As the jumbo jet flies a group of tourists over the magnetic South Pole on a one-day excursion, the compass needle wobbles and jumps irregularly. Thousands of yards below your jet, you can see the ice-covered sea, its surface molded into frozen waves by the constant, bitter winds as they sweep unobstructed over the barren panorama. Yet despite the high altitude, flowing ribbons of blowing snow can be seen from that height as it is blown south toward the sea, sweeping over the beautifully frozen waves of the massive glacier.
The first explorers to make the full trek to the South Pole had to walk, hike and sled over the treacherous and deadly landscape in 1909. It took them over 130 days to travel over 2,000 miles. Leaving, under four short hours ago, the tourists, seated comfortably on the jumbo jet, are now flying over the pole, and will marvel at the natural beauty of this final wilderness left on the Earth, as they take in the antarctic landscape for a few hours, before heading back to to complete their round trip.