South Pole Christmas 1 by Ella Derbyshire

Nikon D80's

Here you see the Amundsen Scott Research Station at 8:30 am on Christmas morning. We don't have to worry about getting up in the dark for an early race. The sun rose in September and hasn't set since.

Inside the station, people are getting ready for the Race Around the World which will start at 9am. With our position at 90 degees south latitude, we can make quick work of covering all 360 degrees of longitude. This year the race was 3 laps around the world and it took less than 1/2 hour for the winners to cross the finish line.

Outside, the red Twin Otter is preparing to take off for the Antarctic coast. One of the passengers, a solo endurance skier, took 39 days to get here from his startting point at Hercules Bay, which is 700 miles from the South Pole.

Here at the Pole it is Christmas Day, but in a few hours the pilots, crew and passengers on this plane will arrive at Patriot Hills in time for Christmas Eve dinner.

The 41 images of this panorama were captured with a Nikon D 80 and stitched with Autopano Pro.