Heading North

The "Ultra-Dangerous Power Plant Recovery Team" in front of a Soviet-Built MI-8 "hip" Helocopter. Right to Left: McMurdo Electrician Mick, McMurdo Operator Adam 2 (me), McMurdo Mechanic Matt and Adam 1 the South Pole Mechanic

There are a lot of differences between McMurdo and Pole. Size is the most obvious difference since Pole has a max population of 250 to McMurdo's 1200. The landscape here is flat instead of seeing the coastal mountains. The differences cut deeper into the culture here. the scientists and support staff, for example, interact a lot more here than up at MacTown. Scientists at Pole stay on station all season where at McMurdo the scientists are mostly only down for six weeks and will usually head out to the field after a couple of days in town.

Another noticable difference, however, is the station-wide intercom. Having one main building and an intercom adds to the sense of unity at Pole. In my mind the building feels a little more like "South Pole High" than "McMurdo Community College" but the people are definately more fun and accepting than at your average high school. Of those who choose to spend the nine-month winter here about 1/3 return. The main reason given is usually "the people" and after a week of seeing all the smiles here I can definately tell why.

Planes usually take off from McMurdo heading to the Pole in the morning. The sit "on deck" here for about a half hour with their engines running while the cargo and fuel they are carrying to the station are unloaded then head back to the coast in the afternoon. I've been delayed here at Pole for the past three days because the weather in McMurdo hasn't allowed the flights coming to Pole to take off. The extra time gave me a chance to walk into the old dome that was built as the U.S. station back in the 1970's. The old dome is just used as food storage now and will likely be demolished in the next couple of years. The Navy Construction Batalion (CB or SeaBees) that built it would like to have it reassembled at their museum in San Diego. So the next time I stand under the dome may be in California.

Yesterday we had "The 2007 South Pole International Air Show." A flight of American/Canadian helocopters came in and was met a couple of hours later by a flight of Russian helocopters. For the first time ever there were four "helos on deck" at the South Pole. It is the official policy of the National Science Foundation that the United States Antarctic Program does not support private adventurers in their expeditions but that didn't mean a few of us couldn't come out from the station to greet the crews and welcome them to the South Pole.

This morning I was down in the power plant when a call came in over the intercom "South Pole: We have an inbound flight from McMurdo off-deck at 08:30 expected here at 11:30 carrying DV's. All outbound pax should be on deck at 11:30." Which means I just got my ticket home. The "DVs'" are Distinguished Visitors, in this case it's a congressional delegation and some higher-ups from the National Science Foundation. I don't know who the congressmen/women are but if I'll be getting on the plane they're getting off so I'll let you know if I recognize them.