Antarctica is not formally inhabited and does not belong to any state. However, there are many facilities located and functioning there: tourist camps, scientific stations, airports and weather stations.
Novolazarevskaya station: Oasis camp. Photo: Dina Karavaeva
Scientific stations
According to an international agreement, any country can open a scientific station in Antarctica south of 60 degrees south latitude. To date, there are more than 90 such stations. Some of them are abandoned or liquidated, some operate seasonally, and some operate all year round. Meteorological observations are conducted at these stations, as well as research in the fields of geology, geography, biology, and astronomy.
The first station was opened in 1898-99 at Cape Adair by members of the British Antarctic Expedition led by Norwegian polar explorer Karsten Borchgrevink. The hut they built has been preserved to this day. It was periodically used by other expeditions, and now it is a tourist attraction.
In 1903, the Scottish expedition built the so-called Omond House on Laurie Island – it became the first capital building in Antarctica and was used as a year-round meteorological station. In 1904, it was transferred to the administration of Argentina, where she founded the Orcadas station, which is still in operation today.
Since then, more than 90 stations have been opened and closed, which belong to different countries. Currently, stations in Russia, the USA, China, India, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Ukraine, Italy, France, Sweden, Great Britain, and South Korea are open on the continent. Several other countries have research stations on nearby islands.
Some stations are closed to tourists, and getting there is quite difficult, except for work. Others, on the contrary, are very happy to receive visitors. However, due to the increased popularity of this direction and the increase in the flow of people, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get to many previously available stations.
Discoveries in Antarctica continue
Scientists from Russia have recently described a new geographical feature in West Antarctica — the oasis at Cape Berks. This was reported in the press service of the St. Petersburg Federal Research Center (SPb FIC) of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The discovery was made jointly with scientists from the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institutes. In the course of their work, they conducted a detailed study of 18 previously unexplored lakes in the area. Based on the results of the analysis, it was found that the identified site is a stable natural structure. It is considered an integral formation on the surface of the Earth.
The territory of this oasis is characterized by a complex relief, including mountain ranges and valleys. The average annual air temperature here is at minus 12 degrees. The ice-free zone covers approximately 2.2 square kilometers. Despite the harsh conditions, the region is inhabited by living organisms — penguins, seals, Antarctic petrels and other bird species are found here.
Prior to this, the site was classified as rock formations protruding from under glaciers. However, after conducting extensive research, scientists have revised the classification of the territory. Now it belongs to a full-fledged oasis of Antarctica, which was named after the polar explorer Arnold Budretsky.
Novolazarevskaya station
One of the most accessible Russian stations in Antarctica for tourists is Novolazarevskaya. The rest (Mirny, Vostok, Russian and others) are extremely difficult to reach – they are located far from airfields and “well-trodden” roads.
A fairly large infrastructure complex has been developed near the Novolazarevskaya station: there is also an airfield that serves almost the entire East Antarctica, an airstrip for IL-76 and Boeing aircraft, an observatory, and a volleyball court. Novolazarevskaya is located on an oasis, a land area that is not covered with snow and ice all year round. In summer, streams run here and there are quite a lot of all kinds of animals.
Wolf’s Fang airfield. Photo: Dina Karavaeva
Oasis is a camp of wooden houses created from an old research station. There is quite a lot of space here, as many expeditions that fly from Cape Town start from here. A distinctive feature of this camp is the wooden, real sauna. There are not many baths in Antarctica, but only one wooden one, so washing in it is a real polar exclusive.
The station was built in 1961, replacing the previously existing Lazarev station. Since then, not much has changed here – the interiors are quite nostalgic. The station’s infrastructure is far from ideal, but it is enough for polar explorers to live comfortably here all year round.
Airports and airfields
The most important infrastructural part of Antarctica is airports and airfields. Without them, the very existence of man on the continent would be impossible, much less tourism. The main aircraft for international flights to Antarctica are converted IL-76s, as well as Boeings. Converted Falcon 7x, Gulfstream G550, Basler Bt-67 and other aircraft are operating inside the continent, as well as the Bell 412 helicopter.
There are no airports that we are used to (with buildings, markings, etc.) here – rather, they are runways of natural origin, flat and level ice on which an airplane can land. Before the start of the season, these spaces are cleared, but in general, due to its location, the snow does not linger on them – it is simply blown away by a strong wind.
There are about 40 airfields in Antarctica and adjacent islands. Planes from Chile, from Punta Arenas, land at an airfield near the tourist base on Union Glacier. Many expeditions, hiking teams, solo skiers and kiters start from here. The largest tourist camp on the entire continent is located here on the glacier.
The second large airfield is located on the coast near the Novolazarevskaya station, where many cargo planes, tourists and Antarctic infrastructure workers arrive. The Wolf’s Fang runway, which is located in the mountains, is also not so far from Novolazarevskaya, but a large airliner can land there.
The entire complex of stations on the Antarctic Peninsula is mainly served by the Teniente Marsh Airport, which is located on Waterloo Island. It is the northernmost airport in Antarctica. Nearby stations are Artigas (Uruguay), Bellingshausen (Russia), President Eduardo Fray Montalva (Chile), Changcheng (China) and others.
There are small airfields (rather, platforms with packed snow where small planes can land) at the South Pole and in other places. At such airfields, small planes refuel halfway to their destination. Fuel supplies are usually stored there, there is a toilet, and the largest ones have seasonal workers who organize fuel, help planes and expeditions with refueling.
Tourist camps
The tourist infrastructure has become particularly important in Antarctica in recent years, and camps for visitors to the continent have become as commonplace here as the usual scientific stations. The only difference is that they unfold here only in season, in summer. Some structures, equipment, cars and things are stored here all winter, and they are taken out of the snowdrifts for the arrival of the next batch of tourists.
Since the construction of a tourist camp in Antarctica is a very, very expensive process, they are strictly limited in the number of places for visitors. They are enough to provide overnight accommodation for groups and individual travelers arriving for three months. In some of them, an overnight stay is so expensive that every night will increase the budget of your trip significantly.
Here are the main camps where visitors to Antarctica stay. Let’s start with the western half of the continent, the area of responsibility and work of ALE, Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions. The largest permanent camp on the continent. It accommodates 70 guests (plus all the staff who work in the kitchen, organization and other services of the camp live here).
It is not surprising that large groups come here, for example, to participate in the Antarctic Marathon and other events. Everything here is like an ordinary hotel, well, except for the snow around – there is a shower and toilet (with strictly controlled rules of use), a dining room, warm tents for two with beds, a reading room, telephones and even a souvenir shop.
ALE’s second permanent camp is located at the Southernmost Pole. It is much smaller (for example, there is no shower), but the cost of an overnight stay in it is much higher than in the Union due to the complexity of logistics and the cost of fuel. This is also why almost no one stops here – the vast majority arrive at the pole and leave it on the same day.
All camps of the White Desert travel company are located near the coast in East Antarctica, and the very first of them is Whichaway: 6-bedroom high-tech igloo with five-star hotel service complemented by common areas: library, kitchen, lounge.
Antarctica is a controversial place. On the one hand, this continent is a continuous white desert, the driest on Earth, while almost all the fresh water reserves on the planet are located there. The land here does not belong to anyone – and all countries can use it at the same time. No one lives here all the time, but thousands of people live and work in Antarctica all year round.
By Alexandra Gordienko
