The Furthest South Possible.....

The famous ceremonial South Pole

I was able to finally step foot on the actual continent of Antarctica (McMurdo is actually on an island that is attached to the continent by an ice shelf) and can now say that I have been at the bottom of the world.

My position as Passenger Services, Senior allows me the opportunity to organize the movement of over 1200 people from Antarctica to Christchurch, New Zealand (the process is known as "Redeployment"), including all of the employees who work at the South Pole. I was able to spend a day at the Pole working with my liaison there on the redeployment process and got a full tour of not only the new station (which was completed last year), but also of the old Dome station, the Ice Cube Project, where they are drilling 70 holes for neutrino-detecting sensors, and the new telescope (didn't get to go inside, though).

LC-130 transportation towards Pole Some of the transportation at Pole

I flew with my counterpart from Christchurch at 8 AM on an LC-130 Hercules aircraft and spent a good portion of the trip enjoying the incredible scenery over the Trans-Antarctic Mountains from the cockpit. (I was also able to spend the last hour on the way back to McMurdo in the cockpit! The flight crew was great and enjoyed my enthusiasm about the scenery as much as I was enjoying the scenery!)

The runway is only about 200 feet away from the new station, which sits on stilts in order to avoid being covered over by drifting snow. It was about -35 degrees F/-37 C with the wind chill and it certainly felt cold after the balmy temps in the 40's (6-7 degrees C) we had been enjoying at McMurdo. After walking up the 2 flights of stairs to the station entrance, I could certainly feel the physio-altitude of 10,374 feet/3168 meters. Apparently, something about the atmospheric pressure at the Pole makes high altitudes feel even higher. There have been lots of problems with people working too much, too soon after they arrive at Pole and having to get evacuated to McMurdo to recover. In order to reduce the negative effects of going quickly to these altitudes, the medical clinic has been giving the same medication (Diamox)used by climbers to everyone who goes to the Pole.

It was a great day and I thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality of not only my host, but also of everyone in that small community. Here are some highlights of my day: Walking under the dome of the old station, seeing the glaciers and mountains that make up the Trans-Antarctic Range, seeing all of the science projects that we support in our logistics department (cargo and passenger movement), getting to spend time with someone I work VERY closely with via email and seeing the new South Pole station.

Note: The ceremonial pole in the photos isn't really at the magnetic south pole. The real furthest south point moves constantly and every year, they hold a big ceremony and move the marker for the true South Pole.

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