Antarctic Challenge

At the bottom of the world, in the region of the Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, is a succession of lonely windswept ranges that harbor some of the most startling mountain scenery on earth. Crowning everything are the Drygalski Mountains, where a score of granite church shaped steeples stab thousands of feet above a surrounding icecap which itself is already at 6,000 feet. Despite Queen Maud Land's majestic landscape, this Norwegian claimed portion of Antarctica went ignored until 1994 when a photo book of the region sent an electric current through the mountaineering circuit. Two Americans have accepted this natural challenge. With National Geographic right on the trail of photographer Gordon Wiltsie and adventure writer Jon Krakauer, these men will scale the Holtedahl Mountains then move on to the more difficult Drygalski Mountains. Fighting winds of up to 81mph and keeping their bodies warm in a climate, which has an average temperature of 126 below zero, these men will attempt to reach the summits of one of the last unexplored ranges on earth. On Assignment brings the world to the ends of the earth to show this epic adventure.