Antarctica’s forgotten Russian base
Most people are aware of the South Pole but not everyone has heard of the Pole of Inaccessibility.
The site is remote, difficult to get to and the furthest point in Antarctica from any ocean, though the exact location varies depending on how you measure it. It is generally accepted now that the site of the Russian Base there is the Inaccessibility Pole
The Pole of Inaccessibility is a place that has the world’s coldest year-round average temperature at -58.2°C (-72°F) and lies around 878 km (546 mi) from the South Pole, at an elevation of 3,718 m (12,198 ft),
In December 1958, the 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition Soviet set up a temporary base on the Inaccessibility Pole. It was the height of the cold war and they marked the site with a plastic bust of Vladimir Lenin (communist boss of Russia/Soviet Union from 1917 to 1924).
The 8th Soviet Antarctic Expedition returned to the site in 1964 but only stayed five days. Various American, Russian, British and Spanish teams visited the site over the coming decades including an independent team using kite-skiing.
The station is now buried beneath the snow, but the plastic statue survives and is still visible and still facing Moscow. The site has been designated an Historic Site or Monument.