Introducing Mystery Class #7
South Pole Station ( 90.000 S, 172.633 E)

Are you ready for me to reveal my secret location? Did anyone guess the South Pole, Antarctica? If so, congratulations!

I enjoyed being your Mystery Class correspondent this year. My name is Cameron Lewis, and I was stationed down here at the South Pole from late October 2002 to mid February 2003

I am 33 years old, and I am from Tallahassee, Florida. Quite a change in climate from Antarctica! I was a science teacher at Maclay School in Tallahassee, Florida before I started working with Raytheon Polar Services Company as a Communications Operator.

The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, located at 90 degrees South latitude, sits at an elevation of over 9,300 feet, most of which is ice. The extremely arid environment limits annual snowfall; however, a relatively constant wind speed of 5 - 15 knots compounds the accumulation and accounts for the heavy snow drifting common to inland Antarctic stations. The surrounding terrain is virtually flat, featureless snow.

The core of our station is located beneath an aluminum geodesic dome, 165 feet in diameter and 55 feet high. The Dome provides a windbreak for three two-story structures that contain living, dining, communications, recreation, laboratory, and meeting facilities.

The Dome

Inside the Dome

Walking out of the Dome

This Dome will soon be replaced by a new station designed to combine the current below-surface facilities with new, elevated facilities. Buried arches house the power plant, fuel storage, cargo, warehouse and waste management facilities. The new station will house all additional station support facilities, including a new plant growth chamber and a large gymnasium.

This was my first season and I really loved being here at the South Pole. I departed here around February 12, 2003, as the end of summer was upon us. October through February is the summer season here at Pole. The sun is continuously out during this time. During the winter, it is dark from March until early October. This is an amazing place to study the universe and the stars up above. Beautiful sundogs appear around the sun in the summer because of the ice crystals in the air here. The ice sparkles all the time. 24 hours of daylight during summer is interesting to get used to. It is easy to wake up in the mornings. All I have to do is rip open my army green canvas velcro covering to my 12"x24" window and the LIGHT comes shining through. No snoozing or sleeping after that bright light comes beaming in. I crawl out of my many layers on my tiny single bed...1st the flannel sheets, then the army-issue looking wool blanket, then the TWO down comforters. I have an additional wool blanket folded up as a "throw rug" to dampen some of the cool shock in those early morning rises. My boots can't be left on the floor throughout the evening, as they will be much too chilly to pull on with any sort of comfort level being attained. Long underwear is my standard 1st layer. And a long underwear top. Jeans or khakis on top are enough for me to walk from the Jamesway, my canvas tent I call home, to the bathroom to The Dome, where I work. If I had a job working outside, I would certainly have to wear the bunny boots and the Carhartt Bibb Overalls, along with my parka, and a few more layers thrown in. Days where I go walking I gear up with all of the extreme cold weather gear. The correct clothing is essential here where the temperatures average -58* F.

The food is too good here, and the galley is a great gathering place. In fact, the South Pole Station is very famous for its Chocolate Chip Cookies, and the pilots who fly the C-130's here always request a delivery of these cookies when they arrive.Want the Recipe! I've got it printed for your at the bottom of this page!

We always look forward to the delivery of "freshies", fresh fruits and vegetables from New Zealand. It is important that these items, along with many others, do not freeze on the plane ride down here, or sitting out on the cargo line.

There are movies and DVDs galore around here; these seem to be the big form of entertainment. We have a rock climbing gym, a pool table, a pretty thorough library, a basketball court, ping pong, ultimate Frisbee, chess tournaments, cribbage games, snow skis to check out, snowshoes, horseshoes, a gym with treadmills, bikes, leg machines and free weights.

I am one of four Comms Operators responsible for the operation of HF/UHF/VHF/Satellite equipment at South Pole Station. I am a point-of-contact for station communications including emergency response, Search and Rescue, field party communications, relay operations, and Science Support grantee communications. I also provide aircraft communications through communications relay and flight following, including the recording of off-deck reports, aircraft ETA and fuel team assignments. Interaction with the National Science Foundation, military and other agency officials, both over the telephone and in person is also a part of my job. I am also a member of the South Pole Trauma Team.

As you know it is flat here, as this is the highest, driest, coldest, windiest continent on Earth. The bulldozers are constantly moving snow around station and trying to get it out of the way. In doing this, they create white "mountains" for us, so we actually have some topography, after all. Small groups go sledding!

Talk about pure, childish fun. Not a care in the world except if we would make it down the next hill in one piece or not. There are banana sleds all over "campus" for toting things. We borrowed a nice big sled and toted it up a nice hill. One by one folks would jump on and take the ride of joy down. Amazing how far you can slide on this ice!!! At one point we had to carefully balance the sled at the top so all 5 of us could fit on at once. Girls in the middle & guys on the front & the back. Nervous and excited, we all hoped for the best & screamed the whole way down. We did it!!! Simple fun at the South Pole. It was exhausting pulling the sled back up so we could slide down again, but worth the effort.

The main reason South Pole Station exists is to support science! The polar regions have been called Earth's window to outer space. We can find out Antarctica's role in global environmental change through some of the studies that are currently taking place here. Antarctica is an amazing place to study glaciology, geology, geophysics, aeronomy and astrophysics, and oceans and climates.

I hope someday you will have the opportunity to visit or work at the South Pole. It is truly a magnificent place to experience.

1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups floor
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup chocolate chips
2/3 cup white chocolate chips
2/3 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup nuts, chopped

Heat Oven to 375 degrees

• Cream the Margarine and Butter with the brown and granulated sugars.
• Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy.
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt and add to the creamed mixture. Stir in the chocolate, white chocolate and butterscotch chips along with the nuts.
• Drop round spoonfuls of batter 2 inches apart onto a baking sheet.
• Bake the cookies until they are pale golden brown for 12 to 14 minutes.

Makes approximately 48 cookies:

Each cookie:
143 calories, 103 mg sodium; 14 mg cholesterol; 8 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 17 grams carbohydrate; 2 grams protein;
0.51 grams fiber.

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