My brother is at the South Pole too!?!?!?!?!

 Within about an hour of landing at the South Pole, I was given a radio that I am expected to carry at all times. After reluctantly carrying a cell phone back home, it's kind of funny that I am in one of more the isolated places on Earth, but carrying something bigger and heavier. We always have them on us for to call for help or to respond to emergencies. I'm not great at carrying it al the time yet, but I am getting better.

Normally, a radio would not be worth posting about it, but the orange radio says Tait at the top and Brotman 220 just below it. The box says the same. That's my brother! Welcome to the South Pole, Tait! Super random.  The 220 is my radio channel.

This is just a silly photo from the TAIT company web page, that feels like an oxymoron.

The South Pole, finally, but which one!?!

I FINALLY MADE IT TO THE SOUTH POLE! 

 

The 2023 geographic pole marker with a compass with all points facing North also celebrates James Cook as being the first known person to cross the Antarctic Circle on January 17th, 1773.

I finally made it the actual South Pole on February 9th, but which one? There are actually three.

The first South Pole that I visited was the geographic South Pole located at 90 degrees South latitude. This is the Southern most point on Earth. If you draw a line through the Earth from it to the geographic North Pole, you create the axis that the Earth spins around.  Each summer, they hold the 'Race Around the World' that goes around the pole. It's silly, it's fun.

This geographic pole does not move, but the marker for it does. The station that I am working on and the marker for the pole are both built on an ice sheet that moves about 10m a year. Every January, they put up a new pole marker that is about 10m farther from station to mark the real location of the geographic pole.

The ceremonial South Pole marker

The pole at the ceremonial South Pole marker

The next South Pole that I visited was the ceremonial South Pole, just 700m away from the geographic South Pole. This area is specially setup for photos and only moved when it gets snowed it. It is a pole with a reflective ball on top. It is surrounded by the twelve flags representing the twelve nations that signed the original Antarctic Treaty – Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

A map with the location of the magnetic South Pole marker

The final South Pole is the magnetic Pole, just off the coast of Antarctica in the direction of Australia. The magnetic Pole is also a shifting target. This map shows how it has move over the last 120 years across East Antarctica. I am pretty sure I won't ever be visiting that one, but you never know. If you were to go to that, your magnetic compass should actually point north in every direction.

A collection of the oldest geographic South Pole markers 

 

 A collection of the newer geographic South Pole marker, sadly missing a few. 

 

A replica of this South Pole marker has been on my desk for the better part of a 15 years. This original marked the pole my first on the Ice.

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A close up of the oldest South Pole markers.

Flight to Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station

One last Adelie Penguin at Willie Field near McMurdo Station before we head to where no critters lives.

Our flight to the South Pole was pretty uneventful. My bags were already checked in from flying to McMurdo. All I had to do was weigh in with my carry on gear and catch a shuttle ride out to Willie Field on the Ice Shelf. From there, we milled about, used the bathroom, ate some delicious cookies at the airport galley, and got on our plane, a LC-130 Hercules. The plane is a custom fit of the C-130 Hercules with skis, which lets it land on softer snowy runways.

 A close up of the LC-130 landing gear.

The US Air National Guard LC-130 Hercules planes are equipped with skis for landing on the ice.

This flight was pretty much the same as the one on the C-17. People along the side, cargo in the middle, and lots of waiting. The one small difference as a passenger was the bathroom facilities. Instead of a small unlit airplane toilet, you get a curtain, and what I thought was just a garbage can.  On the flight, there were 2 of us wintering at the South Pole, one person heading up for a week of work, and ~7 distinguished visitors (i.e. military brass) who head up to the Pole for an hour of photos and shopping at the store while the plane refuels before heading home.

The front inside of our LC-130 Hercules.

In the photo above this one, you can see a white curtain on the right. Behind it is one of these 'toilets'.

The first part of the flight is pretty quiet over the Ross Ice Shelf. There isn't much to see. However, depending on where you are going, you are likely to cross the Transantarctic mountain range. The mountains offer up one scenic vista after another and kept me on my feet as long as I could see them.

Flying over the Ross Ice Shelf. This is what a lot of the flights around Antarctica look like.

If you are lucky, you get to travel along the mountains.

Map of Antarctica with the Transantarctic Mountain Range circled.

Close up of the Transantarctic mountains

Another view of the mountain from our tiny plane windows

After about an hour of flight time, we cross the mountains onto the Polar Plateau. From there, there isn't anything to see but the white beyond for as far as you can see. At that point, we all just settled in for the last hour and bundled up a little bit more because this flight was definitely colder that the one to McMurdo.

The last bit of fun on the flight was the Air National Guard practicing a cargo drop when we got near the South Pole. To try and minimize their time on the ground, they sometimes just drop palettes out of the moving plane. Those tracks just allow them to roll right out the back and onto the snow a few feet below. Unfortunately, I flubbed the video to show it going out the back. Instead, you get the same first blinding view of the area around the South Pole that I got.

Our first view of the South Pole area just after the cargo drop.

The back of the LC-130 after the cargo drop.

Next up, the Poles! No, there isn't just one.

A day at McMurdo Station

I've spend almost 18 months of my life at McMurdo Station. I have so many fond memories of my time there. However, it had been over a decade since I'd seen it. I did not know which folks were still there or how much had changed. The answer was very few and a lot.

After our arrival briefing, most folks were greeted by someone in their department at McMurdo and given more details about their assignment or an informal tour. The other guy heading to Pole was greeted too.  No one was there to meet me. Without a greeter, I was left to my own devices so I set out to see a friend, who I met in our first seasons together in 2007.  I wanted to make sure to see before my flight out to Pole.  Since 2010 when I last saw her on the Ice, Robin had moved up to the manager at the BFC. Amusingly, her employees ran a screen on me to let her focus, but she heard my voice and we got to visiting. We had not seen each other in over five years. It is oh so good to visit old friends. It is also oh so crazy to hear old friends perspectives, who have 17+ seasons in, on all the things that have changed in the US Antarctica Program since I left. They were equally curious to hear my perspectives after being gone so long and seeing where things line up.

 

A view of the sea ice with seals napping all over it, pressure ridges formed by the sea ice crashing into the ice shelf, and green mill vans for Scott Base storage.

 

Observation Hill and McMurdo Station. The blue building in the center is 155 and the hub of town because it has the galley.

 

After a far too short visit with Robin, I headed off to drop my gear off in my transient room in building 155. Not surprisingly, I had three other roommates. I did not meet them all, but the others were in various forms of transit - just got in for a McMurdo winter, but their winter room wasn't available yet or on their way off Ice. With the galley in there, building 155 is the hub of life at McMurdo.

After dropping my gear off, I went to pick up my linens on the backside of 155. By chance, the one other person on my list that I had to see was coming down the road from FleetOps after getting off work. He let out a tentative "Brody" from across the road and we set off to his room to visit until his partner Irene got off work. I had just visited them last summer in Minneapolis, but it was surreal to see Danny back on the Ice. After a while, Irene headed out to work her shift at the library. Danny and I went to eat in the galley and saw some other folks from my time on the Ice. After dinner, I heard someone talking about a group of penguins down at Hut Point so I convinced Danny to head down with me.

 

Danny and Me at Hut Point.

 

Molting Adelie penguins near Hut Point.

 

The hike down was brutal with a temperature of 7F and a wicked headwind. I knew it would be tough, especially coming from Los Angeles, but yikes. The worst part was knowing that I was imminently flying out to a place that was going to have -40F for a max. Oof. There is a fun phrase that is often bandied about when folks complain about something in Antarctica and need a gentle reminder to stop complaining, "It's a harsh continent." It's still used and still true. 

After the hike, Danny and I tried to retrieve my checked bags in building 140. They weren't there, but we happened to see some folks and asked them what was up. When we were doing that, we saw my bags! But, they would not give them to us. When we asked why, they said it was because they were told to put them on the next flight to Pole, to which I responded, "Am I on the next flight to Pole?". It turns out I was so that mystery was solved.

After another short visit with Irene and then a last cuppa tea with Robin, I took advantage of the 24 hours of sunlight to roam through town a little bit. It was just a nostalgic tour of the places that I had spent so much time. I think my favorite stop was the Coffee House, a deliberately quiet venue that waffles between serving wine and coffee, depending on the time of day and if you were coming off of or starting a day or night shift. It was my favorite indoor spot to hang out. There are two more standard bars too, but they were a little less my speed.

 

 

The Coffee House.

 

The bikes have been upgrades at McMurdo from Giant to fat tired Surly bikes!!! Someone one in recreation must be a biker aficionado.

The next morning, I woke up way too early because I was still on Los Angeles time and excited to explore. Technically, Antarctica is +21 hours, but it is easier for me to think of it as -3 hours from Los Angeles and a full day ahead. I was able to get in a run at the gerbil gym. I can't count the numbers of hours that I have run on the treadmills there. It was there that I first learned that treadmills (or at least the ones there) automatically turn off after an hour. I have easily cleared 1,000 miles in there while training for marathons and keeping myself sane over the winter.

 

The McMurdo gerbil gym.

 

The McMurdo gerbil gym's small weight and stretch room. I think there is still a proper weight room in 155.

After a good run and my last non-two minute shower, I still had a lot of time. I went for breakfast and then went to hike up 754 foot Observation Hill that overlooks McMurdo Station, Hut Point, and Scott Base. There is a fun race up the hill over the summer where a sub-10 minute time is good.

 

The 9' wooden cross on top of Ob Hill was built in January 1913 to memorialize the three folks who reached the South Pole, but died on the return: Captain Robert F. Scott, Dr. E. A. Wilson and Petty Officer Edgar Evans. The cross is inscribed with their names and the final line of the Alfred Tennyson poem "Ulysses", which reads "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

 

The 8,796 foot Mt. Discovery looming across the sea ice from McMurdo.

 

A view of McMurdo from Ob Hill.

 

Watching the sea ice get broken up and blown back out to sea by the wind.

 

After my hike down, I grabbed my gear and headed up to my flight to the South Pole.

Getting to McMurdo Station, Ross Island, Antarctica

After a last run through the Botanical Gardens and a final indulgent, long shower, I caught a 5:45am shuttle to the International Antarctic Center, located right next to the airport. The center is a tourist attraction, but the back of it also holds the offices for New Zealand, US, Italian, and Korean Antarctic Programs.

 

The International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch, NZ.

Your first stop at the center is at the Clothing Distribution Center (CDC) to pick up all your Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear. On the first full day in Christchurch, you head out to the CDC so they assign you all your mandatory ECW gear that you'll need while deployed. There can be almost 1,500 people on Ice in the summer so they have a TON of gear. You keep mixing and matching until you get all the gear that fits you. Then, you leave it at the CDC until the morning of your flight.

 

Tons and tons of Extreme Cold Weather gear at the CDC.

When you fly to Antarctica, you are expected to board the plane wearing a minimum set of ECW gear. Unfortunately, because it is made for surviving Antarctica, it is miserably warm to wear in New Zealand and especially inside. Most folks wear their personal clothes as long as possible before putting on the ECW gear to board the flight. Luckily, once you are on the plane, you can change back.

 

Waiting for our plane

While the centre is next to the Christchurch airport, we don't use the customer facing side. We go to a room that is in the same building as the CDC, get scanned in, get our luggage weighed, get ourselves weighted, then go through a safety briefing, and then wait. We don’t have to take our laptops out or take any boots off. When it is time to go, we exit out the back of the building and get on a shuttle that likely heads over to the Christchurch airport where we board a US military C-17 Globemaster down to Antarctica. The C17 is a regular plane that can land on the Ross Ice Shelf and a specially groomed ice runway with wheels as well as a normal runway.

 

Waiting to get our checked bags and then our entire body and carry on luggage weighed.

 

The jump seats on the C-17 Globemaster.

The C-17 has a ton of cargo down the middle and jump seats along the side. On more passenger heavy flights one of the cargo 'racks' is a set of regular airplane seats. I've always preferred the jump seats on the outside because they are colder and you can get up easily. Folks pass the time on the 5 hour flight the same they do on any other flight. One pleasant difference is that you get two free lunches, but I think the second one is just in case the plane can't land at McMurdo and has to boomerang back to Christchurch.  On a clear day, you can look out the window and get amazing views as you cross the mountains. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day and there wasn't anything to see.

 

Our first view of Antarctica as they open the rear ramp to start unloading.

 

Black Island, my first real view of Antarctica when we deplane.

Once we are off the plane, some vets head right for the transport to town. Others are very excited about their first visit and take a ton of photos. I was riding with some Kiwis that work for Antarctica New Zealand who were coming down for the first time to learn about the base they were supporting. They were only there for a six day whirlwind tour and were very excited to be there. It was a good reminder for me to let go of any ideas or hopes that I had. It reminded me to  just embrace the special things that happen and that you can only see and do in Antarctica. The folks who have been going down a while have a term for the new high energy folks, FNG’s (pronounced fin-Gs, meaning F'ing new guys/girls). I can say from experience that after you are worn down from a long season, the high energy folks can be a bit much, but they are a great reminder of why we went down in the first place. I am hoping to lean HEAVILY into that attitude on this deployment.

 

Selfies and excitement about being in Antarctica

 

Ivan, the Terra Bus

After a short. FNG photo session, we get on Ivan, the Terra Bus. I can't remember the details, but it is one of the more unique vehicles in the world. It is a 13-mile-ish trip across the Ross Ice Shelf to McMurdo Station with a quick stop at Scott Base so the Kiwis can unload. Scott Base is just after the area that the ice shelf butts up against the sea ice and Ross Island. The transition between the three can make for some bumpy driving. Ross Island is a volcanic island that hosts the southernmost active volcano in the world, Mt. Erebus. It has been to know to spit small lava bombs out of its crater and has been technically continuously erupting since 1972, but I don’t know the last time it destructively breached its sides. Anyway, after Scott Base, we drove the last 2 miles to MuMurdo on the road.
 

Upon arrival, I had no idea if I would get a 'straight through' where you get on the same day flight to the Pole. I learned there was a flight that night, but no one told me I was on it. I was given a room so it seemed like I’d be staying the night.. That meant I got to catch up with old friends and visit old haunts. I'll share some McMurdo photos in the next post.