When Mike Libecki visited his daughter's kindergarten class in 2008, five-year-old Lilliana told him she would love to see penguins. Six years later he took her to Antarctica. An Education: A father/daughter trip of discovery, a short film by Mountain Hardwear, follows the pair as they ski among glaciers, icebergs and penguin colonies on the Antarctic Peninsula.
Mike Libecki, polar explorer and big-wall climber
Libecki is a Utah-based climber who specialises in big walls in remote places, and he has completed more than 50 expeditions to destinations such as Antarctica, Madagascar, Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea and Kyrgyzstan. He was named a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year and has received grants from the National Geographic Expeditions Council. The trip with Lilliana was his sixth journey to Antarctica, and his first expedition with his daughter.
Two years of training in the Utah mountains
Preparation started when Lilliana was nine. Instead of skiing the groomed runs at Alta, father and daughter went into the backcountry, learning to climb uphill on skis with skins and to ski down untracked slopes. Hikes up Mount Olympus and the Pfeifferhorn, plus a demanding soccer schedule, built her fitness.
By the time they left, Lilliana was 11. The family believes she may have been the youngest person to ski in Antarctica.
Sailing and skiing on the Antarctic Peninsula
The 20-day trip began in Ushuaia, Argentina, at the southern tip of South America. From there the Libeckis sailed south across the Drake Passage, the open sea between South America and Antarctica. Lilliana was seasick on the way south but not on the way back, even in strong winds; she later described 120-knot gusts and 20-metre swells.
On the Antarctic Peninsula they skied for five days, making two runs a day: skinning up the slopes, then skiing down towards icebergs and penguins. One of their climbs overlooked Paradise Bay. Strong wind and spindrift were constant companions, with gusts above 65 mph on some days, but the skiing was mostly good.
The wildlife made Lilliana's childhood wish come true many times over. They saw four species of penguin, gentoo, emperor, Adélie and chinstrap, along with seals and humpback whales.
What the film is really about
The film's title says it all. The landscapes are vast, but the heart of the story is a parent and child sharing hardship, wonder and long days outdoors. The wide shots show two small figures dwarfed by glaciers and resting seals; the close moments show a girl learning what it takes to travel in one of the wildest places on Earth.
The trip was also the start of a bigger plan. Lilliana set herself the goal of visiting all seven continents by the age of 12, and the family planned Tanzania as her sixth.
For families inspired to head outdoors closer to home, the same approach works on any scale: build skills step by step, let the child set some of the goals, and leave time to stop and look.
For a wider look at icy landscapes, explore Patagonia’s glaciers and wildlife. For another personal approach to adventure, see Travis Burke’s life on the road. Smaller moments can be just as memorable on a journey: the Team Rwanda snow-stop photograph tells one such story.
Related reading
- McMurdo Sound: Ice, Wildlife and Antarctic Research
- Martin Bailey’s Antarctic Icebergs: Natural Forms and Imagined Buildings
- Blood Falls, Antarctica: Iron-Rich Brine at Taylor Glacier
- Gentoo Penguins at Neko Harbour: When a Glacier View Changes Scale
- West Antarctic Glacier Retreat: What the 2014 Research Actually Found
- Antarctic Condition 1 Weather: The View through a Station Door
- Antarctic Icebergs in Motion: Drift, Collapse and Meltwater
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