Why are the winterovers playing chess out on the ice? The answer might just be a question itself—why not? Yes, it’s cold outside...but you just can’t let the weather get in your way.
Last week, long-awaited cargo arrived, and just as exciting, the South Pole traverse also showed up. The traverse travels overland to bring fuel to the Pole that would otherwise need to be flown in.
IceCube was running smoothly last week. But it hasn’t been such smooth sailing this year for cargo arrivals (delays). On the plus side, a supply of IceCube beanie hats arrived!
Since it’s summer at the Pole, more people are arriving than leaving. However, last week two people departed who had been at the Pole for an extended time—yes, we’re talking about Benjamin Eberhardt and Kathrin Mallot, IceCube’s winterovers for the past year, shown here among the red parkas walking toward the plane above.
A plane landing in daylight means summer season and new arrivals at the South Pole. So far things have started off busy for IceCube’s new winterovers.
Two fresh faces have arrived at the Pole—IceCube’s next winterovers, John Hardin and Yuya Makino, ready for service. Here is the plane that brought them, a low-flying Basler.
Things "warmed" up a bit at the Pole last week. And there were sun dogs back in the skies and some interesting snow formations on the ground.
One of the first flights of the season is shown in this monochromatic image that rather dramatically portrays the desolate landscape of the Pole.
Well, there it is, the first plane to arrive at the South Pole for the season—a Basler. It only stopped long enough to refuel, but that was plenty of time to unload its precious cargo of fresh fruit.
The sun is well above the horizon, so there’s plenty of light for outdoor photography. And IceCube’s winterovers got right out there to take some splashy photos—that actually involved a splash of sorts, by throwing water out into an arc overhead that quickly turned into a spray of ice crystals.