antarctica's only hotel hosts just 300 guests per year but it charges them almost 100 000 each
for a one week stay in the icy paradise that seems like an oxymoron icy paradise this is
white desert an antarctic vacation destination that offers guests the luxury of drinking
five star cocktails poured over jurassic era ice and that's just the tip of the iceberg see we did
there those who can afford white desert get to enjoy gourmet meals while staying in futuristic
pods or luxurious solar powered tents private jets get you to this one-of-a-kind campsite which
may be the world's most exclusive accommodation ever put on your parkas and let's find out why
if you have the cash to visit white desert the first step is hopping on a gulfstream 550 from
cape town and taking that private jet straight to the middle of the frozen landscape where you'll
touch down on a runway paved into 100 000 year old sheets of ice founded in 2005 white desert is
the only hotel operator in antarctica however its accommodations can't technically be called hotels
strict environmental regulations mean that white desert has to be made up of zero impact
semi-permanent structures that can be broken down quickly leaving no trace so to build their version
of an icy hotel the company has created stylish and comfortable campsites that allow rich guests
to go glamping among glaciers these luxurious campsites offer guests that can afford to stay
in antarctica the most comfort they can expect to get from the inhospitable environment prices range
from fourteen thousand five hundred dollars for a single day trip to the campsite via private jet to
over ninety two thousand dollars for an eight day antarctic experience responsible for the creation
of the campsites are robin and patrick woodhead polar explorers and the founders of white desert
while the camps offer luxury from five star dining to warm comfortable beds patrick makes it clear
that white desert is for the adventurous rich not those who want to lay out on their yachts in
monaco white desert's first campsite is rich away camp it's been completely redesigned four times
since it opened more than a decade ago it's made up of pods that lie alongside a massive frozen
lake the company's second camp is wolf's fang located near the airstrip in a location that
features 1 000 foot tall rock formations currently the two properties can handle just 300 total
guests over the november to january summer season but by developing the properties even more the
wood heads hope to host a maximum of 600 guests per year let's take a closer look at the campsites
that await white desert's affluent vacationers once off the private jet a six-wheel drive truck
arrives to pick up guests and bring them to their campsite if guest book is spotted which away
they'll be driven out to these six round pods that look like they belong on mars or maybe the moon
the location sleeps just 10 campers in total and the pods are decked out with plenty of felt and
fur guests can mix and mingle in the warm communal area which features a lounge library and dining
room the fiberglass pods open in 2012 and are powered by solar and wind energy the campsite
also includes a shower pod a reception pod and a kitchen pod notable guests include prince harry
and former astronaut buzz aldrin wolffang is the slightly less luxurious camping destination
but just by a little the campsite is made up of solar heated tents that sleep a dozen explorers
the central lounge and dining area are meant to invoke the golden age of polar exploration
tents are equipped with ensuite washrooms and there are two warm shower rooms wolf's fang is
advertised as the more adventurous location where guests get to rough it just a little bit more than
they would at witch away since which away is more luxurious you'll find packages here that start
eight thousand dollars more expensive than wolf's fang the properties have plenty of things in
common each features a comfortable dining room fur covered chairs couches and beds guests are served
high balls of top shelf whiskey from a snow bar that's chilled with slow melting jurassic era ice
campers are also served gourmet six-course meals based on their personal preferences all right so
that's where guests get to sleep in and dine while in antarctica but what can vacationers
do for fun luckily there's a long list of fun and frosty activities to be enjoyed stays at wolfsfang
run upward of 52 thousand dollars for five day trips these rates include meals drinks transfers
and round trip flights from cape town on that gulfstream 550 they also include guided excursions
like ice climbing rock climbing and hiking through neon blue ice tunnels which way's most expensive
package is 92 thousand dollars for an eight day trip that includes hanging out with over 6 000
penguins and visits the lowest point of earth in the south pole itineraries for both camps overlap
for example both can explore the south pole and climb mountains rarely climbed by humans guests
can even have picnics at the top of ice mountains with views seen by few people in the world
some hikes are even completed under antarctica's midnight sun adrenaline junkies can enjoy flying
across a zip line over an ice lake or descending from the summit of a 300 foot high cliff they get
to take ski-doo tours or use fat bikes to traverse the icy environment the most adventurous can even
spend a night in a canvas tent to learn how they really survive in the ice and snow there are
plenty of educational archives as well guests can take advantage of daily ice safaris and learn the
science and ice preservation of antarctic research stations to prepare for these incredibly cold
activities white desert tells guests to pack as if they're going on an epic ski trip but they'll also
provide campers with additional layers to survive the harsh climate as you can imagine setting up
antarctic campsites is no easy task paying almost a hundred thousand dollars to spend a week in the
cold might seem like a pretty steep price but prices have to be that high for white desert to
even have a hope of turning a profit to create the campsites the wood heads had to figure out
how to get running electric and plumbing lines to such isolated and cold places in the dead of
winter where sometimes there are zero hours of daylight they also had to train staff in the art
of building ice chests for food storage and how to safely drive tourists across a frozen landscape
according to patrick woodhead in his interview with bloomberg it's also incredibly expensive
to get food to white desert for example a single can of coca-cola cost as little as 71 cents in new
york grocery store but in antarctica it can cost 38.62 cents that's because of any plane capable of
carrying it all the way to antarctica has to make the 8 000 mile trip it's a 10 hour loop from cape
town and back without refueling this also limits the transit methods used in the icy climate to
pretty much only gulfstream 550s because of their incredible range woodhead says that trips made an
error are very costly if you make a mistake and launch a golf stream when the weather is marginal
you've just burned 120 000 every single hour worth of fuel is like gold in antarctica the cost for a
barrel rises from 100 in cape town to 800 at the antarctic runway white desert runs a refueling
station on the south pole the gas takes an entire month to arrive on special sleds with top speeds
of six miles per hour by the time they receive a barrel of fuel the total price can rise to five
thousand dollars per barrel sometimes the team can't even use planes to transport cargo which is
even more complicated things that can't fit in the plane require ice-breaking ships and giant cranes
to hoist materials over gigantic ice shelves all this transportation takes place under the watchful
eye of sustainability authorities who make sure that the fragile landscape remains undisturbed the
day-to-day operating logistics of the camp aren't much easier staff has to melt snow so guests will
have water to shower ration plane loads of produce stored in igloo freezers and ship every bit of
waste back to the mainland when camping season is over the camps are all taken down and stored and
then rebuilt next season fortunately a thirst for extreme adventures is growing among the affluent
like patrick says some of the world's richest are actually sick of vacationing on yachts and monaco
they're ready to get their heart pumping while white desert has to go above and beyond to
make an antarctic vacation possible for just 300 people per year the woodheads hope their
unique vacation idea will make all that work worth it a third camp is in the works at white
desert with a design that woodhead describes as similar to dr evil's lair expect it to be even
more luxurious and unique than which away camp this new location may cost well over one hundred
thousand dollars for a week-long getaway further maximizing the profit of unique icy retreat
you