Hold On Tight

I just got back from the South Pole and it was a very exciting two weeks where the world revolved around me. The scary part is that there is no gravity at the pole and you can fall right off the earth (just kidding). A lot happened in that two weeks and I really hope I can cover most of the highlights. I was suppose to leave the day after Christmas but due to a medivac from Pole, flights were changed around. It looked like I was never going to make it by New Years since priority was not given to Pole flights. However a flight got canceled on Friday and we were back on the schedule. While taxing down the runway, we ran into an electrical issue that was corrected by “rebooting” the plane. I guess that works on more than just computers. So, on the 28th I made it to Pole. However I started to get a bout of the “McM Crud” and going to the high altitude Pole didn’t help me out. I didn’t take the altitude drugs since I was fighting the crud but I seemed to adapt well.
Going into the station is a challenge for someone new to the pole. The new station is elevated to help reduce the effects of snow drifts but this requires you to walk up two flights of stairs. When you are already oxygen deprived, this becomes a great workout.
The first day of work went well. They said they were going to take it easy on me since it was my first work day at altitude, but I found myself short of breath by 3pm. The first task was to help run a cable from the new station out to the HF antenna tower. For this we pulled the cable through a trench, and then down a 40’ ladder to the ice tunnels under the station. These tunnels are used for the movement of water and waste to and from the station. Adjacent to the station are “Rodwells” which are big pockets melted into the ice. The water is collected from the well and pumped to the station. After the pocket gets too big to be effective, they switch to the next Rodwell. The old “pocket” is then used for human waste which gives the tunnels a great smell.
After dinner that first night, Matt (a Janitor form McM) and I headed out to the Pole to take some pictures. In the reflection of the ball you can see the new elevated station and the old Dome. The dome is going to be torn down next year and has already been gutted. On Sunday Matt and I went on a tour of the tunnels and got to see some of the weird things under the station like the pig head and sturgeon above. To go into the tunnels we must first check out with comms and report who is going and when we will be back. There are even video cameras in the tunnels to help document who goes in. This is a safety precaution to make sure everyone comes back.
We were in the tunnels for about 1hr and it was very cold in there. The temp is about -60F which will chill you off very quickly. You can tell by the ice on my head that the tunnels are not a place you would want to get lost.
On Sunday night we had a New Years party (even though it wasn’t new years yet) and the gym was transformed into a ballroom. There were three bands that played and each was fun. Since I still had the crud I decided I wasn’t going to drink. Well that didn’t last long and I found out that the effects of altitude makes me a lightweight.
Pole has a great little greenhouse that smells amazing. Monique is one of my new co-workers and one of her part-time jobs is to run the greenhouse. The number of cucumbers she picked a couple days after this picture was incredible. The other great thing about the greenhouse besides the smells and fresh veggies is the humidity. Everything here is dry and my hands and lips are cracking and bleeding. Going into the greenhouse rejuvenates the skin. I spent Monday in here playing cribbage with one of the fuelies.
I spent the true New Years at the geographic SP with some friends and some new acquaintances. A guy there had a GPS that counted down till the New Year for us. Since we had to work the next day, the celebration didn’t last long and it was off to bed.
The next day of work was with the fire tech Joey-T again working on the HF radio. We had to finish running the cable from the tunnels into the station. For this a Ditch Which was used to dig our trench. I am still amazed at some of the equipment that was flown in here.
After dinner that night on January 1st, there was the ceremonial moving of the pole marker. Each year the winter-over crew designs and makes a new pole maker. Since the glacier that the station sits on is moving, the pole marker must be moved in order to mark the true pole. Each start of the new year, a new marker is placed at the new location found by high tech GPS units. Looking at the old markers, I can see that the pole is moving about 10-15’ a year. This means that in another 10-20 years, the pole will be right over the dome. Next to the true geographic pole is the ceremonial pole. This is the barbershop looking pole with the reflective ball on top.
One thing to note is that the crime rate down here is horrible. You can’t park your van or tractor in the wrong part of the station or who knows what will happen.
At Pole Sean (another GA from McM) and I got to work with the heavy carps. These guys are the iron workers of the South Pole. Typically GA’s do the clean up and gopher type tasks. However this day Sean and I got to help Bob build some of the new arch (will be used as a place to build cargo pallets). Sean and I got to learn how to use all kinds of new tools but the coolest by far was the cutting torch. In the afternoon, Bob was so impressed with our skills that he moved on to another task and let Sean and I continue with the knee wall. Working with iron and steel is fun, but at the South Pole it makes your fingers very cold.
Daiquiri night was a blast. Rick, one of the heavy carps, organized a daiquiri party with a wide range of tasty drinks. As a side party we watched “The Thing.” This is a great movie about aliens in Antarctica but we didn’t believe it showed the true life down here with the large amount of drinking they did in the movie ;).
Saturday night was a night at the drive in at the big gym. For this a big screen was put up, popcorn was made and people dragged in couches, chairs, mattresses, and blankets to watch Indian Jones and Star Wars. I only watched the first movie, but it was entertaining to have people come by each “car” and give out free Jello shots. It was also funny when halfway through the movie the emergency exit door to the gym opened and ~12 people came in half dressed in their ECW. They all lined up in front of the screen with their backs facing us and dropped their pants and mooned. Then they all filed out as we clapped and went back to watching the movie. Just another normal night at the South Pole.
Sean and I one day took a quick break from work and wandered into the Dome. This is the old station that will be torn down next year. So far all the structures have been removed from the inside area and is now used for food storage.
While staying here I have had the experience of living in “summer camp.” It has made me feel like living in a MASH unit. From the picture above you can understand why. These are old military Jamesways. They are warm and I have my own “room” and even have a window. Sound travels very easily in here as I learned the first day when my neighbor went to use his “P” bottle.
I don’t fully understand some of the science here, but two of the major projects include Ice Cube and South Pole Telescope. For Ice Cube, scientists are using doms (pictured top) to study neutrinos (subatomic particles). Ice Cube is drilling 86, 2.5km holes and putting 60 doms down each holes. Each dom cost about $8,000-$15,000. The total project is estimated at about $260 million. SPT (pictured bottom) is being used to view far off galaxies and the beginning of time, or something like that. They are still trying to get it up and running and work out all the bugs.
Since being here we have had many visitors. Most exciting to me was the South Pole Traverse People showed up on the 8th. If you remember, a few months ago I got to help this team load their food for the long trek here. Well they made it and now they only have to make the trip back home. We have also had a number of people ski to the pole. Trips take anywhere from 8-60 days depending on where they start from. For some reason I don’t think this sounds like fun. I remember as a kid being taught to look both ways before crossing the road. Well, at the South Pole you are taught to look both ways before crossing the landing strip. On either side of the runway there is this sign and a red beacon to help inform you when a plane is landing or taking off. It works similar to a railroad crossing.
After two weeks of fun at Pole it was time to come back to McM. Originally I was going to be the only passenger on my flight but due to bad weather in McM everything was changed around. The flight I left on was a medivac flight for a guy that broke his angle. From the airfield in McM he got to take a helicopter ride into town. Due to the weather delay and the medivac, we didn’t get back to town until 0415 this morning. It made for a long night, but the good news is that I get today off.
The best part about being away is when I got back I had a ton of mail! Thank you everyone for everything. I am truly the luckiest person on earth, even if it no longer revolves around me.