View of South Pole station from sampling site

• Language: unknown
• Subjects: South Pole; South pole
• Online Access: http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org:80/cdm/ref/collection/antartica/id/70

It’s a picture I took of the South Pole station from our sampling site. It’s hard to believe that it’s 5 miles away. The reason I took this is, we decided one time on a bet, to try walking back to the South Pole station instead of taking the snowmobile. Who had to walk? Well, it was my idea, so I was the one to walk and see how the trip was. It was not fun. It took me 3 and a half hours to walk back. By the time I got back, I was quite cold, and quite tired. It showed me very much what Captains Scott and Amundsen must’ve felt like trying to walk around or do work at the South Pole. It is not easy walking because, at first, it is very high altitude, over 9,000 feet. So you’re less than half an atmosphere of pressure, and so you have to breathe fairly deeply. And in working that and walking in that snow, it is a long walk, 5 miles there, takes quite a while to go. But it did take 3 and a half hours to walk all the way back to South Pole station. I never thought I would get there. I was not going to joke again. We always used snowmobiles after that. It was not a smart move.