Expedition Ice Blossom: Skiing Solo from the Antarctic Coast to the South Pole
60 days. 1400km. Alone.
In the winter of 2026, I will set out for a 1400km/870 miles sled hauling cross-country ski journey from the Antarctic Coast, Gould Bay to the South Pole alone, taking the historical Berkner Route.
The Berkner Route is the journey I’ve really wanted to take. It starts from the coast of Antarctica, where the ship could get to if not choked with sea ice. You are so close to the sea that emperor penguins form a colony nearby. It was also Ernest Shackleton’s intended starting point for the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Historically, legendary polar explorers like Borge Ousland, Ranulph Fiennes, and Erling Kagge have taken this route, as did my mentor, Lars Ebbesen.
To undertake this journey alone is a deliberate choice. It is an act of total self-reliance. Even to this day, only 8 men/women have successfully completed a sled-hauling cross-country skiing journey from the Berkner coast to the South Pole alone. How many of them are women? Just one.
What nervously excites me is that the Berkner route goes through various challenging topographic sections like sticky snow across the Berkner Island, being close to the sea, sastrugi fields that last for whopping 400-500km, multiple hills around the mountains, and a section of blue ice and ice shoves. It is extremely isolated without ALE flight paths nearby, nor have many other expeditions taken the same route during the same season. So to me, this is a journey not only about pushing the limit of physical and mental strength, but it is also about meticulous problem-solving, risk management, and being comfortable with thriving in true isolation.
Everyone has different ideas of what the explorers are like, and we don’t need to fit into a certain character to take an extraordinary journey. I think it’s fun not to be molded into a stereotype. This expedition is not about a contest, record-breaking, or showing how tough I am. It is about chasing my own polar dream, and it is also my way of showing that the bold dream is for anyone who is willing to work damn hard towards it.
The Expedition in bullet points
• Distance: Approx. 1400km/870 miles
• Duration: 60-65 days
• Style: Solo (completely alone, no film crew, no support staff, just me and my sled), pulling a sled that carries all my equipment, and 65 days worth of food/fuel, which weighs approx. 120kg/270lb.
• Route: the Berkner Route
• Starting point: Gould Bay. It’s located at the Northern end of Berkner Island, where the land meets the Weddell Sea.
• Finish point: The South Pole
Polar expedition journey to this day
Over the past few years, I enjoyed sled-hauling Arctic ski expeditions in increasingly ambitious ways, recently completing a 32-day South to North full crossing of Svalbard, a 29-day West to East crossing of the Greenland ice sheet, and an 18-day traverse of Arctic Norway during the dark, bitter cold winter months. I have worked with amazing coaches and mentors based in Norway, especially those from the Ousland Explorers and Holmenkollen Treningslab.
One conversation I had with my mentor struck with me. We talked about approaching challenges not by focusing on why we can’t, but by finding out how we can, because there are solutions to everything. This problem-solving mentality is probably the most crucial piece of equipment I will carry, and it is the same mindset that has prepared me for this expedition.
What’s the meaning behind the name “Expedition Ice Blossom”?
Ice blossom = Ice Flowers + Cherry Blossom
Ice flowers are flower-like ice crystals that form on sea ice when water vapor rises above the ice and meets extremely cold air. It symbolizes the coastal start of the expedition, being close to the Weddell Sea.
Cherry blossoms symbolize the fleeting nature of life in Japanese culture. Their beautiful but brief bloom, serves as a metaphor for the transience of existence. This reminds me that both the suffering and joy of the expedition are temporary, and I am in Antarctica to cherish every moment, no matter how tough it gets.
How It All Started
I fell in love with the polar regions after visiting Greenland for the first time in 2018, trekking along the coast of Ilulissat, surrounded by icebergs as tall as skyscrapers. I became so obsessed with learning about the wildlife, environmental issues, and the daring adventures of the explorers in the polar regions, which planted the seeds for my own polar expedition journey. It’s been my happy place ever since, getting myself involved with science, storytelling, and expeditions in the regions.
Getting Ready for the Expedition Ice Blossom 2026
Training & strategizing all the smallest details…
Going on the journey alone, but certainly not alone leading up to it
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Ayuka Kawakami 