Now that the sun is back at the South Pole, there’s nowhere to hide. You can walk outside and see everything—everything that was there in the darkness all winter long, like buildings and fixed structures, as well as other things that weren’t there but have recently reappeared, like the flags at the ceremonial pole. A winterover is shown below inspecting their installation. The flags flying at the ceremonial South Pole represent the twelve countries that made up the original signatories of the Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1959, which protects Antarctica as a place for peaceful, scientific explorations. There are currently 50 parties to the Treaty.
