December 24, 2008, South Pole Station -- Len Shulman
Preparing for Christmas
South Pole Station during the holidays is home-away-from-home for 259 people this year. Preparations begin with everyone volunteering to help with peeling potatoes and carrots, shredding lettuce, slicing peppers, baking pies, and hanging decorations.
The old South Pole Dome is visible from the decorated comfort of the new Elevated Station.
No Christmas holiday would be complete without the traditional tree at the Pole Marker.
The new Elevated Station is visible in the background.
Spirits are high, and the camaraderie is as warm as the climate is harsh.
Gingerbread house in the Galley.
Everyone pitches in to peel potatoes, carrots, and other goodies for the Christmas Eve meal.
Our Chief Chef, James Brown, directs the operations and enjoys displaying a menacing demeanor.
After our chores are finished, it’s time to explore some of the features around the station. The ice tunnels are a popular attraction. These tunnels carry water to the station from rod wells, which are holes made in the ice by pumping hot water down, and eventually a large cavity of water is formed several hundred feet below the surface. This is the primary source of water for the station.
Once the rod well has become too large, a new well is started farther away, and the old one is used for sewage disposal.
The gently downward sloping ice tunnels provide access for the plumbing carrying fresh water coming up and sewage going down. The temperature is about –55F, which is about the annual average for the South Pole.
Chris and Devon trying not to look frozen at –55F. The
pipes are heated and insulated.
Chris in a spot over the outfall where the humidity creates frosty icicles.
The Dome is the iconic South Pole structure. This Buckminster Fuller design was built in 1974–75 and has outlived its usefulness. Excavations are underway around the Dome, and the rumor is that the Navy Sea Bees will dismantle the shell for reassembly at Port Hueneme near Los Angeles.
Until replaced by the new Elevated Station, the Dome housed several individual buildings containing the Galley, Communications, Berthing, Science, Library, Store, Offices, Bar, Gym, Green House, and Recreation Room. Now those are gone and the space is used for food storage. It’s a bit sad to see this former home now silent and empty of life.
One of the really unique aspects of working in such a remote location is meeting the brave adventurers who just walk into the station. This happens fairly regularly during the summer, but on Sunday, we were astonished to meet Todd Carmichael, a 45-year-old American businessman from the Philadelphia area.
He set a new 80th to 90th parallel ski speed record; without skis! His skies broke early in his trek. He left them at a supply cairn that he stumbled across, and he made the journey on foot, pulling his sled of supplies behind. He started his journey weighing 230 lbs, and ended it 39 days later at 178 lbs.
Todd gave a talk describing his sometimes-harrowing 600 nautical mile, 39-day trek from Patriot Hills to the South Pole.
I found it interesting that he created imaginary characters for company, including his sled which he named “Pig.” Another character was himself back home to whom he would defer during uncertain times.
He made routing mistakes, fell into three crevasses, suffered frostbite, cold-induced asthma, and nearly starved when fuel contaminated his food. At the very end, with the station in sight, he was reluctant to leave his companion “Pig,” but he knew he must to survive.
I could hear the agony in his voice as he described his hesitation to cross the runway to the comfort of the station. He wanted to return to his sled rather than proceed for fear of losing her. After some 20 minutes of wandering indecisively at the edge of the runway, he was saved by two Polies who greeted him and escorted him to the exact South Pole. His journey was over, and “Pig” was soon retrieved.
It was incredible to hear how he could have died several times, but persisted using an elemental automatic deep-seated internal drive to survive. His is a story of one individual’s will to survive.
Todd Carmichael walked 690 miles to the South Pole, unsupported, carrying all his own supplies, in record time.
Christmas Eve dinner approached quickly, and the celebrations began with a birthday party for Claire Pettersen, a member of the IceCube team.
Claire sitting between Red and Freija, IceCube members all.
Her party was centered around “stinky” appetizers of sausage, cheese, and sardines.
Next, appetizers were offered in the hallway to the strains
of live music courtesy of Mark.
Karen and Grace enjoy the pre-dinner appetizers.
Then we all sat down to an excellent meal of Beef Wellington and lobster tail.
Clockwise: Tom and Leslie Ham, Mike Kleist, Tim Murray,
Me, Per Olof, Bob Paulos, and Dennis Duling.
Christmas Day is time for the Great South Pole Race Around the World. The track is a one-mile circuit around the exact axis of the Earth’s rotation, and we pass through all the world’s time zones as we run.
I’ll report on the Christmas Day activities tomorrow….
