The Antarctic Ocean probably isn’t the first place most people would think of to go, on a beginners’ kayaking holiday. But according to Ewan and Sophie, it’s not unusual to get inexperienced kayakers on their guided tours. Adventure kayak guides Ewan Blyth and Sophie Ballagh venture out into the waterways of the Antarctic every week – with 25 tourists in tow – to explore the ice and the wildlife they encounter. We spoke to Ewan and Sophie to hear more about their story “Navigating the White Continent”, to understand what it takes to be a tourist guide in such an extreme environment.
Both myself and Sophie have been kayak guides in many parts of the world but are drawn back to the Antarctic time and time again because it is so special and so unique. We both seek solace and connection in the outdoors. It’s our temple and our place of belonging as beings, regardless of where in the world it is. We’ve both kayaked in many places – each special in their own ways – but we return to Antarctica because of what it means to us as guides to give people the gift of experiencing a place otherwise largely off limits. Along with this, we hope that the education and teachings we can offer to people is helpful in the larger picture of promoting conservation in the area.
Every expedition we go on with our clients is unique. Weather conditions are different, personalities are different, group dynamics are different, events and timings are different. What they all share is a collection of people getting to know each other through a lens of witnessing an incredible environment and then gaining a deeper understanding of place and of person – individual and as a whole. People come on these expeditions for all sorts of reasons. Some come seeking adventure. Some come to find solace. Some come to capture the selfie of a lifetime. We just try to strike a balance and engage the group as a team.
A lot of people would consider Antarctica an extreme place to learn. But it is very common for completely inexperienced clients to come to Antarctica and kayak for the first or second time in their life. Although the perceived risk of kayaking in the Antarctic – among icebergs in the freezing water – is pretty high, the actual risk is fairly low. As long as guests are sensible out on the water, there is little that can go wrong. Myself and Sophie are able to read the situations that arise in the environment and make quick judgement calls as to what actions to take – and we’ve been doing it together for so long that these days our communication is pretty non-verbal. We know what the other one is thinking.
When we’re guiding, we’re dealing with reality, hazards, consequences, likelihood, mitigation measures. Risk is like taming a wild horse. Truly understanding it is your ticket to ride. And real risk is a very different beast to perceived risk. Oftentimes with inexperienced explorers, it’s their reaction to something that increases the likelihood of incident. In our personal adventures we deal solely with real-risk. We’re competent adventurers, we’re fully trained, we know what we’re capable of as kayakers and, most of all, we know what to expect from the environment we explore. On the other hand, perceived risk presents itself as the blinkered unknowingness that our minds can sometimes fool us with when we are not fully versed in our surroundings – something that our clients have to face as they set off of their Antarctic expeditions.
The greatest hazard out on the water for us, is probably not what you would initially expect. The greatest hazard as we see it – both in terms of likelihood and consequence (the two key factors of risk) – is ice. Whether in the form of icebergs or glaciers, they are incredibly beautiful but incredibly dangerous. If humans behave inappropriately around them and don’t understand and respect the risks, the consequences can be severe. For us, ice is much more of a risk than man-over-boards or anything like that. But trying to communicate this to clients can be challenging – understanding the risk of something you’ve never seen before can be difficult.
But, that is why we think we have the best office in the world! Nowadays people seem very disconnected with nature. But we have so much to learn from the natural world. If we don’t connect with it, we will not protect it and it needs protection from the actions of human beings. But these expeditions also teach our clients about courage, resilience, mental and physical fortitude, over-coming adversity and from that, all sorts of things can spring forth – greater self-belief, increased self-confidence, a greater desire to connect to nature. For some it can indeed be a powerful experience going well beyond the selfie of a lifetime.
Our hopes are that this wilderness will continue to be preserved for peace and science as the original Antarctic Treaty advocated. We hope that this will extend not only to the land as per the treaty but also to all the waters that surround it. And we hope that tourism is responsibly managed moving forward – not an easy task in any area of the world but as important as anywhere in Antarctica.
To read more about Ewan and Sophie’s experiences kayaking in the Antarctic, click here.