News24 | SEE | Antarctica, ice caves, and setting cold plunge records with five lucky teens

Five days of wide-eyed adventure... Riaan Manser and five lucky Grade 11s are back from their epic tour of Antarctica. They crawled through an ice cave, slept under the coldest of skies, and set new records for the true cold plunge.

Full of ideas and expectations... That was us aboard the rugged Ilyusion IL-76 TD-90 cargo aeroplane, creating an authentic canvas for the first chapter of our Antarctica story.

For those who’ve been following, five Grade 11s from all over South Africa joined us on our annual Students In Antarctica tour for a once-in-a-lifetime learning experience.

In the pictures, you see what is now a luxury upgrade in seating on our plane, akin to a traditional layout as you would have on your local Airlink flight to Cape Town. What is unique to Ultima Antarctic Expeditions’ flights, though, is the added unintentional entertainment. Watching the hosting team, including the pilot crew, hustle about as they navigate the way across the southern ocean, you get to see some of the work usually only done behind closed doors.

Our mandatory arrival pictures on the runway and in front of the handsome-looking aeroplane always deliver. You get to hear and see what it means to put foot on this incredible ice continent from a 17-year-old who hasn’t even graduated from high school. You can just imagine the emotions and the words used to explain how they feel.

READ | Meet the five Grade 11 pupils heading to Antarctica on adventure of a lifetime

Glacial ice walls are formed over millions of years. Standing alongside one as a team is memorable and a more valuable space than any traditional classroom could ever offer. We explored and chatted about what we were seeing. We took the conversations we had in this magical scenery back to our little igloo classroom to warm up our hands and faces.

This classroom was an incredibly unique opportunity for the students. We had Justin Truter, the head of environmental law from Werksmans Attorneys, leading a moot court between the students on topics we, as a leadership team, consider contemporary. Should eco-tourism in sensitive areas even be a consideration? Is the ban on mining a realistic restriction or sufficient deterrent for rogue Antarctica prospectors? Does it make sense to farm animals to satisfy the ever-growing human demand?

These students had our jury in fits of laughter at times – but most importantly, they had us all rethinking the same old environmental rhetoric we are used to in our individual clusters. These moot courts are now a certainty in our lecture programme for the years to come.

The ice cave crawl

The temperatures were high enough to cause excessive melt, and led to the cancellation of the visit to the large ice cave. What they did, though, was open an entirely new cave experience for our team this year: the chance to crawl into a shallow cave.

The roof of this cave, covered in earth, is an engineering miracle. These beautiful crystal formations are created slowly over time, unlike traditional stalactites that are formed by melted water freezing as it drips downwards. These finely crafted hexagon-shaped crystals grow molecule by molecule from the minimal moisture in the air. The hydrogen bonds in water create one of the strongest building blocks known in nature.

READ | Riaan Manser | Taking it all in... in Antarctica!

We didn’t just laze about in ice caves. We ran a half-marathon. Can you believe that some students who had never even run a 5km race were now attempting 21km – in temperatures ranging from -15 to -20°C? It was unbelievable to see every single person finish. Some took a little longer than others on the course, but ever so much more inspirational, seeing the first four students who had completed their 21km go out in horrendous conditions to help Aaminah see her last 4km. Blankets were wrapped over their five layers of Columbia gear underneath, just to ensure they all returned safely!

Mike, our lead educator, was actually concerned at one stage when the five students were disappearing every now and then in the distance. This seasoned NSRI rescue crew member understands how quickly okay conditions can turn into not-so-okay conditions… But a full safety plan was in place.

A real cold plunge

Having a real ice plunge in Antarctica is mandatory for a first-time visitor. These students were so competitive that they all aimed for the SIA world record of 12 minutes 26 seconds. Not only did four of them break this, but the unlikely ice assassin, Aaminah, pushed it to the unbelievable 20-minute 04-second mark. Unbelievable!

One of our students, Aleggra, is a talented artist but untested in temperatures as low as these. She had the task of painting a masterpiece in between all the scheduled activities we had in our calendar.

On the final morning of our stay, while the aeroplane was being loaded, she was up at 04:00 to complete her painting. The paint had frozen. But she made a plan and delivered something every visitor to Novo will marvel at in future. That colourful penguin head at some angles actually looks as if it is moving or following you with its eyes.

ALSO READ | Five Grade 11 pupils head to Antarctica on adventure of a lifetime

The explorers of old were the real deal. They survived under Antarctica’s raw brutality. These students agreed with my request, some less enthusiastically, to do the hike out to nothingness and increasing coldness. We then found a rock face for us to pitch camp, eat and then sleep under the stars. This is not a desirable sleep under the stars as we Africans advertise to the world. This is a once-in-a-lifetime, never-do-again effort. Proud to see everyone persevere and still arise in the morning chill, with a smile on their faces.

This year, I could see the change in the students and in us. Their growth was so visible and tangible, I was concerned the parents would not recognise them. But the change was in all of us. We are so grateful to all those who have supported our SIA programme over all these years. If anything, I can tell you that this programme does not speak about doing, it DOES the doing!

Thank you to you all, Students in Antarctica, Ice Class of 2025.

*Riaan Manser’s Students in Antarctica is an annual tour based at Ultima Air Base. Riaan is a pioneering international explorer with multiple world-firsts and has joined the team as the new editor of News24 Outdoors, driven by Ford.