South Pole Centennial Events

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg at the South Pole
Jens Stoltenberg, the Norwegian prime minister, stands at the geographic Pole, Monday 12 December 2011

He was around for 3 days, made a video address to Norway (and the station) on the 14th, met some of the Norwegian skiers who were trying to reach the station in time, and did a fair bit of skiing himself (video from regjeringen.no) (Norwegian government).

The original (translated) caption for this photo: "Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg at the South Pole, 12 December 2011: The South Pole is both a geographic pole and a ceremonial pole. This is the pole."

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg
A group photo with the Prime Minister (center) taken at 1930 Monday by Peter Rejcek...it was about
-25°F with no wind, very pleasant (there is also another version in the Antarctic Photo Library).
 
Brad Benson explains the SPT to the Prime Minister
On the roof of DSL, South Pole Telescope postdoc Bradford Benson explains the SPT to the Prime Minister (SPT blog).
Brad Benson explains the telescope upgrade
Inside...Brad explains the big upgrade the SPT is getting this season.
Don Neff explains the CO2 curve
Here he is in ARO...Don Neff is giving him a briefing on the CO2 monitoring and that famous curve...(Norway government press release). The PM also visited IceCube and the ARA drill construction site.
 The Prime Minister addresses the station in the galley


That evening in the galley, Prime Minister Stoltenberg gave a speech...talking about Norway and Amundsen, and thanking the Polies for their warm welcome and their work (from Kiell Kosberg).


Next...the big day and the aftermath!

Unless otherwise indicated, the above photos are from the office of the Norwegian Prime Minister (SMK). More official photos and videos are here...these are public domain images (license).