First International Polar Year

May 14, 2005 3:15 AM

Images from the first International Polar Year (paradoxically 1881 to 1884).
Some are lovely, some bleak, some surreal.
posted by thatwhichfalls (8 comments total)

"Eleven nations established 14 principal research stations across the Polar Regions. 12 were in the Arctic, along with at least 13 auxilary stations. Over 700 men incurred the dangers of Arctic service to establish and relieve these stations between 1881 and 1884."

A NOAA site which also has the data recorded at these bases available for download.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 3:17 AM on May 14, 2005

The first image was lovely, bleak, and surreal.
posted by Dean Keaton at 4:17 AM on May 14, 2005

Is it just a coincidence that the guy's name on your "surreal" link is named "Floeberg"?
posted by Balisong at 9:14 AM on May 14, 2005

All those images are lovely. Thanks for this! Very inspiring.
posted by nixerman at 10:06 AM on May 14, 2005

balisong: floeberg is not the man, but the ice formation he is standing next to.
posted by jjoye at 2:35 PM on May 14, 2005

That makes much more sence then...
posted by Balisong at 3:36 PM on May 14, 2005

Coincidentally, I just finished reading "Ghosts of Cape Sabine" about the Greely expedition, nominally part of the first international polar year.

After reading several dozen books like this, in case any of you ever plan to launch an expedition to the pole, I will offer this key bit of advice: Bring dogs, and teach everyone in your expedition how to drive them.
posted by rusty at 7:33 AM on May 15, 2005

Interesting factoid: This picture of the Greely expedition members is totally photoshopped. The guy in the back row toward the right with the Lenin beard was added in later, and one or two other faces were pasted in over different bodies. The original picture was taken before the expedition, and a couple of the people included were dropped from the expedition, with the owners of the faces appearing in this photo replacing them.
posted by rusty at 7:38 AM on May 15, 2005