Antarctic Gamburtsev Report

As Gretchen said, I got back from AGAP on Tuesday at 7 am--a little strung out from the red eye flight.

So what's to say about AGAP? First and foremost, I survived it; my lungs dealt with the dry rarified air; we set up a small camp for next year; and we took good care of each other.

I think I'll keep it short and show more photos. We spent about 6 days acclimitizing at the South Pole and at AGAP. Here's a few shots from the South Pole.



First, here the carpenter crew reflected in the orb of the ceremonial south pole.






And here is the same crew at the actual geographical pole marker--the earth is spinning around my hand. The friction was incredible.






And here is the new south pole station--still under construction on the outside. The pole was a bit anticlimatic overall. It felt like a construction site complete with the messy yard full of ingoing and outgoing materials, and with a drunken brawl resulting in some south pole worker breaking another worker's jaw. They both got a flight home the next day. Of course, the high altitude never improves one's disposition.






AGAP was a nice change of pace. Organization and supply troubles continued to plague the project so we received supplies sporadically. We worked when we had shelters and other materials and then . . . . . . . . I read 4 1/2 books and played some mean cribbage, evening movies on the laptop were the norm. We cooked for ourselves which was a nice change from the galley. The altitude was the biggest challege, as all physical effort is followed by a spate of panting and sleep was sporadic with gasping for air. (Most people behave like they have mild sleep apnea when at altitude.)



We also had some more direct contact with actual research being done when we helped bury a geophysical seismic sensor and a magnetometer. It was good to work on solar panels and such again. But, eventually we ran out of things to do and then our return flight was delayed by 3-4 days by a storm in McMurdo. It was reeeeealy nice to get out when we finally did. Diversion was becoming hard to come by.


Here is the one photo that sums up AGAP well. Flat snow in all directions for at least 300 miles, 340 miles to the nearest station, 11,300 feet, physiological elevation of 13,000 feet, temperature of minus 30 f, wind 5-10 mph, no clouds in the dry air.





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Its good to be warm, and its good to not be an early polar explorer dragging a sled for hundreds of miles across the polar plateau.
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Love and Peace and Warmth to you all.
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PS--less than one more month here in Antarctica. The travels are coming up quickly.