Flag Swap at the South Pole
After six months of darkness, the sun rises as I mark 37 days until the first plane arrives. Reflections on managing winter at the bottom of the world while my family waits in Istanbul—and the long road back home.
Zane Z Ziebell
Stages of Twilight at the South Pole
A look at the stages of twilight—astronomical, nautical, civil, and sunrise—marking the Sun’s slow return to the horizon. Outside: -66°F, 23-knot winds at 10,718 feet.
South Pole Journal: Importance of Routine
Day 203 and routine is survival. With no sunlight to regulate the body, structure becomes discipline—0700 wakeups, happy light, pull-ups, reading, journaling, exercise, connection. Outside: -44°F, 10-knot winds, 10,661 feet above sea level.
South Pole Journal: Mondays at Pole
Day 202 of winter. Mondays run meeting-free on New Zealand time while the U.S. sleeps. After a leftover Sunday, hot galley meals return as a morale boost. Outside: -56°F, 19-knot winds, 10,740 feet above sea level.
South Pole Journal: 4 June 2023
-82°F and 10,824 feet above sea level on Day 201 of winter. Reflections on six-day workweeks, extreme dryness, humidifiers, “strawberries,” and the small survival routines that define life in total darkness at the bottom of the world.
South Pole Journal: 3 June 2023
-89°F and 10,888 feet above sea level marked my 200th day on the ice. Reflections on turning 32 at the bottom of the world, spending nearly all of 2023 in Antarctica, and the surreal pride of living and leading in one of Earth’s harshest environments.
South Pole Journal: 2 June 2023
-79°F and deep into austral winter as midwinter approaches. Reflections on total darkness, disrupted sleep, morale milestones, and the physical and emotional weight of isolation 10,700 feet above sea level—198 days away from home.