Adventure Options Added to Ocean Nova
The First Three Departures Only:
November 7, 17 and 27, 2007
What is it like to camp in the Antarctic?.
Past campers tell us that they spent most of the night outside their tents absorbing the silence. They reluctantly communicated in whispers, as they found speaking intrusive. During the few hours of darkness that fall they are tempted to reach overhead, because the stars seem near enough to touch. Campers from the Northern Hemisphere find the constellations unfamiliar, adding to the other-worldliness of the experience. All participants report that camping deepens their understanding of Antarctica in countless ways.
What is it like to cross-country ski the Peninsula?
Antarctic cross-country skiers often talk about the anticipation that builds as they gear up for the trail, and the anticipation - the twisting of the upper torso into the direction of a turn when skiing - that will soon follow. Skiers tell us that the moment that feeling and action coincide is sublime, pure and intense, like the landscape they are exploring.
What is it like to climb an Antarctic mountain?
The elemental nature of the activity lingers with Antarctic climbers: heart beats, stretched muscles, and wind whistling through the lines. They speak of hand holds formed by ancient rocks, and steep ice-covered slopes overhead, forcing a scramble, before the advance continues. And finally, with humour, they tell of the glissade, that last descent on the return that turns each of them in to children for one brief moment as they slide.