South Pole!!

South Pole, Antarctica
Nov 1, 2006
-45C, -49F
(Wind chill -80F)
Day 1

I woke up at 5am this morning to prepare for the flight on the LC-130 operated by the US Air National Guard out of New York. The night before, you, your luggage, ECW, and hand carry bag were weighed and your luggage is checked in. You have to be smart in packing your hand carry because if the flight boomerangs (returns to original departure point b/c of weather), you may not see your luggage. I’ve known people to live out of their hand carry for a week or more until they get another flight.

There is a big group of us on this flight. Most of us have been traveling together since training in Denver and have become very good friends. For most of us, it is our first time to the South Pole. We are all very eager to leave McMurdo and start doing what we were hired to do and we are all very excited to experience the South Pole! We are driven in shuttle busses down to the ice runway, given sack lunches, and loaded onto the LC-130. This flight is very different from the C-17 transport from New Zealand. First, it is much smaller and there is only seating along the outside edge of the plane on nylon webbing slings. Our hand carry bags are strapped in down the center of the plane.

Take off is uneventful, although we are very crowded. You can see supplies and our luggage packed on palates in the back of the plane. Once leveled off, you can take off some of your ECW, walk around and watch through the windows as we travel over the Transantarctic Mountain range. By this time they’ve debriefed us many times on Altitude Sickness and given everyone Diamox which is supposed to help in the transition to altitude. You take one the night before you fly and then two twice a day for three days. One of the side effects is that it makes you pee all the time. You are also cautioned to constantly drink water. Everyone has a large water bottle strapped to their side as standard gear issue.

On the herc, the bathrooms are interesting, to say the least. Once we leveled off, one of the crew situates a thin, army green shower curtain coving a 2x2 ft square area in the front and says that one is for boys. In the back, another shower curtain is fixed coving a little larger area, about 4x2 and says that one is for girls. The boys’ bathroom is essentially peeing down a tube into a large container. For the girls, they are at least thoughtful enough to include a funnel at the top of the tube. Now, I’ve heard stories of this BR situation in advance and decided to avoid it at all costs. I hydrate excessively the day before, skip taking the Diamox, and don’t drink any liquids the morning of the flight. It worked! I never once had to pee down the funnel during the 3 hour flight!

The landing feels like any other landing except as we taxi to the drop-off point, the back of the plane opens up like a giant mouth and spits out all our bags and supplies. We all put our gear back on, grab our hand carry, and are ushered out the plane. They don’t turn off the engines at the Pole for fear of everything freezing over. As you walk off the plane, someone is there making certain you don’t take a wrong turn into the spinning propellers, although they say it will only hurt for a second. The executive chef, James Brown, is there waiting for everyone in the galley crew and gives us all hugs. The people who are Winter-overs (staying the whole year) are stationed in the main building. The summer crew is stationed out in the James-ways, or “Summer Camp”. James walks us out to Summer Camp. Even though your entire face and body are covered with the ECW, the wind and cold slap you in the face and take your breathe away.

I’ve heard stories about the J-ways but nothing could have prepared me. Every building on Antarctica thus far has been situated 3-5 feet or more off the frozen ground and ice. I imagine protecting it against absorbing the cold off the ice and also so it can be adjusted as the ice and ground move underneath. The J-ways are laid directly on cement slabs directly on the ice. The J-ways are military canvas Quonset huts about 40 feet long and 20 feet wide. I’m in J3, #2. Each J-way has a small 3x3 entry made out of plywood which is painted black. When I came out of the bright sun and into the entry, it felt I was in a cheap, old carnival funhouse. I was blinded by the darkness and expected to see carneys jump out who hadn’t showered in a few weeks. There J-ways are clearly from an era long past when the military had more of a presence here. They expanded them to be civilian housing when the South Pole population began to swell. It’s my understanding they are unoccupied during the winter. Once inside there is a main corridor running the length of the Quonset barely wider than shoulder width. My “room” is the first on the right. The door is a heavy wool army blanket and in the complete darkness, it takes me 10 minutes to find a lamp and plug it in. I’m the corner room of the J-way so 2 walls are the un-insulated canvas, one is my blanket/door, and one is a make-shift plywood wall. I have a window, but someone has taken much effort and time to board it up blocking out the 24-hour sunlight. I have a large foot locker that helps as part of the wall. I notice that at least I have a new mattress that is lofted several feet off the floor to give me more space. This is where I’ll be living for the next 4 months. It’s amazing to think that only one layer of army canvas separates my bed from -80F wind chill. I’m very scared to look under my bed as I believe there are disgusting remnants under there from the last 30 people who have stayed here. My accommodations here make the dorms at McMurdo look like the Four Seasons. Nonetheless, this is part of the adventure I signed up for, right?

The community bathrooms for the 15 J-ways is right in the center, or about 30 feet from my back door. There are small laundry facilities, and an outdoor, unheated supply closet (I wondered how those vacuums can function while in the cold all the time), and a closet that opens to the outside that only has a blanket for a door. As the snow drifts into this little closet, I’m told that’s where we can pick up our luggage in a few hours. Aside from the wind, ice, snow, and subzero temperatures I could be staying at the Epping Bible camp. It really has that sort of feel to it.

Next to the bathrooms another 20 feet away is the J-way lounge. My friend Michelle and I go exploring and find that this converted J-way smells and looks worse than any fraternity house I’ve ever been in. There is a couch covered with snow outside. The couches and furniture inside aren’t much better, but there is a stereo and a TV/VCR for movies. Exploring further, we find another make-shift plywood building that houses some weight lifting equipment and treadmills. Later, some of the guys cleaned up the lounge and I realize its adventurous potential as a fun place to hang out.

I am told that in the history of man kind, less than 10,000 people have ever set foot at the South Pole. I feel very privileged to be one of them.