The sun was hidden behind clouds most of the day today. I had been hoping to get outside and take some photos of the area around the South Pole Station. But when weather like this happens, the sunlight is very diffuse, and pictures of white snow with white light and white clouds generally look like a lot of plain boring white.
Finally in the early evening (remember, the sun stays at the same elevation above the horizon all day and night, just moves in a circle around the sky so "evening" just means when my watch says 7 pm...) the sun broke through the clouds a bit and gave me a chance to explore. I ventured out the "back" of the station, past Summer Camp where a lot of the staff live, and into the Cargo Berms...
The Berms are literally cold storage for anything and everything that isn't currently being used at the South Pole Station. Rows upon rows of stacked boxes, pallets, exercise equipment, forklifts, pieces of buildings, and unrecognizable junk threaten to be covered by snow drifts, but each piece is apparently catalogued and kept track of, and snow-moving equipment keeps the berms mostly clear of snow to maintain access. Long term, all this junk will need to be shipped back to the US under the terms of the Antarctic Treaty - nothing can be left permanently.
But for now, it sits there, crazy piles of whatever.
Here are a handful of photos from the Berms. Since the clouds were just clearing up, the ice crystals in the air made a nice halo around the sun - which made an otherworldly backdrop for some of the photos!
Many people stay inside the
Beyond Summer Camp are the Cargo Berms - long-term storage of anything and everything.
A view from atop a huge pile of snow, overlooking the rows of cargo stacked in the snow. Space is cheap; but keeping it clear of snow drifts requires almost constant maintenance.
Evidence of Christmases past
This small round building now houses only some snow. No idea what it was originally used for! With the leftover and abandoned pieces in the Berms you could make one heck of a space ship or perhaps Mad Max vehicle.
Think of the reception you would be able to get if you hooked this up to your television. Or to your junk space ship or Mad Max car…
These loops of metal seem to form the skeleton of a building long abandoned. They are pieces removed from the tunnel entrances to the old Dome station.
The Berms are a great place to hide frisbee golf baskets! There are a couple inside the Scrap Cathedral as well.
Is this another frisbee golf hole, or just a random decoration? I am not sure but it makes a nice frame for a photo, looking back towards the elevated station in the distance.
These buildings receive the satellite signals that provide phone and internet service to the Pole. The round one was for the Maristat satellite, and the angular one is for the SPTR-2 satellite.
Along side the Cargo Berms is Spoolhenge, where the ancient Druids stacked their spools after using them to deliver cables to various parts of the South Pole.