The duo kite-skiing 4000 kilometres across Antarctica for...

What’s Happening

Alright so An explorer and a glaciologist are kite-skiing across Antarctica with a ground-penetrating radar to gather data that will help understand the past and future of the ice sheet Environment The duo kite-skiing 4000 kilometres across Antarctica for science An explorer and a glaciologist are kite-skiing across Antarctica with a ground-penetrating radar to gather data that will help understand the past and future of the ice sheet By Alec Luhn 31 December 2025 Facebook / Meta Twitter / X icon Linkedin Reddit Email Matthieu Tordeur, Heïdi Sevestre and the bust of Vladimir Lenin at the southern pole of inaccessibility, Antarctica Heïdi Sevestre/Matthieu Tordeur In the endless white expanse, a small mound broke the horizon.

As explorer Matthieu Tordeur and glaciologist Heïdi Sevestre skied towards it, they saw a golden head emerging from the snow. It was the bust of Vladimir Lenin left by a Soviet expedition at the southern pole of inaccessibility, the point in Antarctica furthest from any coast. (wild, right?)

This surreal experience was the first milestone of a 4000-kilometre expedition across the continent to collect data that could shed light on its future in a warming world.

The Details

Antarctica is in crisis and we are scrambling to understand its future “I almost had tears in my eyes,” says Sevestre, speaking to New Scientist from Antarctica. “We felt fr humble, fr, fr small, and it was quite something to see lonely Lenin here just in the middle of nowhere.

” Since 3 November, the pair have been skiing with kites that can pull them at speeds of 35 kilometres an hour or more. It is the first kite-ski expedition to collect data for polar science.

Why This Matters

The pair are hauling sleds with ground-penetrating radar that can scan the snow and ice 40 metres down. Scientists have been trying to figure out if increased snowfall in the interior of East Antarctica is offsetting greater melting along the coast. Satellite measurements can give some indication, but Sevestre and Tordeur’s data could help produce more accurate estimates, says Martin Siegert at the University of Exeter in the UK.

This could have implications for future research in this area.

The Bottom Line

Satellite measurements can give some indication, but Sevestre and Tordeur’s data could help produce more accurate estimates, says Martin Siegert at the University of Exeter in the UK.

What do you think about all this?