Winter is long at the South Pole, at least when measured by the last plane out and the first plane back in. That’s roughly eight to nine months with no one (and no things) coming or going, quite a long period of isolation for the 40 or so winterovers at the station. You need a large store of provisions to cover the crew’s needs during that time. Much of their food and fuel is stored in one of the four “arches,” which are large, unheated, steel structures buried under the ice and connected to the station and each other by ice tunnels. Cold, snow, and ice everywhere—yet what’s a popular snack? Ice cream, of course.
