Authors: Ben Ruhe
Date Submitted: February 28, 2003
Article Type: Journal

Bright, white, dry, high. That’s how Eric Muhs of Seattle characterizes the South Pole, which he visited for two weeks late last year. A teacher in Seattle, Muhs was there doing cosmic ray research under the National Science Foundation’s ongoing Teachers Experiencing Antarctic program. When he wasn’t doing research, Muhs flew kites. He was sponsored in this latter activity by the Drachen Foundation.

About the four words he is using to title his video production of the pole: Bright. “Much brighter than the Baja desert,” he says. White, “Because the ice crystals at the pole are reflective and there is sun 24 hours a day in December, the light is like a welding torch.” Dry, “The high arctic plateau is the driest place on earth. You are instructed to carry a large bottle of water with you and drink almost constantly, otherwise you get sick.” High, “The pressure, or physiological, altitude is 10,800 feet and you have to take high altitude medicine. Getting off the plane from McMurdo Sound, you see a long movie on safety. The reason it’s so long is to force you to slow down and relax, otherwise you collapse.”

After having trouble with various rigs he carried, mainly because the temperature was routinely minus 55 degrees Fahrenheit, Muhs hit on a winning combination for kiteflying that embraced 16- and 30-inch Sutton Flow Form kites rigged together in a simple branch train, 100 feet of 500-pound black Dacron line on a reel, and a photo rig anchored by a Sony autofocus camcorder.

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