page_title: South Pole
section_title: 1950–present
hierarchical_section_title: South Pole / Exploration / 1950–present
caption_attribution_description: English: Buildings (Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station pictured) have to be built on stilts at the South Pole to prevent snow buildup. The ceremonial pole and flags can be seen in the background, slightly to the left of center, below the tracks behind the buildings. The actual geographic pole is a few more metres to the left. Flags and pole are more visible in en:Image:Amundsen-scott-south pole station 2006.jpg and en:Image:Ceremonial South Pole.jpg. “I'm amused with the discussion of the aerial picture of the new Elevated Station at South Pole. I took the picture around January 25 2005 at the request of the National Science Foundation. This is something done twice a year, once in October or early November and again in late January for the purpose of documenting the drifted snow and changes made to the station. This particular photo was one of nearly 500 taken during this aerial mission. It was the first or second time I have ever done this type of photography. All photos were taken from the right front seat of a Twin Otter and little time was available to set up the shot. It was taken at 500 ft elevation in a plane traveling at about 100 knots. I'm sure my collection included other shots at higher elevation with more of the station including the old structures, but this particular shot was intended only to capture an image of the Elevated Station structure from the back side of the station. I'm assuming this is a draft image I developed as a smaller size JPG. It's likely that there are better and more recent images available from the National Science Foundation. All my pictures during this mission were taken with a Nikon D100 or Canon Mark IID in Raw format. I personally like the image, but do agree that its appeal is limited. The image was intended to be for archival purposes V/s artistic representation of the South Pole. The National Science Foundation is the owner of the images. As part of the privilege for flying the mission we, the photographers, sign the rights of the photos over to the NSF. About the orientation of the geographical and the ceremonial; once a year, on January 1st, we add a new geographical pole marker approximately 10 meters (point is established yearly by surveyors from the USGS) from the one set the previous year. We relocate the ceremonial pole and flags every two or three years to keep the walking distance to the geographical pole to a minimum. Bill Henriksen, former Winter Manager South Pole Station —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bill Henriksen (talk • contribs) 20:32, 21 November 2007 (UTC) ” (preceding text copied from w:Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/South Pole
context_page_description: The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of Earth and lies on the opposite side of Earth from the North Pole.
  Situated on the continent of Antarctica, it is the site of the United States Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, which was established in 1956 and has been permanently staffed since that year. The Geographic South Pole is distinct from the South Magnetic Pole, the position of which is defined based on Earth's magnetic field. The South Pole is at the centre of the Southern Hemisphere.
context_section_description: It was not until 31 October 1956 that humans once again set foot at the South Pole, when a party led by Admiral George J. Dufek of the US Navy landed there in an R4D-5L Skytrain (C-47 Skytrain) aircraft. The US Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station was established by air over 1956–1957 for the International Geophysical Year and has been continuously staffed since then by research and support personnel.
  After Amundsen and Scott, the next people to reach the South Pole overland (albeit with some air support) were Edmund Hillary (January 4, 1958) and Vivian Fuchs (January 19, 1958) and their respective parties, during the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition. There have been many subsequent expeditions to arrive at the South Pole by surface transportation, including those by Havola, Crary and Fiennes. The first group of women to reach the pole were Pam Young, Jean Pearson, Lois Jones, Eileen McSaveney, Kay Lindsay and Terry Tickhill in 1969. In 1978-79 Michele Eileen Raney became the first woman to winter at the South Pole.
  Subsequent to the establishment, in 1987, of the logistic support base at Patriot Hills Base Camp, the South Pole became more accessible to non-government expeditions.
  On December 30, 1989, Arved Fuchs and Reinhold Messner were the first to traverse Antarctica via the South Pole without animal or motorized help, using only skis and the help of wind. Two women, Victoria E. Murden and Shirley Metz reached the pole by land on January 17, 1989.
  The fastest unsupported journey to the Geographic South Pole from the ocean is 24 days and one hour from Hercules Inlet and was set in 2011 by Norwegian adventurer Christian Eide, who beat the previous solo record set in 2009 by American Todd Carmichael of 39 days and seven hours, and the previous group record also set in 2009 of 33 days and 23 hours.
  The fastest solo (female), unsupported and unassisted trek to the south pole was performed by Hannah McKeand from the UK in 2006. She made the journey in 39 days 9hrs 33mins. She started on the 19th November 2006 and finished on the 28 December 2006.
  In the 2011/12 summer, separate expeditions by Norwegian Aleksander Gamme and Australians James Castrission and Justin Jones jointly claimed the first unsupported trek without dogs or kites from the Antarctic coast to the South Pole and back. The two expeditions started from Hercules Inlet a day apart, with Gamme starting first, but completing according to plan the last few kilometres together. As Gamme traveled alone he thus simultaneously became the first to complete the task solo.
  On 28 December 2018, the first Briton unassisted journey to cross the Antarctic via the south pole was performed by Captain Lou Rudd who became the second person to make the journey in 56 days. On 10 January 2020, Mollie Hughes became the youngest person to ski to the pole, aged 29.
caption: Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station.  The ceremonial pole and flags can be seen in the background, slightly to the left of centre, below the tracks behind the buildings. The actual geographic pole is a few more metres to the left. The buildings are raised on stilts to prevent snow build-up.
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