South Pole Achieved!

After arriving at McMurdo following Happy Camper, it was time to immediately start preparing for the trip to the South Pole on the following day. "Bag Drag" was in a few hours, which means that I had to pack my bags and take them to a building to be weighed and loaded onto the plane. About this time, we received some very bad news. Patrick, the seismic team leader for the field, wasn't going to be allowed to go.

A little background here, but I want to keep the personal details minimal. Patrick is in charge of logistics for field work for our research group. About a week before our departure, he had a fairly minor surgery, but decided not to tell NSF and to go to Antarctica as planned. People were worried about him, and I got many requests to "look after him," but in general he's tough and we figured he'd be okay. But, he had some staples that had to be removed at McMurdo. The doctor, following procedure, reported it to the NSF, and the NSF reps were furious that he didn't follow protocol and report the surgery. (We undergo many medical tests to "physically qualify" or PQ to go to Antarctica and are supposed to report changes to our health status.) After many meetings over the next couple of days, he has been sent from Antarctica to New Zealand, were he is petitioning to be allowed to come back, although the prospects are slim.

So, this leaves me as the sole representative of the research end - on my first trip to the Antarctic, let alone to these stations. Fortunately, the scientist from the organization in charge of equipment and data management, Guy, is very familiar with these stations, so I don't need to try to "take the lead" with zero experience in this environment. But, our other two team members, a GPS equipment scientist, Thomas, and a mountaineer, Mike, will be leaving in about a week, leaving two of us to do what is normally a 4-person job. There's been a lot of scrounging around, and so far, we've found one person from Science Support at Pole who will go with us once the two team members leave. And, we're trying to find a fourth - maybe another mountaineer, or possibly my old PhD advisor, who was supposed to be in McMurdo at that time. So, we're well on our way to getting things sorted out, but it's definitely been an unexpected hurdle.

South Pole station itself is very nice. Most of it is contained within one building, although some of our equipment work will be done in a separate building. I have my own room, which although tiny, is comfortable and efficiently designed. I made the bed especially so that I could include these pictures, so I hope you enjoy it! ;)

Yesterday was mostly spent talking to people and getting situated. Also, we were trying to take it easy to acclimate to the high altitude. Today, I didn't do much in the morning. In the afternoon, I took snowmobile training, which was rather disappointing. Someone basically showed us which buttons to push, but didn't let us ride it. It lasted ~5 minutes! And, this evening, I walked around with Guy to find all of our cargo and bring some DNF (Do Not Freeze) items inside.

I've also been using my time to test out different iterations of gear to keep warm, but not too warm. I found that in the temperatures here (-25F), my parka "Big Red" is way too warm if I'm doing anything but standing completely still. So far, the lined windbreaker "Little Red" with an extra sweater is winning. And, I'm fighting a constant battle with my shoes. The ones I was issued fit very poorly, although they keep my feet very warm. I tried three layers of socks and they fit better, but not great. Later, I tried my hiking boots with three layers of socks, and this is more comfortable, allows me to walk better, and still keeps my feet warm. Of course, when I go out into the field, everything will go with me! My biggest problem is keeping my face warm, and I'm still experimenting there, but so far, sunglasses (not glacier glasses), a wrap around neoprene face mask, and a neck gaiter are working best. Here's a picture of this minus the neck gaiter.

Your breath freezes to everything, and you get ice cycles in your nose! I'm glad I don't have a beard, because it's strange to see the men with frozen beards, and I don't imagine it's very comfortable. Then again, maybe they don't have as much difficulty keeping their face warm.

On my wanderings, I visited the ceremonial South Pole and the actual geographic pole, which moves about 50ft. a year. Later, I'll get some pictures of me at the pole.