The 75th Anniversary of Amundsen's/Scott's arrival

the official 75th anniversary photo
The official group photo taken on 14 December 1986

The 50th and 100th anniversaries of Amundsen's and Scott's arrivals at Pole in 1911-12 were Big Deals. On 30 October 1961, an international delegation, which included senior representatives from Norway, the United Kingdom and New Zealand as well as the United States, visited the station, gave speeches and presented the station with a commemorative marble plaque which is still prominently displayed at Pole today. The celebration was much bigger in 2011-12--when official visitors included the Prime Minister of Norway, and the crowd including station personnel, other USAP visitors, and NGO tourists, must have approached 200 people

But...the 75th anniversary commemoration was very low key. So much so that I (who arrived at Pole 10 days after the event) never heard it mentioned. I did not find out about it until December 2016.

unofficial group photo
Here is an unofficial color version taken by Wayne Ranney...he was third from the right in the
top B&W photo. I do recognize a few of the faces but don't ask me about any of the names (!)

The ceremony was not much more than the photo opportunity. Afterward, everyone went to the galley for...cake, of course!

75th anniversary cake
Here's the special cake.
some of the Polies in front of the cake
And some of the group...the baker is kneeling immediately behind the cake. Yes, it's a bit blurred...some of us remember slow film in cameras without flash.

All of these photos are from Wayne Ranney, who was working at Pole in 1986-87. These particular photos are from this post on his Earthly Musings blog...he's also an author, geologist, river/trail guide and expedition leader. His main web site is here.