When living in Amundsen-Scott, you live in what is known as the “Elevated Station”. This is the dark blue station that you see in all the pictures. It is shaped somewhat like a wing and is made to encourage the snow to flow under it and avoid being buried too too fast (the snow is rising and it will have ot be raised eventually, but that is a story for another day). The “arches” are what we call the portion of the station under the snow, accessed by “The Beer Can”. Downstairs contains storage, plumbing, power, and the mechanics shop.

These arches were once above the snow, but the ~1ft per year of accumulation has left them buried. They are feeling the pressure, but the can take it. Once interesting thing you’ll notice is condensation on the walls – the humdity at the pole is extremely low, so the condensation all is brought in by human breath.

As they are below the surface, there is no wind in the arches, which is a lot less cold in general. That said, they stay at about -50C throughout the year and are much colder than outside on a clear summer day. Thi means, though, that they are also an extremely convient place to store food – most of the shelves in the picture above have food on them. Behind them is the fuel arch, but we’ll look at the mechanics shop next.

When it gets REALLY cold at the pole (around -70F or so) it starts to be difficult to use the big machines without damaging them. But that means that snow builds up and we really need their help come sunrise. So, over the winter, they are maintained by the mechanics on station to make sure they are ready. Originally, the vehicles had to be flown in on (and fit in) an LC-130, but it is now possible for them to arrive by traverse.

Water at the pole is maintained downstairs as well – a large “day tank” keeps enough water to ensure that everyone’s 4min of shower a week is possible as well as all the water used to wash dishes. The water comes from a deep bulb in the ice that is heated and pumped to the surface. The bulb itself is called the “Rodwell”. Ice is a bad conductor of heat, making this an efficient process, but it still takes quite a bit of energy to heat and melt the ice, so water is still at a premium.

At the back of the fuel arch is a way out through the frosted stair. It comes out far away from the station, but is important as an exit.

That’s all about the sownstair for now, we’ll have to return later.