Last week began with cold, beautiful weather. The sun was out when all four winterovers set off in a pisten bully to visit all the IceTop stations. These trips are part of the regular task of measuring snow accumulation at the stations. Looks like they were having a good time.
And then there were four. Last week saw the arrival of IceCube’s two new winterovers, Kathrin and Benjamin, joining departing winterovers Raffaela and Johannes before they leave the Pole. On their first visit to the ICL, they set up a camera timer to capture a group photo. But the timer was a bit fast for getting back into their planned arrangement atop a giant snowdrift—so, antics ensued.
Ok, so you’ve completed that giant 18,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, now what? Well, you might not want to take it apart again, at least not for a while. The folks at the South Pole decided to give theirs a place of honor on the wall in the B2 science lab.
Bad weather at the Pole last week kept the first flights from arriving, but it also meant lots of snow shoveling and fuel line testing to continue their readiness for incoming flights once conditions do improve.
While they wait at the Pole for the first arriving flights of the season, there are still chores to do, like snow removal. The snowcat in this image is poised for action.
The main entrance to the South Pole station is known as Destination Alpha—this image shows a view out onto the frosty tundra from there at early sunrise.
The equinox occurred last week, and the sun has finally risen above the horizon. The sky in turn is showing off an array of beautiful colors, providing a nice backdrop for outdoor photos.
Just because the sun’s coming up, doesn’t mean it’s getting warmer yet. In fact, they’ve had some tremendously cold days at the Pole, with the thermometer hitting –100 F last week.
As the sun rises and brightens the sky, thoughts turn to the arrival of summer visitors. Still a ways off, but there is plenty of station prep and cleaning to be done in the meantime. Outside, the IceCube Lab and some other structures are now becoming visible again in daylight.
The satellite dome sits frosted over as it waits for the sunrise—here it’s shown backlit by a full moon. It’s a peaceful scene, which is also how IceCube’s winterovers generally described last week at the Pole.