Santa, is that you?: Champagne Flight to the North Pole

North Pole
By Christine Chan

Want to be on top of the world? Follow in the footsteps of Admiral Robert E. Peary as you board a champagne flight up to the North Pole! Start in Longyearbyen (gotta love the name), Norway and board a flight to the Barneo, a Polar research station sixty miles from the North Pole. The flight takes about 2.5 hours. From the station, you will board a helicopter and land on the North Pole! You celebrate with champagne, photos, hugging, and a call home. You probably won’t run into Santa (but who knows?), but you will witness beautiful icescapes and possibly even catch a glimpse at artic wildlife!

The Northwest Passage has been taking groups of 6-16 people to the North Pole since 1993. The company offers several challenging ski, dogsled, and trekking trips as well as the champagne flights. The four champagne flights do not require its travelers to be in good physical shape.

Standard Champagne Flight
Cost: $10,000
Price includes: Pick up at airport and transfer to hotel, welcome dinner and reception, all flights to North Pole, Artic clothing, permits, North Pole celebration including champagne, framed certificate, and one call home
Price does not include: Round trip airfare to Longyearbyen (expect to pay at least $1000), accommodations and food in Longyearbyen, taxes and gratuity, trip cancellation and baggage insurance (required), full medical/evacuation insurance.

Classic Champagne Flight Cost: $12,500 In addition to the Standard provisions, the Classic includes three nights in a Longyearbyen lodge, all breakfasts and dinners in Longyearbyen, and a dog sledding or ski-dooing adventure in Spitzbergen.

Adventurer Champagne Flight Cost: $13,500 In addition to the Standard, the Adventurer includes four nights, all breakfast and dinners in Longyearbyen, and two dog sledding and ski-dooing adventures in Spitzbergen.

Expeditionary Champagne Flight Cost: $12,000 In addition to the Standard, the Expeditionary includes two nights in Longyearbyen and two nights at the Barneo floating Polar research station, heated tent, sleeping platform, sleeping bag, and all food at Barneo.

There is a syndrome called “Artic Itch” which drives people to crazy efforts in order to achieve their dream of standing on the Artic ice. I have heard that this is a life changing experience. While the prices may seem extraordinarily high, other tours and cruises up to the North Pole cost about $25,000. The cost of travelling to the North Pole has actually decreased significantly over the last few years and it will hopefully continue to do so.

Final words: Don’t lick anything up there.

The Northwest Passage
Polar Expeditions
1130 Greenleaf Avenue
Wilmette, IL 60091
1.800.RECREATE