Here you go everybody, my first pics from the bottom of the world: the South Pole.
And believe it or not, these pictures were taken at 1:00 AM on Christmas Day... remember the 24 hour sunlight!
This is it. The South Pole. Yes, it is candy cane striped, and has a nice shiny ball on top. The flags in behind are from all of the countries that have Antarctic programs (no Canada though...I'll have to talk to somebody about that one, but I guess we do have the North Pole). In behind you can see the new station. It is still under construction, but most operations have been moved into it. That is also the building I am sleeping in. 
Here I am at the South Pole, in most of my gear too. Its hard to believe it is 30 below and that I am kneeling on nearly 3 kilometers (about 1.8 miles) of solid ice.
I had to take the classic "reflection shot." That is me holding the camera and taking a shot of my own reflection in the ball on top of the pole.
This is the dome that used to be the primary station. It is scheduled for demolition and shipment to California after the new station is up. You can also see the tubes that are used to reinforce the system of tunnels through the ice around the station...very cool, and I don't mean just the temperature inside.
And don't worry, we have a Christmas tree here too.
1 comment:
Hi. Neal, your co-south-pole-blogger, pointed me in your direction. I loved the photos - and I think the whimsical touch of the south pole actually being a red-and-white candy striped thing is great!
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