Week 52 at the Pole

Group photo outside in front of South Pole station entrance.
Michael Rayne, ASC/NSF

Everyone at the South Pole station congregated outside last week for a nice holiday group photo. While the temperatures at the Pole are normally their warmest in December and January, it was still cold out there. Hard to tell from the photo as there are plenty of folks not wearing hats and a few here and there without long pants or a coat. At least it was a bright sunny day. Last week rounded out the year with various celebrations and activities, including the Race Around the World, Christmas and caroling, a science lecture, film watching and making (continued from the previous week), Dark Sector tours, and—last but not least—sledding! There’s an IceCube crew on that packed sled starting downhill.

Several winterovers packed together on small sled, just starting to go down steep snowbank.
Kevin Zagorski, SPT/NSF