![Large fuel bladders parked on the ice at the South Pole.]](https://res.cloudinary.com/icecube/images/w_1110,h_833,c_scale/q_auto/v1613409623/2021week05_spot_fuel_jveitchmichaelis/2021week05_spot_fuel_jveitchmichaelis.jpg?_i=AA)
Last week at the Pole, the fuel arrived. A lot of it! It takes a lot of fuel to keep things operating all year long in this extreme environment, and like any other cargo, all that fuel must be transported in some way to this remote locale. That’s where SPOT—the South Pole Overland Traverse—comes in. Several times a year, a fleet of tractors makes it way from McMurdo Station hauling fuel in larger bladders (see above) to the South Pole. It’s a long trip over a vast terrain with unpredictable weather, so the traverse team must bring with them everything they might need during their journey. Their camp (below) includes trailers for sleeping, cooking, and other daily needs. Apart from the arrival of the traverse, it was a busy week in general at the Pole, with multiple trips to the ICL and some volunteer work taming some of the growth in the greenhouse.
