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A few points to note on our expedition.
The NSF has been gracious enough to offer a base tour at the South Pole. It's not like there are hords of people that flock to the South Pole for a base tour, so this is a first for them and for us. We are the biggest group that has ever visited Pole and I'm afraid we're overwhelming them a bit. Since we have 50+ folks, we will break into groups of 20 (maybe even smaller) for the base tour.

We will need to keep to our groups and go only where we are invited. It's definately not cool to wander around the base unescorted. It's like being invited to someone's house and slipping into their bedroom to view their private collection of art or whatever. It is just impolite at best.

We will be camping on the west side of the runway just south of the south side of the taxiway. If you guys would like to run wild on the west side of the runway, knock yourself out. Just remember, there are such things as crevasses which eat people (we'll cover that extensively in Chile as well as survival techniques for getting out of them). It isn't exactly JFK airport there, but the guys at the station have asked that we not cross the runway without consulting with them first (it's a government thing - so play along). If you guys are really interested, we could set up nets and volleyball courts there, but I don't think the Swedish bikini team will be there to compete. Further, I think the volleyball may shatter upon the first time we hit it.

The diagram of the drop zone is located on our new web page. There are some excellent photos available from the UWisc. site from the South Pole.

There are several things we need to talk about here.
The reason we have asked everyone to do either high-altitude jumps or get chamber training is the exit altitude will be 18,500 ft. AMSL. The cabin of the Il-76 will be pressurized until about 5 minutes before drop. We will lower the temperature about 30 minutes prior to drop. That means we will be on oxygen up until the time of exit. We don't want everyone to just be learning about oxygen masks there. We will have 5 practice jumps in Santiago at the Drop Zone before leaving for Santiago. We can't make any jumps in PA since the wind howls at 40 to 60 knots all the time. I am really not interested in giving first-time training for high-altitude in Santiago. We've got other things to cover. You guys have been screened before hand to verify experience, so I don't think this will be a problem. USPA BSR's state that you'll have an open parachute by 2,000 ft. AGL. The problem we will face there is we will not be able to set our altimeters to zero before hand. We cannot rely on getting an altimeter setting from the station. We will need to open by 3,500 ft. AGL (approx. 13,000 ft. MSL) to allow for variances in barometric pressure. Rick Howden from San Diego will be our team doctor and will land on the first wave. We also have along 2 nurses and 2 EMT's in case of injuries.

The snow at the South Pole is a bit like it was at the North Pole only a lot harder (I've heard it compared to cement). If you want to hook turn and impress the crowd (BTW, I think the nearest crowd will be 3,000 miles away), you will probably be seeing Rick when you land. The depth perception over snow is nearly zero - be conservative. I've made a density altitude computation for the DZ at that time of year which show about 8,800 ft. AMSL. The Reynolds Number effect change at that altitude should be negligible (I've spoken with John LeBlanc at PD, Norm McDonald at ParaFlite and George Galloway at Precision on this subject). We should be able to repack - one at a time - in our tents for the 2nd South Pole jump (in case the first one didn't set right with you).

I'm expecting a couple of folks to get altitude sickness. If you're not in shape before the trip, we may just be carrying you to the tent. Again, from the folks on the list I don't think this will be a big problem.

Our first order of business will be to set up the housekeeping tasks the tents, field kitchen and field latrine. Everything that goes in with us MUST come back out. It is everyone's responsibility to help with the camp setup and breakdown (including the latrine). If you guys don't like doing this type of stuff, I can recommend a Carribean Cruise that is MUCH cheaper and will feature scantilly-clothes guys and girls to wait on you. This isn't Club Med. Help out.

We plan on spending a total of 24 hours at the Pole. There is both a cerimonial South Pole as well as a geographical South Pole. They used to both be in the same place, but God moved the ice cap. Again, consult the web page for a diagram - and commit it to memory.

The drop will be done in 3 groups of 15 to 20 with tandems (we have Bill Booth and Brett Cormick as a tandem pair as well as another [as yet] unnamed tandem master and Karine LYONS so far) going last on each pass. I plan at least 1 freefall formation with the South Pole Base in the background - lead by the best in the business, BJ Worth. This one will definately make the cover of Parachutist so smile! Tryouts will be in Santiago and the ax will be sharp since we have got to make this one good.

The winds are almost always out of grid Northeast (i.e. straight down the skiway). The drop zone is bordered by the skiway on the east side, the south end of the taxiway circle on the north side, and 8 markers (they are spaced 500 ft. apart) on the South Side. Its dimensions are 800' x 4,000'. It's pretty simple though, just land next to the skiway as close as possible to the target which Graham Hoal (the South African James Bond) will be setting up and making with signal flares. There are antennas on the east side of the runways that if you guys want to get hung up in, you may as well kiss every dollar you will earn for the rest of your life "goodbye". Again, that's why the 500 jump minimum.

I will follow next with a trip itinerary.

"Life is nothing, until it is lived..." (Jean-Paul Sartre, 1951)

"Great God, what an aweful place" (Robert Scott upon reaching the South Pole, 1912)

"I'm hungry." [Sir Ranulph Fiennes after his epic unsupported crossing of Antarctica, 1993]

"I'm Cold." [Chris Bero after joining the 300 degree club - buck naked race from 200 degree "hot" sauna to the cerimonial south pole at -100 degree "cold" outside, South Pole, 1996. Now that's an exclusive club!]

"It was cold and white." [Patrick de Geyardon when asked how his jump went. In the tent, North Pole, 1994]

"All the huskies are eaten. There is no space left in the diary. And the beads of quick words scatter over his spouse's sepia-shaded face adding the date in question like a mole to her lovely cheek. Next, the snapshot of his sister. He doesn't spare his kin: what's been reached is the highest possible latitude! And, like the silk stocking of a burlesque half-nude queen, it climbs up his thigh: gangrene." [Joseph Brodsky - The poem A Polar Explorer. He's much too serious to be a skydiver]

"... Let's go South" (Bob Christ, 1996 - elloquence escapes me)

Bob Christ, D-14650
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