the antarctic this winter

The number of expeditions heading for the Antarctic this season is comparatively large, partly due to the International Polar Year, and perhaps half a dozen teams will head South. What I think is sad however is that a few projects were planned but narrowly missed funding, including my own, which were set to make major advances in Antarctic travel. An example is Ben Saunders' SOUTH which continues to struggle to gain funding, possibly due to the fact it's not a copy of a previous expedition. This is an increasing problem in fundraising for major polar ventures where it is hard to show sponsors the difference between us and commercial Antarctic adventure trips. Those that remain are mostly guided commercial trips from nowhere near the Antarctic coast.