Week 51 at the Pole

departing
NSF/D. Larsen

The summer season isn’t long at the South Pole, from about late October through early February. Folks typically arrive in shifts, spending a few weeks, give or take, working at the Pole. But delays are common, whether coming or going—and when they happen around the holidays it can be all the more frustrating. The workers departing in the photo above had to wait a bit for a flight out. Maybe it’s just as well that we can’t see their faces, but there are smiles on the faces of the fresh arrivals, below.

arriving
NSF/D. Larsen