The End of Summer

The summer season at Summit Station has come to a close and they have now begun the first phase of winter. Unlike the South Pole; the winter crew is comprised of only five staff (manager, mechanic, and three science technicians) and they’ll swap out crews in October and again in February. And while there will be plenty of darkness, they aren’t at the Pole itself so the sun will keep rising and setting for a while yet – each night growing a little longer than the last.

August was a busy month and I was kept occupied with moving material to the winter berm, carefully organizing it for (hopefully) easy access during the winter and with the intent to minimize drifting as much as possible. We also created a detailed map itemizing pallets and locations with lots of photographs. Come April and opening, the berm will inevitably be buried under snow. The goal is to know what is there and where it all is so it doesn’t get lost and forgotten. During the final week we took down tent city, organized extra bamboo flags, cleaned up all the summer projects and generally tidied camp up for winter. The last few flights brought in extra food to last until April. The Hercs will return to NY for maintenance before heading down South to begin the Antarctic season from Oct-Mar. The winter flights will all be via Twin Otter.

This was a short season for me, and I’m back stateside to enjoy the tail end of summer here. Thanks for following! ‘Till next time…

Tent city all cleaned up

The sun setting over the fuel pits and new drifts

The shop

The Greenhouse in the golden light of the arctic midnight sun

Farewell Big House!

The summer crew leaving Summit

The final herc that took us home