To the end of the world

Well, the impossible is indeed possible. Never say never. Both of these sayings apply to where I am now. I thought it was absolutely impossible to go here. I never thought I would make it. But here I am in

My adventure to get to the bottom of the earth was an amazing one! The journey to reach the South Pole is one of much adventure, many hours on spent on a plane, sitting in airports, and meeting new friends! A group of around 35-40 people had orientation together in Denver, Colorado at the end of October. We were there for 3 days. We had all sorts of different trainings including learning about the environment down here and how fragile it is, to safety trainings, and learning how to work safe in such a harsh environment. We were then flown to Los Angeles for a 5 hour layover, and had a 15 hour flight to Australia. After a 2 hour layover there, we got on our next flight and took off to Christchurch New Zealand!!

It was a time to hangout with all of our new friends, eat, play and explore New Zealand. We were there for an extra day allowing us to get to go to the ocean, and to take a bus around to explore the city. In New Zealand, we were then issued all of our ECW gear (Extremely Cold Weather). What fun the first experience in such intensely large, bulky, heavy, warm clothes was. With everything on, from boots to head, it’s around 28 pounds!!! Talk about a weight change!

This is what everyone looks like before they head outside.

After we were all geared up, we took a flight on a C-17 military aircraft to McMurdo Station which is a small island in Antarctica. We were there for only 12 hours when we hopped another flight to our final destination… The South Pole!!! We left Denver on Halloween day and didn’t arrive at the South Pole until November 7^th, so it was definitely a trip to remember!

Stepping off that plane was so overwhelming, exhausting and almost euphoric. I will never forget the white beauty! Going from sea level to around 11,000 feet (it depends daily on the atmospheric pressure how the elevation actually feels to the body), and to a temperature of -50 F, our bodies were shocked and overwhelmed! The day was a blur and I’ve never been so tired or felt so “heavy.” We were allowed the day off, so we slept, ate and relaxed, trying to take it all in.

This is the South Pole Station where I will be staying. The pole in the middle of the picture is the geographic South Pole (2006).

And that… is the beginning of my Antarctic journey. I will update you more next week and send more pictures! So excited I get the opportunity to share my experience down here with you!! Take care and you’ll hear from me soon… if you have any questions just shoot me an email and I’ll try to get back to you as soon as possible. Remember… we work 6 days a week, 10 hours a day, so if it takes a day or two for me to reply, don’t worry! I’m probably just exhausted.