On this page I've placed two of my favorite photographs from those that I took during five trips to the Ice between 1980 and 1986. In 1980 I served as the Meteorologist-In-Charge at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. From 1981 through 1986 I returned to Antarctica to assist in the deployment of automatic weather stations at sites around the continent.

The photograph of Mount Erebus was taken through the window of a Hercules C-130 aircraft at a distance of about 40 miles. The remarkable vertical series of lenticular clouds that lie downwind of Erebus are due to the strong airflow over the mountain producing standing waves in the stratified polar airmass.

The second photo shows a group engaging in some survival school training on the lower slopes of Mount Erebus in the vicinity of Windless Bight. The deep blue sky is characteristic of the dry and unpolluted Antarctic atmosphere.

I took these photos with an Olympus OM-2 single reflex camera using Kodachrome film. All photo rights are reserved by the author:

Mike Savage: mlsavage@paradise.net.nz

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