In November 2027 we will ski from the outer coast of North Berkner Island, via Wujek Ridge and the South Pole, to the Leverett Glacier grounding zone on the Ross Ice Shelf. We do not know of any documented completion of that full, exact route.
November 2027 — the crossing
The full proposal
The sponsorship deck
Twenty-five pages. The route, the training, the whole budget line by line, everything a partner gets, and what we can test for you at −50°C.
The ultimate stress test of human planning, strategy and endurance
Total expedition cost
$650,000
Across one or more sponsors and partners.
What a sponsor gets
A multi-year platform including the build-up to departure in October 2027, approximately 120 days and 2,000 km on the ice, followed by a documentary, photography book and ongoing content and speaking programme.
72 Holes South (Ben playing 72 holes of golf across Antarctica) is a strand a partner can take on by itself.
We can offer any combination of these opportunities:
- Expedition naming rights. “The [Your Brand] Polar Dogs Expedition” / “Polar Dogs Antarctica crossing powered by [Your Brand]” — or category exclusivity.
- Brand integration on gear. Prominent logo on outer gear, sleds/pulks, duffel bags, tent, equipment (stove/batteries/solar/tech/comms).
- Your flag/banner at the South Pole. Start-line and finish-line + photos/videos — or your flag/small mascot carried the whole way, with photo moments at the Pole and every key stage.
- Bespoke milestone videos. From our trainings, before we go, from the start line, from the South Pole, from the end point or on our way home.
- Joint PR campaign and communications. A co-branded multi-year story spanning training, departure, the crossing and the return. You can use our content for your external communications, client campaigns, internal channels and recruitment, we can promote your brand in ours, or we can co-create and share content.
- Content. A curated library of 120 days of expedition photo, video, audio and drone content, 17 months of training left (but also previous training content), post-expedition content, behind-the-scenes vlogs/day-in-the-life + live-to-air updates – use our content for your socials, or embed your brand in our live tracking, field demonstrations, daily content.
- Events and client, partner or team engagement. Keynotes, panels, podcasts, private briefings, roundtables, visits, team or client dinners, Q&As, graduate/early careers talks – before and/or after the expedition.
- Co-branded editorial. Social media content, articles, podcasts, interviews and speak at your or your partners’ or clients’ events around planning, risk, decision-making, teamwork and operating under pressure.
- Team, talent and graduate engagement. A genuinely distinctive story to own, live-tracker follow or ‘race’ us team challenge.
- Branded or co-branded live tracker. With route visualisation and regular annotated updates for all to follow.
- Co-branded merchandise. Clothing, bottles, photography, books.
- Post-expedition documentary credits/interviews in the documentary.
- Post-expedition photography book credits/inclusions.
- Signed prints of our photography.
- Optional immersive content or VR experience. Video footage for a trek/cycle/run to the Pole for you to share with your team or clients, to ‘race’ or match us for client or team or public engagement or charity fundraising. Some extra work and possible cost would be needed to create this, but it is possible.
- Polar “street view”. We carry a 360-degree camera to capture the first immersive footage of this specific route — for VR, interactive and mapping experiences.
- Fly your executives/media teams/camera crew/clients/prize winners out to the South Pole. ALE-facilitated visits to the South Pole or selected expedition locations may be possible for executives, media teams, clients or competition winners, subject to additional cost and scheduling and coordinating with unknown arrival dates.
Don’t see what you want? We’re flexible. Let’s design a partnership. Every partnership can include an agreed activation plan covering deliverables, content usage, exclusivity, timings and campaign reporting.
Tent, sleds, solar panels, gear, apparel — your brand travels every metre of the 2,000 km.
The Antarctica product testing lab
Get us to test your product throughout our remaining training and, where appropriate, for up to 120 days and approximately 2,000 km across Antarctica, in temperatures down to −50°C, strong winds, and repeated daily use.
What we can test:
- Clothing, footwear and shelter
- Power, batteries and charging
- Watches, navigation and sensors
- Safety and communications
- Cameras and media equipment
You get a written field report — conditions logged daily, hours of use, what failed and when — not a testimonial. And an optional partner badge:
Tested in AntarcticaSurvived AntarcticaWhere the money goes
Approximately £485,000, across one or more sponsors and partners. This is separate to the training we have already paid for ourselves.
ALE flights and full logistical support
Flights from Chile to Union Glacier and on to our start and end points, monitoring, Search and Rescue standby, comms, medical monitoring and our two resupplies. By far the largest single cost is the flight out from the far side of Antarctica.
Training trips and rehearsal expeditions
Svalbard, Arctic Canada and a Greenland crossing, still to come.
Kit and equipment
Specialist pulks, tent, salopettes and windproof layers rated below −50°C.
Flights and equipment transfers to Chile and back
Both of us, plus freight for over 200kg of pulks, skis, tent and kit.
Expedition food and high-calorie rations
240 person-days of dehydrated meals, snacks and drinks, all tested in training.
Insurance and contingency
Expedition insurance and reserve.
Communication, navigation, power and content capture
Satellite phones and airtime, GPS and inReach with full backups, live tracker, Starlink, solar and battery systems, and a cold-tested drone.
Download the sponsorship deck (PDF)
What happens if we don’t succeed
Antarctica carries unavoidable risks, and no expedition can guarantee completion. We would rather say that here than have you find it out later.
Sponsorship funds are committed in advance to ALE flights and logistical support, training, food, equipment, communications and insurance. Once committed, they cannot be refunded if weather, injury, illness or other circumstances beyond our control prevent or shorten the crossing.
If the expedition has to finish early, we will still deliver everything reasonably possible — the photography, the video, the written content, the partner report, the talks and the write-up. None of what we have offered you depends on us reaching the far side.
How it is tracked and verified
Our route will appear on a public live tracker. We will retain the complete GPS track, log our true coastal start and finish positions, complete mandatory daily ALE check-ins, and provide timestamped photographs and video from the route.
The crossing is supported. We are planning two food-and-fuel drops, one before the Pole and one at the Pole, flown by ALE. There will be no kites and no vehicle assistance. We travel under our own power, mainly on skis, using crampons only where that is safer. We will not be guided. It will just be the two of us.
The risks, and how we de-risk them →
Talk to us
Tell us what you are interested in and we will come back with what we would actually do, what you would get, and what it would cost. No deck required first, though there is one above if you want it.
We are flexible and open to any conversation, especially about testing new ideas, innovations and technologies. We’d love to hear from you!
partner@polardogs.ukErica Stanford and Ben Weber