Happy New Year! To welcome the new year here at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, we had a couple celebrations.

To start things off, what’s more appropriate on the ice than a Tiki Bar? Sure. Constructed out of a used airdrop parachute, our tiki bar included an ice bar, BBQ grill, sledding hill, and drink warmers. A few pics:

The tent as seen from the station – that’s a large parachute!

Retail manager Michael Smith grilling chicken wings in -15 degree F air on a nice and hot grill.

Air Transportation Specialist Trudy with her frozen drink. Everything freezes solid in a matter of minutes if it’s not drank immediately.

Me sledding down our hill, with my Betabrand USA Pants.

Michael Smith

Rather than a drink cooler, what we use here is more like a drink warmer. An insulated electronics box filled with our drinks, and a bunch of disposable hand warmers. With the hand warmers, the drinks stay just barely above freezing.

Second, three bands made up of fellow polies played for us in the gym, where we danced into 2013 on NZ time.

Trudy and Daniel start off the night of entertainment.

Jon Kaufman shreds

Rocking out for the new year in the south pole station’s gym – the largest enclosed space on station.