The Holidays

The holidays brings us here at the south pole two, two day weekends in a row, the race around the world, a snow sculpting contest, fashion show and of course some great meals cooked by the folks in the galley.

Christmas has come and gone. There was lobster tail and beef wellington served for dinner. So far the best meal I have had while here. After dinner there was dancing and general socializing. In the couple days leading up to the holiday there were many smaller parties held within work groups.

The day after Christmas brought the great Race Around the World! At 10 AM scores of polies dressed in everything from bikinis to flags gathered to run the 2.4 mile race that circled the dome, new elevated station and of course the geographic south pole.

The race includes floats pulled by bulldozers, snowmobiles and other vehicles. The floats consisted of a hot tub of beautiful women being pulled by a dragon spewing steam from its snout, a Roman chariot made of cable spools,an around the world themed float that showcased a Russian hot air balloon basket that was abandoned here and a stationary bike being pulled by a snowmobile.

Winners of the race were Curtis Moore (17:17) and Emily Thiem. Runners faced the brutal conditions of the south pole. The most difficult aspect being the cold air, second to that was the slippery loose snow surface. The loose surface made traction very difficult and forced runners into a more forward position. Despite the challenges over 20 people finished the 2.4 mile race.

Saturday evening there was a guest presentation from the photographer Stanley Greenberg. His current work and business at the south pole being physics machines and telescopes. The photographs covered fascinating subject matter bringing to light many of the labs and machines held deep within the earth or in the basements of universities.

The current work week will carry us into the new year with another two day weekend that will feature bands and a wearable art fashion show.

Dome Top Removal

This morning December 18th, 2009 at approximately 5am the top section of the old south pole station dome was removed. A single crane make the pick after a team removed a ring of panels and rivets holding the frame together.

The top section that was removed has been requested to be saved for the Navy SeaBees museum in Southern, CA. Originally the section to be removed was going to be larger. However, the maneuver would have required two cranes at alow angle this was too great a risk to attempt. The SeaBees were the people that built the dome in 1975. According to a USAP informational handout, the dome was only supposed to be used for 10 years. 34 years later it is finally on its way down.

A small crowd of onlookers gathered to watch this icons first section be removed. For many the event is a powerful one. It signals the end of an era. Many people here had spent long winters being sheltered under the dome.

Photography in the Cold

Photographing here at the South pole can be quite a grueling endeavor. With temperatures that range between -80 and -9 degrees F the photographer runs into many problems. Everything from cameras freezing up to frostbite.

The cameras down here seem to last about an hour to two hours before the actual shutter mechanisms begin to freeze up and stick open in the case of my film cameras or begin to make a horrible screeching noise in the case of the digital cameras. My understanding is that this is due mostly to freezing lubricants. My lenses and tripod head become very stiff as well.

Outside the photographer has to deal with the cold while being able to operate a camera. This often means that some of your ECW (extreme cold weather gear) has to be removed. I have found this to be brutal on the fingers and face. In fact the tip of my nose and a spot right above my eyebrow is constantly raw or scarred from the skin touching my camera body and freezing to it. Fingers become cold because of wearing thin gloves so I can manipulate camera controls. This is on top of simply trying to stay warm while standing still to take photos.

When I can no longer photograph, I take a short break before coming inside to place my  camera gear inside a plastic bag that I twist shut. This keeps the cold metal and glass cameras from having condensation form on and in them. It is the same effect as pouring a glass of ice water in a warm room. Not so bad on a glass of water or beer but horrible for electronics!

While photographing outside here at the pole has its difficulties it is an incredible opportunity to make photos of frontier station and the scientific work being performed

Summer Camp

Here at the pole many of us stay in what is affectionately known as summer camp. Summer camp is two rows of Jamesway tents and three buildings in between the rows. The camp is only open during the summer months allowing station occupancy to rise for the busy summer season.

The camp is about 1/4 mile from the new elevated station or a five minute walk. There are two lounges one a smoking lounge which was recently described to me as “the seedy trucker bar”. The second lounge is a non-smoking lounge that is often host to dance parties. Inside it hosts a second room with a large screen T.V. Before the construction of the new elevated station these lounges were the gathering places for the entire station. However I have been told that, with the new station being complete the numbers have dwindled.

Summer camp is also equipped with four bathrooms, the new arrival luggage hold (Alti Meadows) and a store room for pillows and blankets. These are just not that exciting but very necessary, especially the bathrooms, which are cleaned daily by different tents. The bathroom cleaning is called house mouse. Every one on station participates in house mouse. We leave work a little early to do the cleaning when it is your house mouse day.

My favorite part of summer camp is the bouldering cave and work out room. The cave is humble. Made from plywood and 2x4’s with plastic handholds it is a work of love and is maintained by volunteers who set routes and carry out repairs when necessary. The workout room has free weights, treadmills and a stationary bike. All great things to have at your front door.

The Jamesways themselves are a half dome wood framed tent that has a insulated canvas cover. They are heated via a forced air furnace that looks very similar to something you would see in a typical suburban house. The big difference being the fuel that they burn, these burn jet fuel. The tents are divided up inside with drapes or plywood. Most are divided into 12 or 14 rooms allowing each person to have some degree of privacy and personal space. Rooms vary in layout and luxury. Some previous inhabitants put a great deal of effort into creating a comfortable well functioning space, while others are equipped with a bed, metal closet and a curtain wall. For the most part the tents are warm, comfortable and have lots of character. They feel well lived in, warm with a honest rawness that disarming.

There is a level of exposure people living in the Jamesways have to work with. While we all have our own rooms the tops of most rooms are open and sound travels very well. With people sleeping 24hours a day respecting the quiet is a big deal. This also means that when the LC-130 cargo planes fly in you hear it quite well, and when the bulldozers clearing snow come by, it is as if the world is crashing around you. But these are minor things that once here for a little while you get used to.

To live in summer camp is to experience life at the south pole with closer relations to the environment and each other.

Some General News

 With nearly a complete crew of 255 people and snow being removed from buildings and materials projects projects are kicking into full gear. The dome is being cleared, ICE Cube has its generators running and the siding crew is making steady progress on completing the siding of the new station. This week also heralded the opening of the remote AGAP field camp.

All the activity brings with it lots of flights! Up to 13 or 14 a day.  Always an amazing sight, the LC-130’s are the primary aircraft. They bring crew, supplies and fuel while removing waste and transporting crew back to McMurdo. We also see two small Twin Otter planes and a Bassler DC3 outfitted with Turbo Prop engines. The smaller planes are generally used for transporting people and supplies to field camps.

One of the big events on station in the past couple of weeks has been the food pull. Food was being moved from the old station dome to the LO arch. This is where food and materials will be stored from here on out. The LO building is a large steel arch buried in the snow. Inside of it is two rows of new shelving making it one very cold warehouse. The front of the LO has a materials handling building that is heated. This is where new materials coming in off the planes can be sorted and then moved out to storage.

The purpose of moving the food from the old station dome is to clear the site for deconstruction of the dome which should commence sometime this week. Snow has been being removed around the dome and Sky Lab for the past two weeks. There is now a solid ring around both structures and the two mini arch “tunnels” are now exposed and  almost ready for removal. Saturday, a crew was removing the utility conduit from the mini arch that connects the dome to Sky Lab. The goal is to remove both mini arches so that the cranes can drive around the dome with no obstructions.

The very top of the dome is going to be removed as one piece for a museum back in the United States. The removal is going to require the use of a crane to pick it off the top. The rest will be removed in sections from top to bottom using the crane as well.

As one can imagine sentiment is high for this legendary structure. As of now, the entire structure is being disassembled and returned back to the states. It is unsure what will become of the old dome. There is rumor that several groups are interested in rebuilding it for a museum stateside.

Around station there was a Emergency Response Team Drill two weeks ago that ended in an actual fire alarm during the drill de-briefing. Ironic as it was the all emergency teams were right there ready to go. It was quite a sight, the entire galley stood up and rushed to their positions. A perimeter was established, crew was evacuated and sweeps were done by team two fire fighters. In the end the alarm turned out to be a malfunction. But all alarms must be treated as real. An actual fire down here could be disastrous, particularly in winter.  It was an erie feeling to be hearing the alarms going off and watching the firefighters gear up. It was a strong reminder just a precarious life is down here.