Everyone knows that Antarctica is one of the most inhospitable places on the planet. Winds are fierce, temperatures are blisteringly low and there are barely any humans on the whole continent.
So you can imagine the terror shooting through your body when you hear a woman's scream while you're in the middle of nowhere.
That's what Australian explorer Dr Geoff Wilson experienced as he was alone in his tent at the summit of the Antarctic plateau.
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He was camped at China's abandoned Kunlun research station as he made his way to becoming the first person to climb to the top of Dome of Argus without mechanical assistance.
The Queenslander has spent 40 days crossing the deserted region and when he returns he will score another record: the longest solo, unsupported polar journey in human history.
He's keen to get back to normality for a whole host of reasons but that woman's scream in the middle of the night is certainly one of them.
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Wilson has told AAP that the nearest known person on Antarctica would have been 2,400 kilometres away.
He added that shortly after the scream he heard two loud gongs ring out across the land.
The trekker worked out that the gong noises weren't White Walkers starting their journey to wage war on humankind and instead must have been the reverberation of a clasp bashing against a bamboo flag pole the Chinese left behind.
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But the woman's scream he heard he can't explain.
He's told AAP that he's very keen to back to reality: "About midnight I'll start moving, get the kite up and start skiiing. I've been here two days and I'll be glad to leave this place. It's pretty eerie.
"Lots of people who know more than me said it was impossible because all of the wind is generated from the Dome of Argus. People kept saying you can't kite towards where the winds are coming from. But now we know it's possible.
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"But we've just been very fortunate with the wind direction and a lot of very clever use of the kites, along with a lot of manhauling, pulling through deep snow and hating life for a period of time."
He now has to trek a whopping 2,400 kilometres back to a Russian base called Novo Station, which he left in November to reach the Dome of Argus.
Once he returns, he will have clinched the big record he was striving for.
Featured Image Credit: Dr Geoff Wilson/InstagramTopics: News, Interesting, Australia