Traveling to the South Pole is a journey unlike any other. In some ways, it feels like it should take far longer than it does. How could just a five-hour flight and then a three-hour flight bring you somewhere that feels so completely otherworldly? By the time you touch down at the Pole, you feel as if you should have taken a rocket ship to get there. And honestly, sometimes an LC-130 or C-17 does feel like a rocket. You’re strapped into a canvas seat mounted on metal bars. Your legroom is squeezed by cargo wrapped in netting. Members of the Air National Guard hand out ear protection, and even with it, you’ll never have a conversation over the deafening roar of the propellers. You definitely don’t want to know the “toilet situation.” There’s no beverage service—just a paper bag with sandwiches and snacks. Eat the fruit early; if the plane has to turn back to Christchurch, it becomes a customs violation. Thankfully, I didn’t “boomerang” on either of my flights.
I was lucky to experience smooth weather the entire way. I flew from Christchurch to McMurdo on a C-17, spent about 24 hours at McMurdo, and then continued to the South Pole on an LC-130. These aircraft are remarkable—part plane, part transformer, shifting from skis to wheels as needed.
