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December 21, 2003 Special to the Record-Eagle/Troy Wiles Troy Wiles stands at the actual South Pole, which is marked by a flag and a sign. SOUTH POLE NOTEBOOKA balmy, -7 degrees FahrenheitBy TROY WILESSpecial to the Record-Eagle AMUNDSEN/SCOTT SOUTH POLE STATION, Antarctica - Greetings, my fellow Michiganians. It has been a beautiful couple weeks here at the South Pole with temperature ranging from -7 degrees Fahrenheit, the warmest this year, to -14 degrees Fahrenheit. These temperatures are quite nice, even with a moderate wind. We have had several days of spectacular atmospheric phenomena. The sundogs have been quite impressive which, alone, makes the sacrifices worthwhile. Several visitors throughout the summer have made the South Pole one of their destinations. This morning we had a Bell 407 helicopter that originated in New York land at the Pole. In it were two helicopter pilots: Colin Bodill and Jennifer Murray of England. This adventure has taken them down the east coast of the Americas to the Antarctic continent. They will stay overnight and then fly back to the Patriot Hills Antarctic station from whence they came. From there, they then plan to travel up the west coast of the Americas to the North Pole. This American-sponsored sojourn is the first attempt by a helicopter to travel to both poles. This would truly make them "bi-polar." Finally, they intend to end their trip back in New York. They have flown around the world together once before. Jennifer has circumnavigated the world twice in a helicopter. This has been done only six times. They've also flown a helicopter together in the London to Sydney air race. If interested, you can follow their journey on their website at www.polarfirst.com. We have had other NGA (non-government activity) visitors in the last couple weeks. Jon Johanson, an Australian, flew his home-made, experimental fixed-wing aircraft across the South Pole. During the eclipse on Nov. 23, we had a commercial airliner from Chile fly across the Pole during the eclipse. Rumor has it that only half the seats were sold so all could view the eclipse from one side of the aircraft. With all of this activity occurring on station, the days are ticking by like seconds on a stopwatch. The holiday season is approaching and the decorations are starting to go up. The holiday season is important for a couple of reasons. We get a couple days off in a row, and it is a seasonal milestone. There are several milestones throughout the year that we look forward to crossing. There is the summer solstice, Christmas, station closing, sunset, mid-winter, sunrise and, finally, station opening. We are currently half way through the summer season with about eight more weeks to go until the last flight out - station closing. Station closing will occur in mid February, and the next flight in will not appear until late October. During the eight months of winter, there will be a skeleton crew to maintain the station. Station closing is a misnomer because there will be lots of science and interior work taking place on station. The goal this year is to have 78 people through the winter. This would be the largest crew ever to winter at the South Pole. Unofficially, more people have climbed Mount Everest than have wintered over at the South Pole. The new station is progressing well this summer. The project is on schedule for the summer. However, the completion date had to be pushed back from 2006 to 2007. The limiting factor for construction projects at the South Pole is materials. Everything has to be flown in by LC-130 ski planes. This is tasked to the Air National Guard 109th Airlift Wing out of Schenectady, New York. They fly six days a week with a goal of five to six flights daily. Weather plays a major role in regard to flying in Antarctica. There are also mechanical issues that occur on occasion. There are many interesting events and projects occurring at this desolated spot at the bottom of the earth that you hear on TV and read about in magazines. I wish you all could experience the breathtaking sundogs first-hand. It is exciting and interesting to be a part of the experience. Until next time, farewell, and Merry Christmas. Troy Wiles, a 38-year-old physician's assistant from Frankfort, is part of a two-member medical team caring for about 600 researchers and staff at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station for a year. He is writing a journal for the Record-Eagle describing life at the pole  Special to the Record-Eagle/Troy Wiles Atmospheric phenonmena like this one are called “sundogs” at the South Pole. Buildings from right are the new South Pole station, dome and Skylab (rectangular structure). The grouping of flags is the ceremonial pole, while the small square just to the left — with one flag and marker sign — is the actual pole. The last building on the left is the Atmospheric Research Observatory. Read more about sundogs: http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/opt/ice/sd.rxml http://www.geocities.com/~kcdreher/sundogs.html
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