One of my fellow McMurdo-ites made this awesome video depicting the annual ship offload. I wasn't there for this event, but I'm glad I get to see it on here! Check it out.
Showing posts with label Cold. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cold. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Ship Offload.
One of my fellow McMurdo-ites made this awesome video depicting the annual ship offload. I wasn't there for this event, but I'm glad I get to see it on here! Check it out.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
30° Below.
Through a series of unfortunate events, I have now traveled to one of the most unique places on this planet.
On Monday, I was invited to go to Happy Camper, which is an overnight camping trip where you learn winter survival skills (i.e. what to do in a white-out). Happy Camper was to be held Tuesday and Wednesday, so I would have missed 2 days of work. That was my legitimate reason for not wanting to go. My silly, girlish reasons were that I did not want to have to sleep in a dug-out snow cave and I did not want to have to pee in a bucket for 24 hours.
So, I did not go to Happy Camper. (Darn).
On Wednesday morning, I woke up abnormally early. I couldn't fall back asleep, so I decided to just move on with the day and grab breakfast. I ran into the gal who schedules "sleigh rides" to the Pole, and she mentioned that someone *might* be dropping from the flight, and that I *might* be able to go *if* said person *actually* dropped. But she told me to have my ECW gear on hand just in case.
At 7:20, about 25 minutes before passenger transport for the sleigh ride, I got a call telling me to GO GO GO. I made the flight! So I threw on my ECW gear, ran/hobbled up to the transport building, and was on my way!
So then I flew to Pole. Talk about being in the right place at the right time!
Our flight to Pole was 3 hours long on an LC-130, covering about 840 miles. The plane itself was delivering fuel to the Pole, and about 30 of us just went along for the ride!
Once we landed, we had 30 minutes on the ground. It was a whirlwind. Because there are actually two "poles" to go see: the Ceremonial Pole (mostly for photo opportunities) and the Geographical Pole (the actual Pole, which moves about 33 feet per year due to shifting ice). So we clicked away at one pole, hobbled over to the next pole, clicked away again, hobbled inside, used the bathroom, and then had to get right back on the plane! It was -30°, so quite frankly I was very excited to be on a nice warm plane again. My nose hairs had frozen and I seriously felt like I had wads of boogers hanging out. Gross, I know, but seriously. That's what it felt like.
I also got to sit in the cockpit during take-off on the way back to McMurdo. It was an amazing experience!
Also, the discovery of the South Pole has a really interesting story to it. For the factual version, go to this website: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/09/amundsen/alexander-text. For the comical/explicit version, go to this one: http://vimeo.com/35084075. :)
Peace, Love, & BottomOfTheWorld.
On Monday, I was invited to go to Happy Camper, which is an overnight camping trip where you learn winter survival skills (i.e. what to do in a white-out). Happy Camper was to be held Tuesday and Wednesday, so I would have missed 2 days of work. That was my legitimate reason for not wanting to go. My silly, girlish reasons were that I did not want to have to sleep in a dug-out snow cave and I did not want to have to pee in a bucket for 24 hours.
So, I did not go to Happy Camper. (Darn).
On Wednesday morning, I woke up abnormally early. I couldn't fall back asleep, so I decided to just move on with the day and grab breakfast. I ran into the gal who schedules "sleigh rides" to the Pole, and she mentioned that someone *might* be dropping from the flight, and that I *might* be able to go *if* said person *actually* dropped. But she told me to have my ECW gear on hand just in case.
At 7:20, about 25 minutes before passenger transport for the sleigh ride, I got a call telling me to GO GO GO. I made the flight! So I threw on my ECW gear, ran/hobbled up to the transport building, and was on my way!
So then I flew to Pole. Talk about being in the right place at the right time!
Our flight to Pole was 3 hours long on an LC-130, covering about 840 miles. The plane itself was delivering fuel to the Pole, and about 30 of us just went along for the ride!
Once we landed, we had 30 minutes on the ground. It was a whirlwind. Because there are actually two "poles" to go see: the Ceremonial Pole (mostly for photo opportunities) and the Geographical Pole (the actual Pole, which moves about 33 feet per year due to shifting ice). So we clicked away at one pole, hobbled over to the next pole, clicked away again, hobbled inside, used the bathroom, and then had to get right back on the plane! It was -30°, so quite frankly I was very excited to be on a nice warm plane again. My nose hairs had frozen and I seriously felt like I had wads of boogers hanging out. Gross, I know, but seriously. That's what it felt like.
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| Ceremonial Pole |
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| Geographical Pole: Every direction points north! |
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| Tebowing in every time zone. I only did this for you, Mike. |
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| Standing on 9,000 feet of ice! |
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| Pole marker. A new one is crafted every year. |
I also got to sit in the cockpit during take-off on the way back to McMurdo. It was an amazing experience!
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| How do they keep all these gauges straight?! |
Also, the discovery of the South Pole has a really interesting story to it. For the factual version, go to this website: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/09/amundsen/alexander-text. For the comical/explicit version, go to this one: http://vimeo.com/35084075. :)
Peace, Love, & BottomOfTheWorld.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Russians to the Rescue.
So maybe I'm a dork, but I am fascinated by the arrival of the Russian icebreaker, whose name I will never be able to pronounce: the "Vladimir Ignatyuk."
I am shocked that a boat of that size can actually break through sea ice; however, equally surprising is the fact that the NSF actually managed to acquire an icebreaker for this season. (Read this article for more information!). NSF has had long-standing contracts with the Swedish icebreaker, the "Oden", but this year the Oden wasn't available. The icebreaker is a critical need for the USAP, because it cuts a channel through the ice that allows the fuel tanker and re-supply ship to access the ice pier. There was a lot of drama/back and forth/panic when we found out that the Oden was inaccessible, especially because the U.S. Coast Guard doesn't have any operable ships with icebreaking capabilities.
But don't worry, the Russians came through and saved everyone. And now we will have food and fuel.
Life is good.
I am shocked that a boat of that size can actually break through sea ice; however, equally surprising is the fact that the NSF actually managed to acquire an icebreaker for this season. (Read this article for more information!). NSF has had long-standing contracts with the Swedish icebreaker, the "Oden", but this year the Oden wasn't available. The icebreaker is a critical need for the USAP, because it cuts a channel through the ice that allows the fuel tanker and re-supply ship to access the ice pier. There was a lot of drama/back and forth/panic when we found out that the Oden was inaccessible, especially because the U.S. Coast Guard doesn't have any operable ships with icebreaking capabilities.
But don't worry, the Russians came through and saved everyone. And now we will have food and fuel.
Life is good.
Peace, Love, & IceIceBaby.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Castle Rock.
I've been staring at the screen for 5 minutes, trying to come up with a way to explain how beautiful, incredible, awesome, and wonderful my hike out to Castle Rock was today. Some things are just better left unsaid, so I'll let the photos do the talking.
Hands down, one of the best days ever. Hiking is absolutely one of the greatest sources of joy and humility for me; I love to take in the Lord's creation, and it reminds me of how small I am compared to his greatness.
Peace, Love, & SnowboardingInJeans.
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| Trailhead |
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| An "apple" shelter along the trail, for safety during a storm. |
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| Red flags that mark the road |
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| Megan & I. I did, in fact, carry a snowboard on my back for 6-miles, just so that I could go down one hill. |
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| Erebus & Castle Rock from afar. |
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| Castle Rock & the wonderful Antarctic sunshine. |
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| Megan & me on top of Castle Rock. |
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| I could not get over the scenery! |
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| Icebergs. |
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| Open water. |
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| On the way back down. |
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| Snowboarding! In Antarctica! In Jeans! :) |
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| Happy girl :) |
Hands down, one of the best days ever. Hiking is absolutely one of the greatest sources of joy and humility for me; I love to take in the Lord's creation, and it reminds me of how small I am compared to his greatness.
Peace, Love, & SnowboardingInJeans.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Robert Falcon Scott.
I was randomly invited to go ride bikes out to Hut Point this evening, which was awesome because a) I hadn't ridden a bike in awhile, and b) Discovery Hut was open for tour!
Discovery Hut was built in 1902 by Robert Falcon Scott, who I would like to meet just so I can tell him that his name rocks.
Anyway, the hut was built on the Discovery Expedition as a storage facility and laboratory. It was never used as sleeping quarters, because it is extremely drafty and very cold inside. There is a main storage area, a kitchen, a laboratory, and a slaughterhouse with the carcasses of 2 lambs and 2 penguins. Nope, not kidding. There is also a handful of poor frozen seal carcasses, blubber and all. They definitely don't smell that great, but given that they have been there for awhile, it could be much worse! Interestingly, they used the lab for gravitational experiments -- they thought that being on the bottom of the planet would cause gravity to behave in a different way. (It doesn't, in case you were wondering. If you fall on a bike, you still fall down, and it still hurts.)
I only had my little pocket Canon on me, so I didn't get the greatest quality pictures, but they are still pretty neat. I'm excited to go back with my big camera and get some more shots. The lighting was awesome in the hut, and it shifted like crazy! (I did do some photo editing for fun!)
Peace, Love, & Insulation :)
Discovery Hut was built in 1902 by Robert Falcon Scott, who I would like to meet just so I can tell him that his name rocks.
Anyway, the hut was built on the Discovery Expedition as a storage facility and laboratory. It was never used as sleeping quarters, because it is extremely drafty and very cold inside. There is a main storage area, a kitchen, a laboratory, and a slaughterhouse with the carcasses of 2 lambs and 2 penguins. Nope, not kidding. There is also a handful of poor frozen seal carcasses, blubber and all. They definitely don't smell that great, but given that they have been there for awhile, it could be much worse! Interestingly, they used the lab for gravitational experiments -- they thought that being on the bottom of the planet would cause gravity to behave in a different way. (It doesn't, in case you were wondering. If you fall on a bike, you still fall down, and it still hurts.)
I only had my little pocket Canon on me, so I didn't get the greatest quality pictures, but they are still pretty neat. I'm excited to go back with my big camera and get some more shots. The lighting was awesome in the hut, and it shifted like crazy! (I did do some photo editing for fun!)
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| Courvoisier. |
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| Yep. Seals. |
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| There is still seal in that pot! |
Sunday, January 1, 2012
2012.
Happy New Year!
Antarctica was one of the first continents to ring in 2012! Every year, there is a celebration/concert down here called Icestock, along with a chili cookoff. I hung out at Icestock for a few hours, but I ended up going inside to sleep because I ate too much chili and my stomach was not happy. :) It was fun while I was there though, and the bands were great.
Antarctica was one of the first continents to ring in 2012! Every year, there is a celebration/concert down here called Icestock, along with a chili cookoff. I hung out at Icestock for a few hours, but I ended up going inside to sleep because I ate too much chili and my stomach was not happy. :) It was fun while I was there though, and the bands were great.
Yesterday afternoon I went out to the New Zealand base, called Scott Base. There are only about 30 people there, so it is significantly smaller than McMurdo.
Scott Base sits right along the ice, and there are beautiful pressure ridges that form alongside the base. There is a great description of how these ridges are formed at this blog. Tours go out to the ridges during the first half of the season, but they've stopped doing them since the sea ice is rapidly breaking up. But, the ridges are still beautiful from afar. I even saw an Emperor Penguin off in the distance! The landscape is so dramatic over by Scott Base, with Mt. Erebus (an active volcano) towering overhead. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.
Peace, love & Ice.
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