Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Hogmanay in Antarctica: Scots get ready to party in splendid isolation at the bottom of the world

© Matthew PhillipsA worker on the roof of the Rothera Research Station
A worker on the roof of the Rothera Research Station

They are 26 men and women bringing in 2021 at the British Antarctic Survey base and, this year of all years, their isolation is particularly splendid.

For as the Hogmanay bells ring out from the radio in the corner of the base’s dining room, they will toast the New Year with whisky, before starting the party.

Although Covid has reached Antarctica after staff at a Chilean base were infected by cases on a supply ship, the Rothera Research Station’s isolation has kept it Covid-free, which is good news for the staff as there are no stay-at-home rules, no ban on get-togethers, and no social distancing.

And the whisky can be relied upon not to freeze. British Antarctic engineer, Ross Bingham, 32, from Crieff, resplendent in his kilt, will be leading the dancing at Rothera base on Adelaide Island.

He said: “It’s an awesome place to be at Hogmanay and we’ll have a dram – we have a large supply of whisky as it does not freeze at -30C. We will all talk about how dangerous and isolated Antarctica is and how lucky we are to be able to party when the rest of the world is in lockdown.”

© Supplied by Combat Stress
Scot Ross Bingham will be spending Hogmanay in Antarctica.

Ross is a heavy-machine engineer at the base. He works in temperatures of –37C to keep the biological research going.

Today it’s summer so “only” -7C outside and former soldier Ross is carrying out maintenance work on the snow ploughs.

“This is the most isolated place on Earth and you learn to live in isolation, albeit with small community of others.

“It’s our bubble, really.

“You learn a lot about isolation at the top of an icy glacier. The peace and beauty of no traffic, crowds or endless muzak is a joy.”

After work today he will put in a few hours training for his sub-zero marathon due to take place around the base on New Year’s Day.

With four months to go to the end of his contract he is dreading returning to lockdown Scotland.

“We have all been following the pandemic online and I can’t say I am looking forward to wearing a mask and queuing at supermarkets.

“It will seem very strange, distancing from everyone, after a remote but friendly group here at Rothera. In full summer the sun never sets and there’s plenty of time to explore what is effectively the end of the Earth.

© SYSTEM
The sun never sets in summer at the Rothera Base where Crieff man Ross Bingham works to keep the airstrip open.

“I have been training for my marathon for Combat Crisis for veterans’ mental health. We have to make the most of the weather because not much can be done in a fierce storm.

“Part of my job is to clear the airstrip and maintain the huge snowploughs and other machinery and there’s not much chance of that in a gale.

“The sun never sets in mid-summer just now.”

The team enjoyed a full Christmas dinner, although the Turkey arrives without bones, to cut down on waste, all of which has to be flown back to the UK.

Each base member made a Secret Santa gift for a colleague.

Ross’s was a base-made sporran from colleague Sarah Crosley, crafted from recycled materials such as packaging.

“It’s probably the world’s only Antarctic sporran and one to treasure,” he added.

He wears it with his Stewart-Douglas kilt.

His parents, Margaret and Brian back in Crieff may be able to put in a call on New Year’s Day and on a good day they get a video call.

Meanwhile, the incoming base leader Matthew Phillips, from Edinburgh, is on board the BAS ship, the James Ross Clark in sub-Antarctic waters en route to take over in the next staff changeover.

He had three false starts to travel south when it was decided that to keep the base Covid-free it was best to lockdown incoming staff before they set off, then board them on a safe ship for the six-week sail.

“I have been to Antarctica several times since 2013, first time as a boat man,” said Phillip.

“The isolation and beauty of the place is striking and I can think of no better life.”

The British Antarctic Survey said: “The Chileans are responding to Covid at their station. This doesn’t affect UK stations in Antarctica.

“We are doing everything possible to keep our stations Covid-free and our staff safe.”