The Under Antarctica Expedition: A&H coverage for exploring extreme conditions

While many of us were relaxing with friends and family or tucking into our favourite foods and drink over the holiday period, glaciologist Heidi Sevestre and polar adventurer Matthieu Tordeur were in one of the most remote places on earth, hoping for a favourable wind.

The pair were undertaking a pioneering three-month mission to map the subsurface of Antarctica, towing ground-penetrating radar behind them as they traversed inland Antarctica on kite skis. The aim of the expedition was to connect those areas of the subsurface that had not previously been mapped.

Gaining better data on the ancient and current surfaces, subglacial lakes and rivers, the topography of bedrock and snow accumulation on top of the ice sheet can enable scientists to better understand how Antarctica has reacted to natural temperature variations over time. This will give them greater insights into Antarctica’s future contribution to sea-level rises and facilitate modelling of climate change impacts.

Typically, scientific missions to Antarctica rely on tractors, snow groomers or snow mobiles consume large amounts of fuel and require fuel depots to be set up along the route. By carrying out their expedition on kite skis, Matthieu and Heidi not only used a more sustainable mode of transport, but they became some of the very few people ever to have reached the South Pole of Inaccessibility – the furthest point from any Antarctic coast – using wind power.

The AXA Research Fund, now part of the AXA Foundation for Human Progress, AXA Group’s global scientific philanthropy initiative, was one of the main supporters of the expedition. AXA was a sponsor and AXA XL was proud to create a bespoke accident and health insurance and assistance package to cover the explorers on this important and pioneering expedition.

Risk considerations

This was not a typical business trip and the insurance required was highly bespoke. While we have experience in providing coverage for out-of-the ordinary journeys, like the Catlin Arctic Survey expedition, a three-year scientific study across the Arctic Ocean, and the Walking With The Wounded South Pole Allied Challenge, each one of these voyages has its own complexities and specific requirements.

We engaged extremely closely with all parties involved in the mission to understand the risks and to ensure that they were confident that we understood them.

There are three main phases of a project, like the Under Antarctica Expedition, for insurers and assistance providers to consider: getting to the start point; the expedition itself; and returning to a less remote environment.

For this expedition, transport to and from Antarctica was by commercial airplane. And while the explorers were on the expedition, they moved all of their equipment using kite-skis.

In a sense, the risks involved are a little like moving house, but given that the explorers were completely reliant on the equipment they had with them, it was vital that we had confidence in the functioning of that equipment and in the way it would be transported.

There are international laws and codes of conduct that apply to visitors to the Antarctic. Protecting the environment is a cornerstone of the Antarctic Treaty, which has been in place since 1959. One of the stipulations of this code is that nothing can be left behind on the ice cap, meaning the explorers had to plan to take everything with them on all stages of the expedition.

The Under Antarctic Expedition has provided valuable data and insights that will enhance climate-change impacts modelling capabilities.

Risk management and foresight

Among the biggest risks facing the two explorers were illness or injury, and exposure to extreme meteorological challenges, requiring evacuation.

We worked closely with the trip’s logistics provider to gain clarity about their processes and to understand the Medical Emergency Response Plans in place.

Indisputably, nobody understood the challenges involved better than the explorers themselves who, as well as being vastly experienced and having specifically trained for this mission, had a vested interest in ensuring that the expedition was carried out successfully and safely.

Our role was to support them by providing the insurance coverage they needed to complete their expedition and complete this ground-breaking work in a sustainable way.

Creating a bespoke package

Working with our travel and security risk management partner Healix International, we put together an insurance and assistance package which included search and rescue coverage.

The local evacuation partners required a minimum coverage of €450,000 per person for life/medical insurance including medical evacuation and transport. This could not be subject to the normal restrictions of a travel policy in the extreme circumstances of this expedition. If there was a problem, it had to respond. Equally, it didn’t need some of the extra features of a typical policy such as travel delay!

We also provided additional insurance for certain eventualities caused by failure of elements of the gear and other unforeseeable events.

Insuring what matters 

As well as being a feat of bravery, endurance and adventure by the two explorers, the Under Antarctica Expedition has provided valuable data and insights that will enhance climate-change modelling capabilities. The explorers’ findings will lead to greater understanding of climate change – ranked the top risk in the AXA Future Risks Report 2025.

The expedition also had a wider educational impact, with a specifically-designed program enabling children to follow along and learn about the continent of Antarctica and the impact of a changing climate.

Creating a bespoke A&H insurance and assistance package to support Heidi and Matthieu in their endeavour was an interesting challenge. And it enabled our team to use their skills to contribute to a mission that forms a part of the AXA purpose of protecting what matters. We are very happy that they have successfully and safely completed their 4,000km mission arriving at their destination, the Union Glacier Base. The mission has involved altitudes in excess of 2,000m and temperatures below -30C. Our congratulations to them both.

For more information on the Under Antarctica Expedition visit their website: Under Antarctica Expedition or follow Heidi and Matthieu on Instagram: Heidi Sevestre (@heidisevestre) and Matthieu Tordeur (@matthieutordeur)