Sunday, December 31, 2000 and Monday, January 1, 2001
Sunday,
The morning was very quiet, as it is a day off for the camp. There will be a New Year's Eve party in the garage. I spent some time in MAPO and I discovered that a strange signal that I was seeing was actually due to a broken cable. Sometimes you can be tricked by simple malfunctions. Now, I am documenting what I did, so that the next team can proceed.
Just as I was about to walk to MAPO, a group of 10 teenagers came skiing to the pole. They have been traveling for about 10 months - starting at the North Geometric pole. The skiers were dropped off around 100 miles from us and have been skiing to us. Unlike the previous adventures, who brought their own gear, these youths are completely supported. Three planes accompanied them plus numerous guides. A total of about 30 people came. They are staying somewhere near here in tents.
Quietly, the two Dutch skiers left early this morning. They are operating on the time of their base camp, Patriot Hills, so for them the time was much later.
This evening we celebrated the real start of the Millennium. However, where can you have a party in the pole that would hold 200 people? Because construction is so expensive here, most rooms are small. The solution to the problem was easy. Hold it in the garage. For two days, people here voluntarily cleaned up the garage and then decorated it. One downside of the garage was due to the grate, women could not wear their heels. In the picture, you can see the results of their hard work. We have a bag pipe player welcoming the New Year. People are dressed with formal wear, our regulation bibs, jeans, and even much much less. Remember, if you want to wear something here, you have to plan and bring it over a distance of many thousands of miles.
Monday
After the festivities, I decided to take a walk to the pole. Low and behold, I saw that the pole had silently moved. You can see a picture of the new pole marker. In a ceremony at midnight, a new marker briefly marks the exact spot of the South Pole. You can also see another picture showing the location of the old and new pole. The Earth really does move or more correctly the ice does.
As my stay here is ending soon, I am enclosing some more pictures. One is a picture of the Dome and Summer Camp where I am staying. The last picture is of the barren Antarctica plateau. This is what you would see if you traveling away from where humans dwell.
Happy New Year,
Howard Matis
South Pole, Antarctica