A group of Fort Lewis College alumni and donors will be setting sail across Antarctica in 2027 for a 16-day skiing, snowboarding and trekking adventure trip led by the college’s outdoor adventure program Outdoor Pursuits.
Outdoor Pursuits, which can be joined by students for free and by faculty and staff for a fee, was founded in 1977 and established by professor Dolph Kuss and student John Byrd with funding from the Associated Students of Fort Lewis College.
The program “helps students connect, lead, and thrive in the outdoors – on campus, across the region, and beyond,” according to the program’s website.
The Antarctica trip – which is part of the program’s 50th anniversary celebration – is being offered from late October to early November 2027 in collaboration with Ice Axe Expeditions as a fundraising effort for Outdoor Pursuits.
Seven slots have already been filled, according to Director of Outdoor Pursuits Josh Kling – two by alumni, one by an individual with a prior connection to Outdoor Pursuits and four by donors.
The ship can hold around 120 guests and up to 30 guides; but the comfortable cap for FLC-specific guests is around eight, Kling said. Outdoor Pursuits will be sharing the ship with other passengers and guides from Ice Axe Expeditions.
Donors and alumni from the college who join the trip will be led by Kling, who is an FLC alumni himself and an International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations Licensed Mountain Guide.
The trip is a “once in a lifetime opportunity,” Kling said.
“There are more people that have climbed Mount Everest than have skied in Antarctica,” he said. “(Participants) will get to go ski in Antarctica, see penguins and whales and seals and all the amazingness of Antarctica ... and feel good that while they’re doing it, they’re helping to lower economic barriers for Fort Lewis College students in the Outdoor Pursuits program.”
Participants will begin the lengthy trip with three nights in Ushuia, Argentina, followed by two weeks’ worth of sailing and adventuring their way to the Antarctic Peninsula, according to a release by Outdoor Pursuits.
Participants are promised skiing and trekking adventures in locations like Charlotte Bay, Bluff Island, Damoy Point, Lemaire Channel, the Ukrainian Vernadsky scientific station and Half Moon Bay.
The total cost per participant comes out to around $20,000, Kling said.
Participants with Outdoor Pursuits who book a Main Deck Balcony room on the ship for $15,995 are given an automatic upgrade to a more luxurious Balcony Stateroom, which goes for $18,195 per guest. The upgrade is part of a deal Kling worked out with Ice Axe Expeditions Founder Doug Stoup and Chief Operating Officer Ashleigh Stevens. Participants are asked to donate the difference – $2,200 – to Outdoor Pursuits.
“Even if you do love Fort Lewis, it’s a chunk of money,” Kling said. “... But this is not a student trip. It’s designed as a fundraising trip – that is the premise of it. It’s no hidden fact that we are trying to make some money for the program.”
Some elements of the trip are included in the overall cost, including three meals per day onboard the ship and accommodations and meals during the three-night pre-expedition stay in Ushuaia; but participants must foot other costs themselves, such as meals not onboard the ship after it departs; airfare and travel; skiing, snowboarding or trekking equipment; and mandatory emergency medical and evacuation insurance.
For more information
To learn more about the trip, visit www.iceaxe.tv/expeditions/2027-antarctic-peninsula-adventure-cruise or email Josh Kling, director of Outdoor Pursuits, at kling_j@fortlewis.edu.
Outdoor Pursuits is no stranger to hosting worldwide adventures for alumni and donors. The program has also supported trips to Japan and Patagonia, Chile, among other international locales.
Trips like these are an opportunity for alumni and donors to make new friends, explore new places and connect over a shared appreciation for the college, Kling said.
“All these alum are hanging out together on the ski track, talking about the amazingness of Fort Lewis,” he said.
epond@durangoherald.com
