How copy?

383
00:43:07,958 --> 00:43:12,509
- Roger. We got that.
- 0K. Have a good landing.

384
00:43:12,678 --> 00:43:14,987
(PALIN) We're brought down to earth.

385
00:43:15,158 --> 00:43:18,548
The goal of our journey is within our grasp,

386
00:43:18,718 --> 00:43:22,996
but the radio conversation
is a reminder of an awkward truth -

387
00:43:23,158 --> 00:43:25,513
no one really wants us here.

388
00:43:43,798 --> 00:43:48,314
Well, here it is. We've landed at the South Pole.

389
00:43:48,478 --> 00:43:53,472
Or tantalisingly close.
I don't know where the Pole is.

390
00:43:53,638 --> 00:43:57,551
So... I'd better go and ask.

391
00:44:10,598 --> 00:44:14,113
This is definitely not what I expected.

392
00:44:16,158 --> 00:44:19,673
It's a cross between the moon
and a marshalling yard.

393
00:44:19,838 --> 00:44:24,354
I see domes and aerials, dishes and pylons,
but no Pole.

394
00:44:31,438 --> 00:44:35,795
How ironic it is that
in the world's most unspoilt wilderness

395
00:44:35,958 --> 00:44:40,110
the needs of science
have created a building site.

396
00:44:46,158 --> 00:44:48,626
But where's the Pole?

397
00:44:49,758 --> 00:44:56,470
Perhaps it's kept indoors
to stop it getting knocked over by bulldozers.

398
00:45:02,038 --> 00:45:05,826
This is the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station,

399
00:45:05,998 --> 00:45:08,956
established by the Americans 35 years ago.

400
00:45:09,118 --> 00:45:13,908
It proves that even
at the most inhospitable place on earth,

401
00:45:14,078 --> 00:45:17,070
life as we know it can survive.

402
00:45:24,958 --> 00:45:27,518
0utside the temperature is 30 below.

403
00:45:27,678 --> 00:45:32,832
In here they can wear shorts
and eat chilli and blueberry pie.

404
00:45:37,158 --> 00:45:41,629
There is a record number
of 120 scientists working here.

405
00:45:41,798 --> 00:45:44,790
0ne of them must know where the Pole is.

406
00:45:50,478 --> 00:45:52,469
Keep going.

407
00:46:04,358 --> 00:46:08,590
Now I know where it is, but not which one it is.

408
00:46:11,398 --> 00:46:16,392
Surely this can't be it,
all gaudy like a fairground attraction?

409
00:46:19,718 --> 00:46:23,506
Thankfully not. This is the "ceremonial Pole".

410
00:46:23,678 --> 00:46:27,990
Politicians who get this far
like to be photographed here.

411
00:46:30,278 --> 00:46:32,587
At last I see it.

412
00:46:32,758 --> 00:46:38,276
I'm about to join the ranks of those who
have done what Scott and Amundsen didn't -

413
00:46:38,438 --> 00:46:41,555
stand on both Poles.

414
00:46:41,718 --> 00:46:48,271
At this point, all the world's lines
of longitude converge on my toecaps.

415
00:46:51,078 --> 00:46:54,593
It's impossible to go further south than this.

416
00:46:54,758 --> 00:46:57,397
Every direction you go in will be north.

417
00:46:57,558 --> 00:47:03,394
I can actually walk around the world
in eight seconds - as I will now demonstrate.

418
00:47:12,998 --> 00:47:14,989
It is the end of the world.

419
00:47:15,158 --> 00:47:19,515
(HOARSELY) It's also the end of our migration
from north to south.

420
00:47:19,678 --> 00:47:21,953
The omens are telling us to stop.

421
00:47:22,118 --> 00:47:28,512
The camera just packed up because of
the cold and I'm beginning to pack up too.

422
00:47:28,678 --> 00:47:33,752
It's minus 30 degrees centigrade here -
with wind chill that's minus 50.

423
00:47:33,918 --> 00:47:40,266
We're also at an elevation of 9,000 feet,
so there's altitude sickness to combat.

424
00:47:40,438 --> 00:47:47,355
But I think that after five and a half months,
the body is saying, "Pack it in."

425
00:47:52,278 --> 00:47:57,830
When I was a boy, I dreamed of coming here
like my heroes Scott and Amundsen.

426
00:47:57,998 --> 00:48:02,310
Now I am here, I want to celebrate,
but it's not that easy.

427
00:48:02,478 --> 00:48:06,073
The US government
doesn't encourage hospitality.

428
00:48:06,238 --> 00:48:12,427
While the scientists snuggle under warm
blankets, we spend a bitter night in a tent.

429
00:48:22,118 --> 00:48:26,430
But I can think of no more fitting end
to our journey than to say,

430
00:48:26,598 --> 00:48:29,590
"I'm glad we did it this way."