Yesterday’s diary mentioned how cold it is at the South Pole, and that we expect Camp Winter (where we left the vehicles at the end of last season) to be even colder. To help us deal with these low temperatures while we are working on repairing the vehicles at Camp Winter, we will be building an insulated garage that we can drive the vehicles into to work on them. The garage is actually a half-dome kind of tent (see picture). This shelter will protect us from the nearly ever-present katabatic (cold air drainage) winds that flow across this area of the ice sheet. In addition, we will be able to put heaters under the tent to help take the chill off.

Under the garage/tent we plan on building benches along the sides to hold our tools and spare parts, and to make our repair work easier and more efficient. Erecting this garage/tent represents a formidable challenge to our expedition. The fabric that covers the metal frame weighs more than 1000 kg (2200 lbs) and the height of the garage is 5 meters (16 feet). We will probably have to use the cranes on the vehicles to raise and pull the covering over the metal frame. All of this must be done while dealing with the wind, the cold, and a relatively soft foundation of snow.

Examples of the tent we will erect at Camp Winter to use as a garage to repair the vehicles. Photo: Glen Liston