Antarctica 2018: Chapter 9: At the bottom of the world.

Link to Chapter 8: Onward, Southward!
Link to Chapter 7: Exploring McMurdo Station
Link to Chapter 6: Touchdown Antarctica
Link to Chapter 5: Flight Day!
Link to Chapter 4: ECWs
Link to Chapter 3: Christchurch!
Link to Chapter 2: Auckland
Link to Chapter 1: From Hawaii to Antarctica

The South Pole is so much more than a dream come true. It’s like when you get to the pot at the end of the rainbow… and there actually is a pot there. For some reason, it’s satisfying that this isn’t just a “trip”, I live here. I work here. At the bottom of the globe, where all the world’s longitudes meet, I’m now one of 120 other residents at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.

Today I was asked what the most incredible thing I’ve seen at South Pole so far is. And my answer is: the logistical footprint.

As you fly in to the South Pole, from McMurdo, you cross the Trans-Antarctic mountains, and after that... it's absolutely nothing. It's hundreds of miles of flat plateau and blowing snow, and then all of a sudden, there's a tiny speck in the distance, so tiny it could very well be dirt on the window. And minutes later, it resolves into an elevated building on stilts surrounded by "berms" of offloaded cargo equipment, parked in the snow. This is South Pole Station. It's simply incredible to me that we can maintain a scientific (heck, a human) presence this far from civilization. Some days it seems like Pole might as well be another planet - maybe the ice planet Hoth. Everything here is flown in -- from the food to the toilet paper to the army of bulldozers that keep the Station from being buried in blowing snow. I find it incredible how this massive enterprise functions like a well-oiled machine.

What the last half an hour of flying to the South Pole looks like. Nothing at all. Just snow and clouds till the horizon. This truly feels like the end of the world.

Just like that… the journey was over, and I was home. Welcome to Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Altitude 9301 feet, latitude 90 S, longitude 0 E. Continuously inhabited by the United States of America since 1957.

The research station at the end of the world. A truly inspiring and humbling place.

It is cold here. Really cold. McMurdo Station is in the positive Fahrenheit register. It’s not even close to that here. When I step off the plane, the windchill is south of -60 deg F. The coldest I have ever been, by a long shot. This is possibly the bravest picture I’ve ever taken.

Mandatory hero shot upon disembarking at South Pole Station.

This one is a little more realistic…

That’s right! The one and only South Pole Passenger Terminal. It’s not much… but it keeps you from freezing while you wait for your plane to arrive and take you someplace warmer.

The New York Air National Guard LC-130 that brought me to Pole. Within an hour, the plane had turned around and taken off, headed northward to warmer climes.

There are no USAF airplanes based at Pole, and they try not to be grounded here overnight due to the cold temperatures. I’ve seen Air Force aircrews dash out of the plane, run about a hundred yards to the South Pole, take a picture, then climb back aboard and take off. I feel incredibly fortunate to have the luxury of living here. I still haven’t taken my picture at the ceremonial South Pole… because I have time. And work to do!

The view of the ceremonial South Pole from the Station dining room. You can eat your meal and look out at it. The paved area behind it, and large arrow, are pointing toward the “tourist camp”, where folks that pay to be flown in to South Pole can spend the night housed in tents. Tourists are strictly not allowed at South Pole Station, since it is a taxpayer-funded government facility.

I’ve been here a while now, and the days are long and hard. But I feel so fortunate, every single day, to have the privilege of being here and trying to make science happen. It’s a harsh continent [as I write this, it’s whiteout conditions outside]. But this is a cornerstone memory for me, to use the phraseology of Westworld… and it’s going to be hard to find something that compares to this.