Heavy Shop.

(I have a feeling all of the men will enjoy this post.)

One of my roommates is an admin for the VMF, or vehicle maintenance facility, which is where they maintain all of the vehicles on station. She told me I could come up to the "Heavy Shop" whenever I wanted for a personal tour, so I wandered up there last night.

Cars and trucks really don't interest me all that much, but some of the vehicles they have down here are pretty neat! Driving on the Ice proves difficult with normal vehicles, so all of our trucks have either very large wheels or tracks on them to spread weight out over a larger area, making it easier to drive in the harsh conditions and over crevasse-laden areas.

Anyway, here are some of the folks we've got down here!

1. "Ivan the Terra Bus": This monster transports passengers from the airfield into town. I didn't get to ride in him because we had a smaller flight, but he is a GIANT.

2. Hagglund: The Hagglunds are the iconic vehicle for Antarctica -- these are the ones that are in most of the movies and documentaries about the continent. They are also used by search and rescue teams and can be lowered into crevasses. Scary.

3. This is one of the Deltas we have out here -- there are 3 and they each do different things. One is a passenger transport vehicle, one is used for fuel, and this one....I can't remember. :) But, it has really big tires and his name is Flipper. I totally look like a nerd with my safety goggles on, too.

4. "Pickle": He is my favorite. He is a cute little forklift named Pickle!

5. I don't know what this guy does, but he is really old and his name is Shagnasty, so I like him. He's got some character, that's for sure.

 6. Pisten Bully: This guy is kind of a catch all and sort of functions as a pick-up truck. Just more expensive. :)

Pretty interesting stuff, even for people like me who have no clue what an alternator or a head gasket is.

Peace, love & Pickle!!