Every austral summer for the past few years, a caravan of tractors pulling fuel and living modules has made it's way over land from McMurdo to the South Pole. The traverse takes a little over a thousand miles and requires crossing the shear zone (a crevasse-laden area where two ice sheets collide), climbing the Leverett glacier to get up on the polar plateau and making its way over sastrugis in what the traversers maybe not so affectionately call Sastrugi National Park. The purpose of this seemingly epic traverse is to bring fuel to the South Pole and carry what trash they can back. While an LC-130 Hercules flight can also bring fuel, the planes burn 2 gallons for every gallon they bring whereas the traverse only burns 1 gallon for every gallon they haul across the land. It's a much more efficient means.
This year, 10 hardy souls made the trip from McMurdo to Pole in 31 days, imploding one crevasse in the shear zone along the way. They didn't bring as much fuel as in years past as their mission this year is to travel on to AGAP, an abondoned field camp, and bring back any items left behind.
These pretty red tractors do all of the hauling
One of the living modules on skis
And the fuel bladders that get carried behind
Logistics!!
That's tight quarters for 4 people
The silver container is where snow is shoveled so it can be melted for water
Julian, our traverse guide, and Keith, a Pole electrician, looking at generators in the generator module, which also houses the bathroom
Waste has got to go somewhere and that's an incinerator toilet. All waste gets carried back for processing and the person who deals with it does not have to cook. Fair trade?
The traverse as seen from afar, including more equipment and modules previously unmentioned, such as a module for food and a module for tools and spare parts
And in my mind as well. I would love to do this one day!
Thanks for sharing! Really interesting! I'd opt for the cooking for sure.
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