Before technology advanced enough, the biggest issue with Antarctica was food and heat. You have to bring all of your food with you since you can't grow any. Stranded people have been known to eat seals and penguins. Modern clothing is very good at keeping you warm, but before, people had to wear coats made of reindeer fur and shoes called oilskins that could keep water out. Lots of explorers lost their fingers and toes due to frostbite.
Additionally, getting to Antarctica and getting around is very difficult. The sea ice, which is the ice floating around in the ocean, is hard to navigate. Only the toughest boats can get through, and many early explorers had their ships broken to bits and sunk by the pressure of the ice. Fuel can freeze if you're not careful, which makes vehicles tough to work, and batteries don't hold a charge long when it's cold. A fully charged smartphone can die in 20 minutes if it's in a place as cold as Antarctica!
Today, modern technology makes lots of these challenges much easier to face, but it still requires careful planning!
Today's ships are called Icebreakers, and they have big round hulls that ride on top of the ice and then smash down through the ice. They have to be made especially for the polar oceans.
Today's clothing is much lighter and better at trapping heat than just wearing animal fur, and it's totally waterproof to prevent your from getting soaking wet!
