Halloween

We came into town for the Halloween party last night. A good chance to relax, have fun, and not think about seals. Check, check, and check. It turns out that my costume kind of tanked. I decided that I really didn't want to carry the guitar around, and with only a vest, it wasn't much of a costume. We decided that instead of going as John Denver, I was going as John Denver's vest. Derek was supposed to be Vanilla Ice, shaved stripes in the hair and everything, but the gear issue room was limited on costumes (hence, me going as John Denver's vest). So all Derek got was a baby blue sport coat and a sparkly women's blouse that was skin tight. Jen went as a pirate, and Sascha was supposed to be a nurse but we decided she looked more like a lunch lady.

Costumes aside, we decided to head to the party. The day started off wonderfully (well, besides the working part). It was a little cloudy but 12 F with hardly any wind. However, as soon as we got into town, a large gray sheet of clouds was approaching town. We came in, got dinner, changed, etc., and by the time we headed to the gym for the party, the wind had kicked up and it had gotten a lot colder. And of course we left our jackets inside because it was much better than trying to find them in a huge pile of red jackets. So we finally made it to the party, danced, had fun, yada, yada, yada. It's an interesting dynamic down here. All of these people that would probably never get together if they weren't stuck on an island 2500 miles from the nearest anything, having a great time all in the name of dressing up and getting free candy. I hung out with everyone from scientists to pilots to carpenters to mountaineers last night. It's kind of strange.

The good thing about not living in town is that we get Midrats cards. Midrats is the midnight meal for all the night shift workers and it usually consists of pretty good food. So we had our midnight meal, and moved the party to the room for a little while. This morning was great because it was Sunday, and Sunday at McMurdo means brunch. And we just got a flight in, which means fresh fruit. Melons, apples, oranges, breakfast burritos with refried beans, home fries, and eggs, cinnamon rolls. As you can tell, we don't go hungry down here. If it weren't for the cold temperatures and all the walking and seal wrangling, I would come back to the states a fatter man. So today is movie/laundry day. We're just going to lounge around and enjoy our day off.

Snow Craft II - How To Get Yourself Out of a Crevasse

I got to come in to town today for the Snow Craft II course, which consisted of some basic mountaineering techniques such as walking on ropes, traversing steep or snow covered slopes, stopping falls, and getting yourself out of a crevasse, if you happen to fall in one. We started out inside learning some knots, how to tie in to the rope and your harness, and how to ascend a rope using Prusik knots. We then went outside to get some hands on experience in the snow. We first tied in to the rope in groups of 4 then belayed each other across an "unknown" area of snow that could possibly contain a crevasse. Of course we didn't actually do this. The area we were at was known to not have any crevasses, but use your imagination. We learned how to kick step so that your uphill leg doesn't get tired from doing all the work, and it leaves a good platform for the person behind you to follow. Then the fun part. We got to play in the snow. We learned how to stop ourselves in case we ever started sliding down a slope. We went down on or fronts, our back, head first, feet first, and the whole goal is to get on you stomach with your head uphill so you can kick your feet into the snow and stop yourself. But to us it was, just sledding without the sled (see video). That was about it, but it sure beat Snow Craft I (aka Happy Camper).

Weather Day

I'm stuck inside today because of the weather. There's some blue sky poking through every once in a while, but on the ground the visibility is pretty low. We got quite a bit of snow last night and it drifted in a few spots around camp. Now it's just a waiting game. The girls already left for town, and us guys are going in in the morning for Snow Craft II - ropes, crevasses, etc. I did get some pictures yesterday of us trying to get the females on the scale using the pups as a lure. And of course one that I had to drag around was very content in rolling around in his own poo, which ended up all over me. I guess that just comes with the territory. So, not much to write about today, but the Halloween party is Saturday night, which should provide for some good pictures. I was scrounging around in the gear issue room (where they have the skis and stuff for rent) looking for a costume and came across a corduroy, wool-lined vest. I was inspired and decided to be John Denver. I also picked up a guitar and am learning a few of his songs in case anyone asks me to play. But the guitar is pretty bad and won't stay in tune. I'm just missing a shaggy, blonde wig. And there was a sign on the way out of the gear issue room - on the wall next to the door was a clock with John Denver on it.

I Should Join the Rodeo

It's been a few days since I've written, so I thought I'd fill you in a little.

Not much has gone on lately. the last couple of days have been beautiful. Around 5 F with no wind and sunny skies. Today, however, was a bit windy. There were no gusts like the other night (67 mph - this year's record so far), but it was a constant 40 mph wind. ALL DAY. It was sunny, though, so I guess it could have been worse. Then I came into town to run a few errands and got some frostnip on my cheek. I warmed it back up, and all's well now.

I've mostly been tagging the last few days, but yesterday I got to hogtie a seal pup. OK, I guess I should explain. We try to weigh certain females at post-partruition and post-weaning, but to do this, we have to get them on the weigh sled (essentially a big scale we can drag around behind the snowmobiles - see picture). So we get everything in place, then grab the pup by the back flippers and slowly drag it towards the scale to entice the female. Once we get the pup on the sled, we loop a rope around its flippers and leave it on the scale while we hide so the female will (hopefully) get up on the scale. It doesn't always go so smoothly. As my last post noted, pups are squirmy and also heavy (about 50-60 lbs when we're doing this) and pretty strong. So you try to drag the pup but not too fast, while keeping the rope somewhat tight around its flippers so it doesn't come off, all in 15 lbs of clothes. It's definitely a work out. I wish I had pictures, but there's not much standing around to do and, therefore, not many picture opportunities.

Seal Pups Are Very Squirmy

So you'd think that a furry, weak seal pup would be pretty easy to grab a hold of and tag, but you'd be wrong. The last couple of days, we've started tagging some seals. I've tagged about 4 pups so far, and though I'm getting the hang of it, they're not so easy to hold on to. First, we get all the tags ready away from the seals so they don't get worked up. Then someone goes in to distract the female so she doesn't get too close to the tagger. The tagger tries to quickly tag the pup with 2 tags. Easy enough, you say. Not so. The pups are about 50 lbs at even a couple of days old and they're pretty strong. Then we have gloves on, add a little snow, and they're mighty hard to get a tag in. Meanwhile, you're trying to keep an eye on the 800 lb. female that wants you to get away and will bite you if necessary. It makes for a pretty stressful couple of minutes. Other than that, we've flagged some roads, and today I weighed a couple of pups. This entails dragging the pup away from the female by its back flippers, then throwing a duffle bag over its head, rolling it on its back, zipping up the duffle bag, and weighing the thing. It's actually much easier than tagging the things, at least while they're only 50-60 lbs. When we have to do the same thing to a 300 lb pup, I might change my tune. Also, we stopped in a hut to have lunch today, and when we stepped out of the hut to leave, the visibility had dropped to about 1/4 mile. Instead of finishing the rest of the day's work, we headed back to camp. Better to have more work tomorrow than fall in a crack. So that's been it so far. I'm sure more pups will start showing up soon and we'll have our hands full. Until then, I've nothing left to say.

Except that, I've added a video of the Big Razorback seal colony from the helicopter flight.

Home Sweet Home

We finally made it out of town. Wednesday morning we came out to help the carpenters set up camp, and we moved out for good Wednesday night. We've got 4 little fishing huts out next to Big Razorback Island - a kitchen hut, 2 sleep huts, and an equipment hut. Thursday was kind of a slow day because of some high winds and low visibility. The wind would almost pick me up off my feet, and on ice it makes it hard to move around sometimes. But, we did make out to look at a few seals. Today, the weather was perfect, and we got a quick course on reading the cracks and how to walk around in the pressure ridges, which are the upheavings of ice where 2 plates of ice push together. Then I went on my first helicopter ride to look at the study area from above. This gives us an idea of where the seals are congregating and is much faster than doing it on snowmobiles. I was a little nervous about whether I would get sick, but the ride was about as smooth as you could get. It was amazing being able to get above everything and see the full picture. After the helo ride, we came back and took a quick snowmobile ride around Tent Island to look at the seals. We found a few new pups and learned how to tag. And our camp now has internet and phone. Can you believe that? Phone and internet in the middle of sea ice in Antarctica. Crazy! Tomorrow, I'm sure we'll get out and look around a few of the other islands. Sorry for the brevity, but I'm not really in the typing mood. I'll report back in a few days.

Watch Out For That Crack

It's finally starting to slow down around, at least regarding my training. I had my last 2 yesterday and today. Yesterday was my sea ice course. In this course we learned the different types of ice and how the ice moves around and forms cracks and pressure ridges. Then we went out on the sea ice and profiled some cracks. These form in the same way that a rift forms between tectonic plates. As the 2 chunks of sea ice float apart, sea water fills in the crack and freezes. Then the chunks move farther apart and it freezes again, and so on and so forth. In order to profile a crack, you must first remove the snow off the ice, then drill a series of holes through the ice across the crack. As you reach the middle of the crack, the ice will be the thinnest because it is the newest. In order to cross a crack, the ice must be at least 30" thick, and if it's not, the section that is less than 30" thick must be less than 1/3 the length of the track of the vehicle you are driving. For example, if you are driving a Hagglund, the track length is 6' so the effective crack width must be less than or equal to 2'. For a 60" snowmobile track, the effective width must be 20" or less. Drilling holes in the ice was not too bad, but the definite highlight of the trip was stopping at Barnes Glacier. We got within about 200 yards of it.

This morning, I had snowmobile training. It turns out, the driving portion of the course won't be until after we are out at camp, so I get to learn on the fly. Instead, we just learned inside and how to troubleshoot any problems. Down here, there are always problems with equipment. The cold makes it tough to start things and the ice and rocks rattle bolts and screws loose. Before every trip we have to go through a checklist on all the vehicles to make sure they are in good condition. Tonight, I took an Outdoor Safety Lecture in order to be able to hike around McMurdo. It was kind of pointless considering I have already had at least 2 or 3 other classes that went over the same topics - frostbite, hypothermia, watching the weather, etc. But, it enabled Derek and I to hike to the top of Ob(servation) Hill, which overlooks town. The view was great, but the wind was bitter and the hike was misleading. Come to think of it, everything around here is misleading. The air is so clean and and you can see forever. In this picture, Mt. Erebus is about 35 miles away and it is about 13,000 feet tall. It looks only a few miles away. The Transantarctic Range on the other side of the sound only look maybe 5-10 miles away but they're at least 25. So, Ob Hill looks pretty wimpy compared to everything else, but it's not. It's steep, rocky, and icy, and with 10 lbs worth of boots and other heavy clothes, it gets difficult. Well, we made it, and the view was worth it.

So, they're pulling camp out to the site tomorrow and we'll probably head out tomorrow night after we get our snowmobiles for our first night on the ice. I won't have internet access for a few days, but I'll get another post up as soon as I can.

Happy Camper, really!?! Happy!?!

So I just got back from Snow Craft 1, aka Happy Camper, course. In this class we had to learn how to survive for a few days in Antarctica until someone finds us or we die. Because, let's face it, if you aren't picked up after a couple of days, the chances of making it much longer are pretty slim. We started out in the classroom learning about how to recognize and treat frostbite and hypothermia, then we headed out in a shuttle to our campsite on the sea ice. We started in the "warm" (probably around freezing) instructors' hut where we learned how to light the stove and how to fix it if it wasn't working. Then we moved outside to set up camp.

We first set up the Scott tents then started to quarry snow to build a wall to protect us from the winds and blowing snow. The snow is extremely packed together and is almost like ice, so we could cut blocks with a saw then pop them out with a shovel. We learned how to set up a standard mountain tent, build a quinzy (a hollowed out mound of snow), and dig a trench to sleep in. After all our instruction for the day, the instructors left us alone to fend for ourselves. Of course, they were only a short walk away in the "warm" instructors' hut. The rest of the night, most people just kept digging or ran around to keep warm. I had planned on sleeping in the quinzy with another person, but we dug and dug for about 8 hrs until 1 AM when we decided to give up. It was big enough for 1, so I decided to just sleep in a mountain tent. I was sweating some while I was digging and was pretty warm in the sleeping bag, but taking off my outer layers to get in the tent was hard. You get cold very quickly down here and it's hard to warm back up. I took a hot water bottle to bed with me, which helped a lot. Unfortunately, my bladder didn't cooperate and I had to visit the "pee flag" twice during the night. That was really hard, and I was having trouble getting my boots off because my hands weren't working very well. That really made me appreciate the pee bottle. I will definitely keep one nearby from now on so I don't have to get out of bed when it's -25 F. The next morning, we broke camp, learned how to use the radios, searched for someone in a whiteout condition (i.e. with a bucket over our heads), and headed back to McMurdo. The official low for the night was -23 F, but the next morning, the wind chill at McMurdo was -51 F and probably around -60 F at camp. It makes you appreciate the landscape, weather, clothes, and knowledge needed to survive down here. And how quickly you could be dead. But we made it, albeit a little uncomfortably. I apologize for the lack of pictures, but cameras don't like to work in such cold temperatures.

It's Really White

I finally made it. I'm in Antarctica. I guess I should start from the beginning. I arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand on Oct 1 (New Zealand time), which is Sep 30 for most people reading this. We didn't do too much on Monday, just relaxed and got some rest. I walked around the park next to the hotel and did some birding. You know, in the cities at least, New Zealand doesn't look to different from the states, except that people drive on the left and talk a little different. Tuesday morning we all went to the Antarctic Center and tried on all of our clothes. What surprises me most is that most of it is pretty standard stuff you could get just about anywhere - long underwear, fleece, bibs, and a down coat. We have several types of gloves and a couple of hats, but it's really not a lot of clothes.

We took off this morning at about 9 after arriving to check our bags and get dressed at 6. We had to wear or have in our carry-on a knit hat, goggles, bibs, boots, and parka. The flight was on a C-17 and took about 5 1/2 hours. The cargo plane was actually pretty comfortable though a bit loud. There were only 4 tiny windows so we couldn't watch as we flew, so when we landed the first step out of the plane was something to see. We landed on the sea ice and were surrounded by mountains with McMurdo nearby. And surprisingly, it's not too cold. Well, at least today. I don't know the temperature, but without the wind, it's like a winter day in the states. But sunglasses are a must. I'm off to dinner right now, but I'll report back in a few days after Happy Camper School.