What were you doing at South Pole?
I was a winter-over scientist for the AMANDA telescope for the 2001-2002 season (previously a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the same project). For more about me, see my "stateside web page", and for more about AMANDA, go to the AMANDA web page hosted by U.C. Berkeley.

How long were you there?
Almost exactly one year.

How many people were there during the winter?
The population changes every year, but in 2002, we were fifty-one people.

What was the coldest it got?
Our low temp was -103.6 degrees F.

How big is the station?
Well, maybe this map (which is about a mile square) might help:

Picture gallery: My personal favorites

Light beams from the Dome	The low sun and halo over the dome	MAPO and the moon	The first orange rays of twilight behind the Dome	Geographic Pole and halo
Sun dogs and the Pole	A hint of color by ARO	Aurora over MAPO	Venus behind clouds and dish	The first flight arrives!
Double-ring halo over the Dome	Ice crystals in the seismic vault	Aurora	Orange clouds over the Dark Sector	A cool takeoff shot
A spectacular multi-arc halo	Sunset and the facade of MAPO	Bright aurora over the Dome	Crescent moon over ARO	Sunrise in Kaikoura, New Zealand
Kath out the hatch of a spryte	From the roof of skylab	Aurora over the MAPO flagline	The Green Flash (through a telescope)	A sperm whale blow in Kaikoura
Passing another Herc in the air	Sunset and the SPASE shack	MAPO and the setting moon	Sunrise with Rainbow Dogs	A thunderstorm approaches Sydney, Australia
Kath in a cravasse	Sunset glow behind the dome	The new station and nearly-full moon	Sun Pillar over the new station	Gliding in Adelaide, Australia
	Marisat and the purple sky			The Yosemite Valley

Picture gallery: The complete collection

Summer (November-February)

• The journey from Christchurch to McMurdo.
• A tour of Scott Base, thanks a pair of Kiwi filmmakers who had filmed me the previous day about AMANDA.
• Around Town (MacTown, that is).
• The journey from McMurdo to the Pole.
• Home sweet Dome.
• New station construction.
• The AMANDA crew, at work and play.
• Tricks of the light.
• A particularly spectacular multi-arc halo on Dec. 18, 2001.
• Planes, cranes, and snowmobiles.
• Visit by tourists on a DC-3.
• Visit by the Russian biplane.
• Holidays
• Thanksgiving.
• Christmas.
• New Year's.
• Facilities of the station
• A tour of the Marisat satellite dish and antenna field.
• Our power and water.
• The actual South Pole(s).
• Landscapes.
• Ways to have fun at the Pole.
• IceTop and SPASE.
• Wildlife.
• Roadtrip to SPRESSO, the remote drill site.
• R&R in McMurdo.
• Happy Camper Snow School
• Station close and last flights.

Early Winter (February - May)

• The crew prepares the station for the winter ahead.
• Proof that the sun is getting lower.
• Cool shots of the dome.
• The view from the top of the dome
• More scenes around the station in the beautiful dwindling sunlight.
• A tour of the seismic vault
• Cultural miscellany
• How to have fun during the winter.
• Sunset party in the new station
• Ice and snow.
• Sunset.
• Dusk.
• The station at night.
• An amateur's first attempts at aurora and astrophotography.
• The moon.
• Aurora shots.

Mid-Winter (May - August)

• Holidays
• Cinco de Mayo
• Memorial Day
• Midwinter's Day
• 4th of July
• Fun with hair dye.
• The coffehouse
• Miscellaneous station events, to keep us amused.
• More aurora shots.
• More outdoor dark shots, many involving moonlight.
• Cool (and underappreciated) places on station.
• The Balloon Inflation Facility (BIF)
• More cultural miscellany.

End of Winter (August - November)

• Twilight.
• The last moon cycle before sunrise. 
• Seeing the station anew as the light comes back.
• The second coffeehouse.
• New station construction, part II: after eight months of work.
• Sunrise!!
• Sunrise party in the new station.
• The "Ravens Victory Dinner", who cares about football but Donald's excuse to cook up a fancy dinner.
• More sun halos and sundogs.
• Sastrugi.
• Making a new skiway.
• Spending a night in the igloo.
• More "station scenes".
• At work on winter traditions.
• Yet more cultural miscellany.
• First flights and station opening
• Herc shots
• The first crowd of WO's departs
• The journey home!

Vacation! (November - January)

• New Zealand
• Yellow-eyed penguins and sea lions, pictures all taken at one beach on Otago Peninsula
• Albatrosses
• Whales and dolphins
• Australia
• Sydney
• National Parks in New South Wales
• Gliding in Adelaide
• Yosemite National Park