Christmas at the South Pole: Traveller describes 5k ‘race around the world’ and month-long winter celebration in July

A travel enthusiast has now visited all seven continents for free after spending a year working at the South Pole, where she experienced temperatures of minus 77C, celebrated Christmas with a five-kilometre morning run through all 24 time zones and enjoyed a month-long winter festival in a July of darkness and “out of this world” Southern Lights.

Michelle Endo has spent the past year working as a steward coordinator at the Amundsen-Scott research station, the closest base to the South Pole, where the sun only sets and rises once a year.

The 32-year-old from San Francisco took the hospitality manager job in November last year so she could visit the Pole without having to fork out thousands of pounds – with week-long trips to the station by plane from Chile costing £47,500 (59,900 dollars) or more per person.

She described her year-long stay as a “once in a lifetime experience” after seeing the Aurora Australis and becoming one of just 261 women to witness the South Pole during its perpetually dark winter months of May to August.

The self-confessed Christmas fan said her time in Antarctica also included a fun run in December 2022 which saw her run around the geographical South Pole, through 24 time zones, and a month-long Christmas celebration in July this year which included secret Santa, festive parties and a gingerbread house competition.

Michelle warned living at the South Pole has its down sides – including only being allowed a two-minute hot shower twice a week and suffering with mental fog as part of a condition staff call “winter brain”.

However, having visited more than 60 countries including working as an English teacher in Japan and a youth counsellor on cruise ships, the intrepid adventurer seems to have cracked the code for cheap travel.

“Over the last 10 years I’ve taken a variety of jobs around the world that allowed me to travel to all seven continents for free,” Michelle told PA Real Life.

“Antarctica was my last continent to visit and I didn’t want to have to pay to go there.

“Tourists can pay tens of thousands of dollars to visit the South Pole during the summer, but no amount of money at the moment can allow them to visit during the winter and see the auroras this far south.

“As of this year, only 1,702 people have wintered over at the South Pole, 261 of which have been women.

“It’s truly a once in a lifetime experience.”

Michelle worked at the station as a steward between November 3 2022 and November 16 2023 and is currently taking a few weeks off in New Zealand before heading back to the United States for Christmas.

The outside temperature at the South Pole regularly reaches more than three times that of a commercial freezer – which run at around minus 20C – something the team takes full advantage of when it comes to freezing food by simply leaving it outside.

“It’s obviously cold, but it’s colder than cold,” she said.

“The coldest we saw this winter was minus 77C (minus 106F) with a wind chill of minus 102C (minus 150F) in late June.

“But then perhaps more surprising is how the body adapts and suddenly minus 45C feels normal.

“It’s hard to describe.”

Michelle was shocked to discover that it was not only the temperature that took getting used to.

“At 9,301ft (2,885m), it takes at least a week to get used to the altitude,” she said.

“Walking up a flight of stairs can take the wind out of you.

“The pressure altitude also changes so you might go to sleep at 10,000 ft but then wake up at 11,500 ft.”

But Michelle and the team did not let one of the most hostile environments on Earth get in the way of Christmas.

Every year, the Antarctic team, who work six days a week – Monday to Saturday, agreed to celebrate on the closest Saturday to December 25.

“Last year, we delivered small bags of sweets to everyone the night before our station Christmas so that everyone got to wake up to a present,” she said.

“It’s the small things that make all the difference down there and really boost morale.”

A self-confessed Christmas fan, Michelle also teamed up with other staff members for a month-long Christmas celebration in July, with plenty of festive activities, including secret Santa, a cookie decorating workshop and gingerbread house competition.

“The winter months at Pole tend to be more relaxed as the crew doesn’t change from mid-February to late October,” she explained.

“Since Christmas is my favourite holidays and there were quite a few big Christmas fans, we decided to do a month-long celebration in July.

“We had more time to deck out the station and really get into the Christmas spirit.”

They created a “candy cane lane” inside the station, and hosted a Christmas dance party, so that everyone could “really get into Christmas spirit”, said Michelle.

Christmas at the South Pole also come with its own, unique traditions – including a run through 24 time zones.

“On the morning of our station Christmas, we do a fun run called ‘Race Around the World’,” Michelle said.

“It’s a 5k course that circles the Geographic South Pole so that participants get to run ‘around the world’ through all 24 time zones.

“Some participants take it seriously, while others like to dress up in fun costumes or onesies to do it.”

The team also put up an artificial tree and enjoyed a full blown Christmas dinner prepared by the station chefs and homemade sweets made by a “talented baker” at the station.

Michelle said seeing the Aurora Australis, or Southern Lights, was one of the biggest highlights of her Polar adventure.

“Granted, I haven’t seen any since the sun came back in September, but they were honestly out of this world,” she said.

“I don’t think I’ll ever see or experience anything quite like the auroras we got at the South Pole again.”

But it was not all fun and games for Michelle however, who plans to celebrate Christmas in California this year.

“You’re essentially living on a space ship, and once the last flight of summer leaves mid-February, you’re stuck there until late October,” she said.

“We all work and live together in the same building… so while in the real world you could finish your job for the day and go home, we don’t have that at the Pole.”

The Pole experiences six months of sunshine between November and February, a period known as the austral summer.

After several months of “twilight”, on May 10 the polar region is plunged into 24-hour darkness for around six months.

This can make keeping “mentally fit” difficult, explained Michelle.

“Over the winter, we often develop what’s called ‘Winter Brain’, and we’re not as mentally sharp as when we first arrived, or if we’d been living back home,” she said.

“Even now after a week since leaving the ice, I am struggling to process some of the most basic communication in a timely manner.

“Like the other day when I was ordering a tea at a cafe – I had to ask the poor staff member to repeat herself three times because I could hear the words she was saying to me, but I just couldn’t make sense of it.”

One of the luxuries Michelle missed most was being able to take a long warm shower.

“The first thing I did was take a very long hot shower,” Michelle said of her return to the UK.

“At the South Pole, we’re only allowed two two-minute showers each week.

“Getting back to the real world and getting to stand under a hot shower for as long as I wanted was amazing.”

Michelle said she often takes jobs around the world so that she can fulfil her passion for travelling, having previously taught English in Asia and worked on cruise ships.

She now helps others follow in her footsteps by sharing her travel tips on her blog, Wander Eat Write and @wandereatwrite.

Find out more about Michelle’s travels by visiting: wandereatwrite.com