Location: 89°02’ S, 20°62’ W
Weather: Cloudy, -23 C, wind 10 kts

In all directions, as far as eye can see, there is nothing but snow, as white as anyone can wish for.  To top it all off, the skies are also all white today, and the horizon is hard to discern.  The only breach of monotony is the bright red vehicles we can see ahead of us and in the mirrors, and the brush strokes the wind has laid down in the snow. 

There is certainly no shortage of whiteness.  We have close to 14 million square kilometres of snow cover surrounding us, half again the size of the United States or 36 times Norway’s size, and no reason to worry about ”black Christmas” as Norwegians in their milder home climate tend to do.  More than 98 % of Antarctica is covered in ice, and below our feet it’s more than 3 kilometres (2 miles) down to firm ground. Roughly 90 % of all the freshwater is in Antarctica in the form of ice – a volume beyond all understanding.  If all of this melted, the oceans would rise by more than 60 meters (200 ft).  Let’s hope we can stop ourselves before we drive the greenhouse effect that far.

In his Christmas card our director, Jan-Gunnar Winther, says that we are the Norwegians who currently are the farthest away from the North Pole. If that’s where Santa Claus lives, it may explain the absence of Christmas cheer at the traverse.  Christmas Eve is a driving day like any other, speeding up north at 10 km/h (6 mph).  But there is time for a phone call home and some Christmas music on the iPod, so a certain sense of holiday is seeping through.  In a couple of days we will be at our first science site, and once there we will set aside time for a proper celebration, with a nice meal and presents brought along from home.  The occasion will give us some time to enjoy the peace and quiet of this continent; the only noise being what we make ourselves – and the whistling of the wind.

Before leaving the South Pole most of us had a chance to set a personal low temperature record, experiencing the 57 C below freezing in the utilidors under the station.  For Christmas we can chill out in a balmy -24, calm weather and a vast distance to the ”shopping Christmas” at home.  We do allow ourselves a glass of red wine or beer for dinner and a couple of shared stories on our way to bed.  But at 8 am we’ll be on the road again.  And while moving steadily along into the whiteness, into this unknown no mans land – but also further north and closer to home – we wish you all a Merry Christmas.

Christmas at 89 degrees south. Photo: Ole Tveiten.