Saturday, December 30, 2000

The weather remains the same. It is bright and sunny most of the day. Sometimes it is overcast with high clouds. The temperature is a warm - 25 F.

I am getting ready to leave. My lift is scheduled for Tuesday. If all goes well, I will be in the Bay Area on Friday. As I will be leaving in several days, I am wrapping up my work. I am documenting the electrical noise studies so that the next group from Berkeley Lab will have a record of what I have done.

Today, we heard a fascinating talk from the two Dutch adventures, Marc and Wilco who will have to walk to get home. You can see their photograph with their gear. This trip is the final part of their adventure. They already have been to the North Pole. The spent one and half years preparing for this trip - testing their equipment in places such as Greenland. As they started out, they discovered unexpectedly that their sleds had too much friction. After struggling for several days, they realizing that if they would not make a change, they would never get here. In an inspiration, they attached their kite skis to their sleds. That changed everything. With much less friction, they could meet their daily mileage goal. In the question period, a member of the audience asked them, "What is your next adventure." The reply was simply stated, "I have not even thought of it after my wife gave me permission to come here."

We learned that there is a group of ten teenagers skiing here tomorrow. Unlike the Dutch team, this group is supported and does not have to pull their very heavy sled. We do not have the information on how long they have been in Antarctica. There is also a women's expedition struggling to come here. Their plan is to ski here by being pulled by kites. Unfortunately, the wind is not cooperating. They are quite a distance from here.

The second picture shows a recreation room, which contains the momentos of visitors to this area. You can see a tribute to the Amundsen and Scott Party. Also on the wall is a plaque that celebrates the flight of Byrd over the pole. There are many letters from presidents commending the work of the base. There is even a flag that flew in the South Pole and also on the Space Shuttle. In ancient Rome, all roads led to that city. In Antarctica, which is mostly a vast plateau, all journeys, all expeditions lead to the South Pole.

And now some questions

Howard Matis
South Pole, Antarctica

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