The first of them to arrive was a Japanese ski marathoner who had already been to the North Pole and Mount Everest. What made his expedition oddly different from others was that he had a crew of NTV, riding snowmobiles, following him. I knew in advance, on one morning before Christmas, that he would arrive that day. However, I didn't see him until a Twin Otter plane took off and circled above them on the undulating horizon. Some American construction workers went up to greet them. At about 11 AM they arrived at the South Pole. The NSF representative wasted no time in telling them that they were only allowed to camp on the other side of the runway.

Image: The Japanese ski marathoner (second to the left) and his NTV crew at the South Pole.

At about 7 o'clock, the marathoner gave a talk about this expedition. He said the North Pole was like a dream and his trips to the "other two poles on the earth" -- the North Pole and Mt. Everest. dream, ethereal and untenable, while the South Pole was solid. That surely was not just a description of their physical difference.

Image: The ski marathoner in his talk on the expedition.

He left the next day on schedule. The TV crew, probably with whom he financed part of his expedition, stayed at the Pole for an extended length of time, shooting the South Pole Station.

The second to arrive at the Pole was a Norwegian woman, Liv Arnesen. She became the first woman to ski to the South Pole solo and unsupported -- hauling more than 100 kg of food and supplies all by herself during the 59 days of her trip. She only sent out a short coded message to people outside every day to tell them if she was fine. This was the "classic" kind of expedition: the expeditioner is almost totally on his/her own to deal with the physical charge, the loneliness, and the hazards incurred. During her talk, which was given in the gym, she said she once barely avoided ending up in a crevasse because her sledge stopped her. She had frostbite on her fingers. Some of her fingers, as I knew, couldn't be kept.

Image: Liv Arnesen in her talk.

The NSF seemed to have softened its rigid stand on how to treat private expeditioners at the Pole Station. While waiting for the the Adventure Network's plane to fly her back, Liv worked in the galley washing dishes in exchange of meals. I felt that being a soloist, she perhaps didn't enjoy the companionship with our people at the Pole Station, as we denizens usually did with each other. However, she was still very amiable. She seemed to share my feeling about the big fuel tanks and vehicles at the Pole.

The third wave of expeditioners are also Norwegians. They just couldn't seem to have enough of the cold and ice in their country.

Image: Cato Pedersen, Norwegian expeditioner using artificial arms.

They were three guys, Cato Pedersen, Lars Ebbesen, and Odd Hauge, under the name, "Unarmed to the South Pole." The name came from the fact that Cato lost his arms in an accident many years ago. It was impressive how modern technology and science had reduced the difficulty and danger for Polar expeditioners. Scientific diet, new materials for making tents, sledges, and skis, GPS receivers, and high tech artificial arms had all helped make the trip more enjoyable.

Image: The traditional Race Around the World.

At the end of the year there was the traditional Race Around the World. Basically, whoever wanted to run can participate in circling around the Ceremonial Pole, along the 1 mile taxiway (the branch of airstrip looping from the main runway to the dome) three times. There were about 70 people who finished the race. I finished in 23 min, 23 sec, as number 34. The real problem for me was not quite the thin air at the 10,000' altitude, but an almost frozen tongue. The guy who finished first only took 15 minutes! Everyone who finished got a shirt with a "Race Around the World 1994" logo on it. However, those who finished on bikes and tractor sledges seemed to get the shirt, too.

Then there was the snow sculpture competition.The "Drunken Elf" got the first prize. But I really liked the "Peddler" better.

During Christmas, there was the impressive show, "How The Grinch Stole Christmas." Out of envy, the Grinch (a humorous hairless guy) and his cow (Chuck) stole gifts and even winter weather gear from those who were happily preparing for Christmas. After he found they were still very happy without gifts, he realized happiness was in people's hearts, so he returned everything.

Image: The Grinch show during Christmas.

Humor was found everywhere. It was what helped people to live in this isolated island in a ocean of snow and ice.

Image: Christmas reading and carols.

One moving event was a reading, after Christmas dinner, on the second floor of the galley. People read Scott's and other explorers' diaries, giving a vivid presentation of what people had faced in early years of polar expedition. After that, it was Christmas carols. I was amazed to see how humans would try to construct an environment familiar to them, no matter how different the physical environment was.

Image: Expeditioners leaving after the new year.

After the new year, all expeditioners left in a Twin Otter.

Life returned to busy work, work, work. The base was to be closed on February 11th. There was so much work to do, I didn't have much time to do anything else except minor exploration of the Pole Station. There were always some interesting discoveries, if you looked for it.

Image: Fun stuff.

Finally it came to the end of the summer season. There would be 28 people wintering over this year. They would stay at the Pole for another 9 months, through the dark, cold winter. Rich Chamberlin was the winterover for AST/RO project. The temperature dropped to -40F. Windchill used to reach -92F. Starkly in contrast with the warmer sunny days of a month before, snow crystals now fell down from the sky, forming sundogs around the sun almost all the time. It started to hurt if you let the wind blow on your face. Summer was over.

Image: Sundogs.
On February 11th, I went on board the second to last LC-130 that left the Pole for this season. Rich saw me off to the plane. Farewell. I hope I can come back again.

A more elaborate version of this travel story can be found on http://buast7.bu.edu/~mhuang. A variety of information on Antarctica is available on http://icair.iac.org.nz/.