As it turns out, despite the long journey, Santa visits even 77.8419° South latitude, McMurdo Station. Shortly after our flight arrived, we were informed that the annual McMurdo Christmas party was that evening in the Vehicle Maintenance Facility. The festivities were well underway when we arrived at about 10:30PM following our arrival orientation. The population of McMurdo was out in force, wearing Christmas sweaters, onesies, Santa costumes, and even a full bear costume. Live bands and a wine bar occupied a lounge at one end of the building. A DJ, food table, corn hole, a slide show of photos from the ice, and another drink bar filled the other end of the building. Santa and the elves were ready on the back of a decorated piston bully with cardboard penguins for photograph opportunities.
McMurdo Station has a full staff of civilians and approximately 750 people in residence right now. Most of these folks work hard 6 days a week in difficult conditions, so the 2-day Christmas holiday break is very welcome in the middle of the busy summer season. The Station also holds special events for the Christmas holidays... hikes, special tours, dance classes, and the Antarctic Racing Series "Obs Hill Run".
In the morning of the 24th, we took a brief tour of Scott's Discovery Hut about 300 meters from McMurdo. Discovery Hut was built by Robert Falcon Scott in 1902, during the Discovery Expedition of 1901-1904. The hut was a prefabricated hut purchased in Australia that was not well-suited to the winds and cold of Antarctica. In fact, it was so cold, that Scott and his team stayed in their ship nearby and just used the hut for storage. Shackleton later used the hut during 1908-09 during his attempt to reach the South Pole. Several other famous Antarctic expeditions used the hut after that. Today, the hut contains 100-year-old rotting seal blubber and a variety of historic artifacts.
After the tour of Discovery Hut, I participated in the Obs Hill Run, which was a lot of fun, and featured a motivational trumpeter to help us through the half way point with Star Wars theme music and the "Final Countdown".
Colleagues signed us up for the Christmas dinner seating at 7pm on Christmas Eve. It was an incredible feast with numerous vegetarian dishes and salads (no fresh veggies though), ribeye, lobster, crab, and many cakes, truffles, and other desserts. We had great conversation with glacial seismologists, an experienced mountaineer, and an Antarctic Support Contract project manager. A memorable dinner for sure.
Merry Christmas to everyone in El Paso and other parts of the world!!!
The Discovery Hut is such a cool thing to see! Along with everything else you're doing!
Merry Christmas!