South Pole Traverse | |
---|---|
McMurdo–South Pole Highway | |
Route information | |
Length | 995 mi[1] (1,601 km) |
Existed | 2007–present |
Major junctions | |
South end | Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station |
North end | McMurdo Station |
Transport in Antarctica |
The South Pole Traverse, also called the South Pole Overland Traverse,[2] is an approximately 995-mile-long (1,601 km) flagged route over compacted snow and ice[3] in Antarctica that links McMurdo Station on the coast to the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, both operated by the National Science Foundation of the United States.[4] It was constructed by levelling snow and filling in crevasses; flags mark its route from McMurdo Station across the Ross Ice Shelf to the Leverett Glacier, where the route ascends to the polar plateau and on to the South Pole.[5]