Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station
The surviving members of last season's Berserk tragedy obtained a yacht in Auckland and are heading for the Ross Sea with plans for a quad bike trip to Pole (!) (news).
25 January...the last batch of NGO visitors show up, as well as members of the Lockheed Martin transition team. The end of the season is only about 3 weeks away.
17 January...100 years ago, Scott showed up...second...and he never finished the trip home. This year, there are airplanes, tourists, a visitor center, and an ice bust of Amundsen around somewhere. Meanwhile, just when you thought it was safe to apply for a job...comes news of a contract protest.
11 January...a 167-foot Korean fishing vessel caught fire in the Ross Sea...the NBP raced to help...and rushed to McM with seven of the most severely injured crew members.
Happy New Year...the event was marked by a marathon. Meanwhile, I've updated various things...including the status of the various NGO Pole treks...the Arctic Trucks off-roading ventures all over the continent, and, oh yes...the new contract.
Christmas Day at Pole was hot. Literally. A new high temperature...9.9°F. Above!
News from the ice and from Lockheed folks...that they have been awarded the contract. And the press releases are out, and jobs are being posted (!)
Yes, it is tourist season...some of the Brits and Norwegians showed up...the visitor center was ready for the big day on the 14th...and the Prime Minister of Norway arrived on the 12th. He and his entourage stayed in the elevated station...on the 14th the PM went out a few miles out and skied to Pole with some of the Norwegian venturers. And then the big ceremony happened...with 233 USAP folks and 93 NGO tourists on station...a new record! The big video ceremony was filmed at 1600 on the 14th SP time...then there was a reception, a private dinner...and a further ceremony the next morning before the DV's departed.
USAP has an icebreaker, but they don't have an ice pier. The new one didn't grow thick enough, so the program is bringing down pontoons on the cargo vessel Green Wave which is now heading for McM.
The summer season is well underway...and the NGO expeditions are well, or not so well, underway, and the "chaos coordinator" is on site waiting for them to show up. And, a broken rubber elbow in the power plant glycol piping made a major mess and disrupted Saturday dinner...fortunately nothing more, and the lights stayed on.
Friday 28 October US time...Renée and her physicians conducted a news conference at Johns Hopkins after completion of her tests.
On Monday 24 October, the first passenger Basler with 16 passengers arrived. But...the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday flights were cancelled due to weather. Friday brought good weather but the Herc was cancelled due to mechanical issues. Saturday...yes. The Herc took off with 40 pax, and got to Pole in time for lunch.
The C-17 carrying Renée-Nicole Douceur arrived in Christchurch around 2200 on Monday 17 October. Yes...the winter site manager suffered an apparent stroke on 27 August. It is in the world and national news. The Baslers arrived at Rothera, and after a crew rest they continued to Pole on Monday morning, after a day of weather delay...and flew her to McM...from where she was flown to ChCh. Yes, Renée's story was covered here with photos! Meanwhile, the first flights of the summer season arrived at McM on 4 October.
27 September...a new all-time wind speed record...50 knots!
The closing flight was 15 February...with 49 winterovers still around. Late summer news...the Race around the World which was only the first of the major athletic events held on station this summer...and the explosive destruction of Old Pole.
The dome is gone. And the most comprehensive web collection of dome deconstruction photos is here! And the message boards are still around...stop by the new home of Mike Poole's Antarctic Memories, which now includes the archives of Glenn Grant's Iceboard. If you have questions or problems with this excellent resource...the best place for info on jobs and life on the ice, ask me for help!
My second winter was in 2005 as the Title II Inspector (huh, what's that?)...and stayed on for a month after the 21 October station opening until the summer person showed up. I returned to the US on 21 January after 2 months in NZ/OZ. Hopefully before I left I wasn't too toasty to write a feature article for the 30 October 2005 Antarctic Sun..... Read it for yourself and decide...
More news updated 26 January.
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| updated 26 January 2012 |
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