I arrived at the South Pole yesterday. The journey took two weeks in total, plus an additional week prior to that that I spent in trauma team training and team building in Estes Park. I flew from Denver to Christchurch, New Zealand (via LA and Auckland). Christchurch is the main supply and transport hub for the US Antarctica program. I had roughly a week in Christchurch due to flight delays on the next leg of my journey (the snow runway was damaged by a previous flight). I spent the time doing some training, having cold weather clothing issued and generally wandering and exploring the city taking in all the greenery of the New Zealand spring plus all the salad and fresh food I could manage. The next stop was McMurdo station, the largest of the US Antarctic bases. That is a roughly 5 hour flight on an Air Force C-17. In McMurdo were was more training to do plus some time for a couple hikes and tours of the various facilities there (power, water desalinization, water treatment). I saw some seals but no penguins unfortunately. The weather was mixed clouds and sun and temperatures in the single digits and teens. McMurdo had about 900 people living there as I was passing through. There are close to 100 buildings so it feels like a small town.

Flights were delayed again in McMurdo due to weather and aircraft mechanical issues. My flight from McMurdo to the South Pole was on a Balser (an upgraded DC-3 with skis). The windows constantly iced up during the flight but I still enjoyed looking out the windows. The plane isn’t pressurized so once you clear the mountains they stay pretty low over the Antarctic plateau which makes for some cool views of miles and miles of snowy nothingness rushing by less than 500 feet below you.

Stepping off the plane was immediately the coldest temperature I’ve ever experienced (-50º F). I was fairly bundled up and the short walk to the station was fine. I had dinner (pizza), got a quick station tour from one of the folks I’m replacing and went to bed. I’m feeling not quite 100% after going from sea level to ~10,700 feet elevation equivalent in a few hours but hopefully that will subside in a few days.

My closest point of comparison for the Amundsen-Scott station is the HI-SEAS habitat where I spent 8 months. My first impression of the station is that it is enormous. The current station was completed in 2008 and is roughly 65,000 sq ft. The main hallway is 500 ft long. It all feels incredibly modern and well equipped. There are three dorm wings, multiple lounges, a small library, science and administration offices, computer lab, weight room/gymnasium, sauna, greenhouse, store, post office, dining facility, and medical clinic. My room is small (roughly 8’ x 9’) but larger than what I had at HI-SEAS (plus it has a window where I can see the geographic South Pole). I’m sure I’ll get into a tour in the future. There are about 90 people here at the moment and that number will grow for the next few months and then drop to 40 something as winter comes to the southern hemisphere.

The network connectivity here is surprisingly good. I hear that downloading large files or watching YouTube is problematic but for general communication and web searches I’ve had no real issues. I was expecting much worse. However, internet connectivity is only available when there is a satellite in view which is 8-12 hours per day and the schedule is constantly changing.

A few logistics items:

• Amundsen-Scott station (and McMurdo) are on New Zealand time.
• The sun is up 24/7 here until late March.
• If you are curious about the current weather have a look here
• There are a couple webcams at the South Pole.
  • One camera looks at the station itself, the other looks out at two of the telescopes located here (I’m going to be operating the South Pole Telescope which is the larger dish on the left side of the building).
  • I’ll be walking the flagged path out to the telescope frequently once my work really starts.
• If you are wondering if I have internet connectivity at a given time you can check the schedule here