The Expedition Trip Notes provide detailed information and background for Adventure Consultants' Ross Sea Antarctica Ski Touring Expedition.
You can view the trip notes online by clicking the image or download a pdf by clicking the following link:
Ross Sea Antarctica Ski Touring Expedition
Team Membership
On the Ross Sea Antarctica Ski Touring expedition there is a 1:4 guide to climber ratio.
Our Guides
The logistics and leadership while ski touring in Antarctica will be provided by Adventure Consultants CEO and guide Guy Cotter.

Guy Cotter
Expedition Leader
Guy is the CEO of Adventure Consultants and has spent over 25 years leading and organising expeditions around the globe. His experience in the mountains is unquestionable and his skills are in high demand, not only as a guide but also as a high altitude cameraman, film project manager, training corporate groups, speaker and of course in expedition logistics and planning. Guy’s impressive climbing resume includes the Seven Summits, eight of the world’s fourteen 8,000m peaks and numerous expeditions climbing and skiing in Antarctica.
Head Office Support Team
Running successful journeys and expeditions is more about experience, knowledge and strategic management than any other factors. As an organisation, we place a substantial amount of time and resources into ensuring our trips are well planned and supported. You can be assured that the AC staff will provide you with friendly advice and knowledgeable support throughout the planning stages of your trip and we will be there to provide backup while the trip is running.
Hayley Furze, Client Liaison
Hayley joins the AC team with a wealth of experience working in the tourism and hospitality industry along with a love of travel. She works as Client Liaison on a number of our European and international ascents, treks and expeditions.


Akademik Shokalskiy
Akademik Shokalskiy was built in 1984 for polar and oceanographic research, and being fully ice-strengthened is are perfect for expedition travel. She carries just 48 passengers and provides comfortable accommodation in twin share cabins approximately half of which have private facilities. All cabins have outside windows or portholes and ample storage space.
On board there is a combined bar/library lounge area and a dedicated lecture room. The cuisine is excellent and is prepared by top NZ and Australian chefs.
The real focus and emphasis of the expedition is getting you ashore as often as possible for as long as possible with maximum safety and comfort. Along with our qualified and experienced Adventure Consultants ski guide, our expedition will be accompanied by some of the most experienced naturalists and guides, who have devoted a lifetime to field research in the areas that we visit. The ship is crewed by a very enthusiastic and most experienced Russian Captain and crew.
Technical description:
- Classification: Russian register Arc 5 ice class
- Year built: 1982
- Accommodation: 48 berths
- Shipyard: Finland
- Main engines: power 2x1560 bhp (2x 1147Kw)
- Register: Russia
- Maximum speed: 12 knots (2 engines),
- Cruising speed: 10 knots (one engine)
- Bunker capacity: 320 tons
Your Health
Expedition members will be provided with pre-trip medical questionnaire and some members may be asked to visit their family physician to receive a full medical examination. This information will be sighted only by the expedition leader and our medical adviser and treated with full confidentiality.
You should come with a good level of fitness as this is a moderate to strenuous program. It really is worth making an effort, as those who are “mountain-fit” when they arrive in Antarctica will enjoy it far more!
Level of Experience Required
This exploratory adventure offers some degree of flexibility to be customised to your skill level. Some basic mountaineering skills or previous backcountry or off-piste ski experience is required. For those with limited experience the team at AC can organise training courses prior to departure to bring you up to speed to ensure that you have a safe and successful expedition.
We ask all potential participants to complete a questionnaire of their climbing and ski experience. This helps tailor the program to your experience and ability, so that you get maximum enjoyment and satisfaction from your efforts. It also allows us to make any suggestions for further training.
Difficulty Rating
Each of our trips is individually rated according to its physical and technical difficulty, displayed in the icons towards the top of each trip page. You can click on the accompanying question mark for additional descriptions and the full run-down of our grading system is available on our Difficulty Ratings page.
History & Ecology
Steeped in history, the Ross Sea homes a remarkable number of relics from the golden-age of exploration, including some famous huts that are icons of Antarctic history. Named for explorer Sir James Clark Ross, who discovered the area in 1841, the Ross Sea is perhaps better known for the explorer Robert Falcon Scott and his ‘Race to the Pole’ alongside fellow pioneers Nobu Shirase and Roald Amundsen; and of course the ill-fated Trans-Antarctic expedition led by Ernest Shackleton.
The dramatic landscape described by these early explorers is unchanged. The penguin rookeries described by the early biologists fluctuate in numbers from year to year, but they still occupy the same sites. The seals, which are no longer hunted for food lie around on ice floes seemingly unperturbed. The whales, which were hunted so ruthlessly here in the 1920s, are slowly coming back, but it is a long way back from the edge of extinction, and some species have done better than others. Snow Petrels, Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, Antarctic Prions and South Polar Skuas all breed in this seemingly inhospitable environment.
Food
All meals, including snacks, coffee and tea, are provided onboard and most dietary requirements can be catered for by the chefs.
Clothing & Equipment
A full clothing and equipment checklist will be sent to all expedition members once their booking is confirmed.
Cabin Arrangements
Double beds are available in suite accommodation only. Single guests are matched with a sharer of the same gender in a twin-share cabin. Payment of a single supplement guarantees the sole use of a cabin (1.8 times the p/p rate for cabins, 2 times for suites).