Saturday, December 16, 2000
One hundred years ago, no human had ever gone to the pole. The desire to find the place, where the only direction is north, occupied many lives and killed several men. When Roald Amundsen and his three fellow teammates stepped first on the pole for the first time, they endured extreme cold and traveled through dangerous territory. They relied upon themselves and their faith in their planning.
All I had to do was step off a plane and look around. I had a huge number of people help me with my journey. However, once at the South Pole station, I had to find the pole myself. The photo below shows the place where VIPs go to be photographed. You see a red and white striped post with a shiny metal sphere. If you look carefully at the sphere, you can see me taking the photograph (you will have to take my word that it is I) and flags in the background. These flags represent the nations who signed the Antarctic preservation treaty that was signed in the 1970s.
But that is not the real South Pole. That is only a nice place to have your picture taken. About 30 meters away is where I took the next photograph. There is the official sign, and the post with the brass top indicates the official pole. If you look carefully in the picture, you will see a path of metal posts. Which one is the real pole?
Amundsen-Scott South Pole State Station is built on a glacier that is several kilometers thick. The reason that we have built Amanda here is that we use the thick ice to place our detectors. Well, this glacier is moving. Since the glacier is in motion, then what once was the South Pole is not anymore. The glacier is traveling about 10 meters a year. In this picture, you can see the pole marker for the preceding year and the past ones. In fact, you can see a whole series of poles. Each pole marks the previous year measurement.
Is the pole that I photographed the present pole? The answer is again no. The pole was measured in January of this year. This January, the marker will be moved to the new place. The real pole is closer to where I took the picture.
Today, the weather varied between -20 F and -30 F. It actually felt quite warm. While I was walking to our experimental area, I got a lift on a sled pulled by a snowmobile. Then with the wind in my face, it really felt cold. The wind was causing my face to hurt. But riding on a sled past the South Pole is fun; I would do it again. Now that I have been here more than 48 hours, I am getting used to the altitude and starting to do some work. Tomorrow, which is Sunday, is just another workday. However, we are allowed to use the satellite to call home.
Howard Matis
South Pole