We had more visits from the BBC for their Frozen Planet series. In fact, the famed BBC broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough himself stayed at the Pole for a couple of days to lend his voice and face to the harsh environment. The film crew took off in a Twin Otter airplane and circled overhead several times as the entire station population posed for a photograph in front of the final piece of the recently deconstructed geodesic dome. The outdated building became a causality of the new, elevated station that I came here to complete. The remaining section of the dome’s triangular iron flew an American flag high above, as a photographer captured the moment. Later that evening crews would remove the ironwork, leaving a massive cavity in the ground. The South Pole Dome was now just a heap of nuts, bolts, and scrap metal. And while the demolition of this iconic building occurred without incident , tragedy almost struck at the original South Pole Station.

An 18-man U.S. Navy crew built “Old Pole” in the mid 1950’s. But due to being buried at a rate of four feet of snow per year, the site was abandoned in the mid-seventies, as the completion of the geodesic dome became the new home for researchers and personnel. However, because the place was deserted before the U.S. government signed the Antarctic Treaty, which required the removal of all unnatural materials, Old Pole was simply left with dishes in the cupboards to be buried forever in the polar tundra. With years of accumulated snow drifts piling up the structural integrity decreased exponentially.

A crew deployed with ground resonance imaging equipment to detail precise locations of the building for some upcoming work. Due to being an “eye sore” out of the galley windows of the new station, authorities decided to relocate the very few tourists who make it to the South Pole each year. The area they chose was near Old Pole. So with hazardous areas marked and flagged, a heavy equipment operator began work to create a new camping spot for the visitors. After working for over an hour his bulldozer suddenly and unexpectedly broke through the ice and plummeted 40 feet before crashing through a network of old wooden framing.

With cracked glass and snow trapping the doorway closed, the driver got on his radio and called for help. Two other heavy equipment operators hurried out to the site to try and rescue their coworker. Arriving at the scene they assessed the situation and began performing a retrieving mission. But as soon as they started, the snows weight gave out again and another of the machines fell through the crumbling sinkhole. Although he didn’t fall as far as the first dozer, the situation became a little more desperate and dangerous. Through much work and calculations, crews safely rescued both operators, who came out with nothing more than scared psyches, bumps and bruises. I talked with the first operator that fell through and was trapped for over an hour, later that evening at a party. He showed me several pictures of the cracked windshield, caved in snow, and then aerial views of the wreckage once he was removed.

I’m not exactly sure what they are going to do with the area at this point or if they were able to tow the equipment out. They may just end up slowly being buried themselves and drifting along with the ice cap until they spill into the ocean thousands of years from now. Working outside at the South Pole is inherently dangerous. It’s a harsh continent and not for the weak hearted, or namby pamby in spirit. While I am one of the few on station that work outside each and every day I was reminded of how privileged we have things here at the new station as one of the early Antarctic explorers from the 1950’s gave a symposium in the galley. Charles Bentley spent several years as a scientist and slept outside, had to build shelters, prepare food, because the infrastructure hadn't been set up yet.

He was a real Antarctic explorer and researcher. While I am working on a building and have very limited freedom and mobility, they were surveying mountain ranges and scaling glaciers that no human had ever laid eye upon. As a result Mount Bentley and the Bentley Subglacial Trench were named after this young college kid who devoted his life to Antarctic science. His accounts were amazing and made me feel like a creature of comfort, Manhattan socialite. While he told stories of how the snow was deeper uphill in both directions, I sipped on a freshly brewed coffee and snacked on some crème brule before heading to the computer lab to check my email before the satellite passes. My how technology has changed in 50 years.

In fact, debuting last night was the 2010 South Pole International Film Festival (SPIFF).
All films are written, directed, and contained actors that currently live at the South Pole. Had I have known, I would have conjured an idea and checked out a camera from the IT department to shoot the video. Instead I had a small part in a silent comedy about a gas line that ate up a fuel operator and another part in the opening welcome scene to the entire festival. About a dozen movies were made, each less than ten minutes in length. There were a few technical difficulties but hopefully I can obtain a disk and watch them in the comfort of my own bedroom. So as my time here winds down I feel like I have been a part of something very special and unique and am just trying to soak it in, because all good things must come to an end. And that’s when the next adventure starts.

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written by  JCinTheSouthPole on January 23, 2010 from Missoula, United States
from the travel blog: South Pole
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JAKE!

I have thought about you often since we last talked! I saw that you deleted your facebook... :(. I wouldn't be so sad but I had no other way to get in touch with you! How are you? How was antartica??? Cold, I'm guessing!

I'm not in the South Pacific, but in Ireland....brrr as well. I have been here for not long now, but am enjoying it a lot! You HAVE to come visit. I already have a spot waiting, and I miss you like crazy! I read your thanksgiving post and I hope you know I am a friend who loves you! You can always count on me, deal?

Anyway, we need to get in touch properly. Do you have an e-mail or a phone number?? Let me know!

xoxoxo,
Jess

written by  j_hyde12 on January 30, 2010

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