On my last morning in Antarctica I put on my well-worn gear for the final time – the parka, insulated overalls, boots and other extreme cold weather gear all must be returned to the United States Antarctic Program center in Christchurch, New Zealand. I have grown so accustomed… Read More
It’s almost noon and the sun is hardly 10 degrees off the horizon. As the weeks of sunset are coming to a close, we find ourselves in a near-constant twilight. Our days at Marble Point Air Facility are numbered. The end of the season in… Read More
“A man who is not afraid of the sea will soon be drowned, he said, for he will be going out on a day he shouldn’t. But we do be afraid of the sea, and we do only be drowned now and again.” -J.M. Synge,… Read More
Whop whop whop whop – the unmistakable sound of a helicopter comes from behind the glacier, headed toward camp. I pause, standing still in the kitchen, and listen – it sounds like a Bell 212, not an A-star. That means that I’ll have not only a pilot to… Read More
There is very little that the camp manager, Mack, doesn’t know about Marble Point. He has presided over the Marble Point Air Facility for seven years. Before he came here, Mack spent many years at South Pole Station and a few at McMurdo Station, including several winters; all… Read More
The Antarctic coast is very different from the Polar Plateau; I’m getting to know the continent all over again, discovering this new region of Antarctica. To better learn the area, I slept outside in a Scott tent again – this time on the Ross Ice Shelf, completing a… Read More
A change in the weather and suddenly my slow day becomes packed with activity. Snow has blown in across McMurdo Sound, preventing air travel back to the main base at McMurdo Station. The two helicopters that had been running deliveries in the Dry Valleys are stranded – and… Read More
As the Antarctic summer season wraps up, we’re starting to slow down. The fatigue has settled in; the wear and tear of four months of intense work in this harsh climate has taken a toll. My fingers are cracking from working in the dry cold, and I’m holding… Read More
Midway through sorting the station mail, I made an interesting realization: I know everyone here. Every last name on a letter is familiar to me, and as I’m putting away the postcards and envelopes, I have something to say about everyone – oh, she’ll be happy to have… Read More
“Are you ready to get your SPIFF on?” These words, directed at the packed-to-capacity galley at South Pole Station, opened up the fifth annual South Pole International Film Festival screened here at Amundsen-Scott on Jan. 26. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes =… Read More
One of the first things people asked me when they heard that I was going to the South Pole was, “How many other women will be there?” I could have told them about the director of the station, B.K. Grant. And the winter site manager,… Read More
On Jan. 12, we officially dedicated the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The former station, the Dome, was officially decommissioned as a federal facility, and the United States flag was raised over the elevated station we now inhabit. This long-anticipated event was attended by many distinguished… Read More
Almost as exciting as Christmas and more anticipated than birthdays are freshies – fresh food delivered once every few weeks by plane to the South Pole. Things that I often take for granted at home, such as daily postal mail and fresh apples, are now… Read More
Oddly enough, home came to me over the holidays this year when the University of Maine arrived in the form of the International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition – after a 10-season, 1,250-kilometer overland journey. If being in Antarctica seems adventurous, being part of a trans-Antarctic traverse… Read More
Perhaps the biggest South Pole holiday tradition is the famous “Race Around the World.” At 10 a.m. Christmas Day, nearly every person on station gathers outside for a three-lap, two-mile race around the actual South Pole – quite literally, a race around the world. Participants cross every line… Read More
No doubt about it: I am definitely having a white Christmas this year. That much was a given. Despite the guarantee of white, we at the South Pole hardly ever get to see snow fall from the skies. For most of the year, it’s too… Read More
Last weekend I went camping. Outside, in Antarctica. It was minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit, with a minus-50 wind chill index. Yes, this was voluntary. Why not? I learned a lot about how to survive outside in the cold – and I got to experience Antarctica… Read More
When you think of the South Pole, you definitely think of the cold. But what you probably wouldn’t think about is just how high above sea level the South Pole actually is. Amundsen-Scott station is located on top of nearly two miles of ice and sits at a… Read More
I suffered frostbite on my nose in my first 24 hours at the South Pole. Wide-eyed and not yet in tune with just what the cold here is like, nor yet physically adjusted, I walked from my Jamesway shelter to the main station with my… Read More
Thanksgiving is a good time for remembering the things you’re grateful for. Often it’s the little things that make the most difference. I am thankful for the invention of the hand-warmer. I swear I get up in the morning because of those things. Thanksgiving also… Read More
Some of you are probably wondering what, exactly, I do here at the South Pole. As the general assistant (GA) to operations, I report first and foremost to the VMF (vehicle maintenance facility, or the heavy machinery garage). The garage is the hub for the… Read More
Many liberal arts students in their last semesters of college – particularly those of the more artistic disciplines – joke that their first post-grad residence will likely be a cardboard box on the street. It’s my first year out of school and I find myself living in, of… Read More
“For those of you going to Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station,” we were told, “that first walk from the plane to the base will be one of the most physically demanding experiences of your lives.” These words repeated in my head as our plane skimmed over… Read More
When a college classmate of mine first recommended that I apply for a job in Antarctica, I imagined excitedly the challenges of living at the bottom of the earth. What I did not imagine, though, were the many challenges involved in simply getting there. A… Read More
I’m going south for the winter. Mainers are familiar with going south for the winter, but I’m going a bit farther than most. About as far south as you can go, actually – and I don’t mess around. You see, growing up in Holden just… Read More