December 14, 2011
100 Years Ago Today!
Yesterday, when the weather was clear, I could see beyond the Thiel Mountains. To the North, a single Nunatak marked the horizon in the opposite direction. Today, a slow moving cloud layer has enveloped the basin I am camped in blending sky and snow into a singular blur - whiteout.
I am stationed at a remote skiway roughly halfway between the South Pole and A.N.I's base camp at Union Glacier. Here Twin Otters land and refuel. Normally, a remote camera sends weather images through an Iridium phone but time and Antarctica has taken its toll on micro chips and circuit boards so I am stationed here, alone. My job is simple: make hourly weather observations and report them.
Compared with digging out fuel drums and unloading supply flights its a cush assignment, but definitely not as cool as hanging out with emperor penguins.
Its funny to be camped here. Exactly two years ago I was in the very same spot to pick up a resupply while skiing to the Pole. I remember vividly sking up and through the Thiels on a tongue of glacier. It was bitter cold and windy.
Exactly 100 years ago today, Roald Amundsen and his Norwegian team reached the South Pole. It was an incredibly efficient and well planned expedition (one that I've personally taken notes from). The Englishman Robert Falcon Scott and his team would arrive nearly a month later and then die on their return trip.
In honor of this anniversary there are all sorts of celebrations planned at the Pole - speeches, centennial expeditions arriving, the Norwegian Prime Minister, a party and more. What would Amundsen think of the short flight that covered the same distance it took him months to dogsled?
I'm not sure. Personally, I can't help but think back to what it must have been like - thousands of miles from the nearest human settlement. Years from home. An unending sea of snow and ice...
I am pleased to be sharing this day with you.
I am stationed at a remote skiway roughly halfway between the South Pole and A.N.I's base camp at Union Glacier. Here Twin Otters land and refuel. Normally, a remote camera sends weather images through an Iridium phone but time and Antarctica has taken its toll on micro chips and circuit boards so I am stationed here, alone. My job is simple: make hourly weather observations and report them.
Compared with digging out fuel drums and unloading supply flights its a cush assignment, but definitely not as cool as hanging out with emperor penguins.
Its funny to be camped here. Exactly two years ago I was in the very same spot to pick up a resupply while skiing to the Pole. I remember vividly sking up and through the Thiels on a tongue of glacier. It was bitter cold and windy.
Exactly 100 years ago today, Roald Amundsen and his Norwegian team reached the South Pole. It was an incredibly efficient and well planned expedition (one that I've personally taken notes from). The Englishman Robert Falcon Scott and his team would arrive nearly a month later and then die on their return trip.
In honor of this anniversary there are all sorts of celebrations planned at the Pole - speeches, centennial expeditions arriving, the Norwegian Prime Minister, a party and more. What would Amundsen think of the short flight that covered the same distance it took him months to dogsled?
I'm not sure. Personally, I can't help but think back to what it must have been like - thousands of miles from the nearest human settlement. Years from home. An unending sea of snow and ice...
I am pleased to be sharing this day with you.