"Wicked cold" at the Pole, off to the Dry Valleys

Conveniently, our flight boomeranged again (this time without us on it) and we got to spend the night at the South Pole last night! Landing at the Pole and gazing around at the entirely flat icy landscape around me, then realizing that the Earth was rotating around the exact spot where we were standing -- this brought the most euphoric and surreal feelings I have ever felt in my life. Truly amazing.

Since the South Pole is the coldest region will will be visiting in Antarctica, the results for the "How cold will Ann get in Antarctica?" poll are in:

Not cold at all -- she's prepared

7 (15%)

Really cold

3 (6%)

Wicked cold

15 (32%)

Frozen ... like on a stick

21 (45%)

To the majority of you who voted for "Frozen ... like on a stick," I'm sorry to break the news: I was only "wicked cold" at the Pole!

It was only about -20 Fahrenheit with windchills in the -30 range when I was there. The clothing provided by the U.S. Antarctic Program worked really well (almost too well!). The only parts that were "wicked cold" were my face and fingers because I was outside taking so many pictures and holding a metal camera.

In New England, "wicked" cold is the coldest description of cold -- really cold, very cold, mad cold, extremely cold...none of them top "wicked cold," except "frozen on a stick." I'm glad that I didn't get frozen to the Pole marker!

Because of a packed schedule, travel delays, and internet issues, I have not had a chance to post a lot of photos or content about the actual science we have learned about so far. The South Pole trip was jam-packed with tours of some of the most amazing science research projects in the world -- Clean Air monitoring (including Carbon Dioxide and the Ozone hole), the South Pole Telescope and IceCUBE projects that look down through the ice and ground instead of up into the sky, and meteorology that forecasts weather for travel and station operations at the Pole using very little satellite data or other internet resources and in fast-changing atmospheric conditions.

I have changed the second header on my blog to "Follow me in January 2010 to learn about Antarctic science" because I will be posting more of the science later this week and after my return. So, please keep checking back both during my last few days here and throughout the month.

Today, we are going on a helicopter tour of the Dry Valleys region -- the <2% part of Antarctica that is not covered with ice, and where it hasn't rained in over 2 million years!