We’re Well and Truly Alone Here
Question Two: Once you get to the South Pole how much interaction will you have with the resident overwinterers at the station, and can they offer support? (by Will Dawson)
It will be entirely down to the overwinterers at the South Pole station if they wish to invite us in. During the summer months, the US base has a firm ‘no interaction’ policy with expedition teams due to the shear amount of people arriving. The main reason they are there is for scientific research so hordes of personnel turning up can be quite distracting. However, it would be fascinating to be shown the facilities at the South Pole Station as well as a great change of the norm from our container! Not only that, they have their own hydroponics lab where they actually grow fresh fruit and veg all year round which would be a great treat!
Due to this being a non-governmental expedition all of the Antarctic Treaty nations have taken a firm no support stance with us. They won’t offer help, so if anything goes wrong then we are well and truly on our own to overwinter and look after ourselves wherever we may end up (which, of course, we are more than capable of doing, having enough food and fuel to last until January next year).
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