Adventures in Antarctica
- Thread starter Warehouse23
- Start date
Hypersmurf
Moderatarrrrh...
We're looking at a quick jaunt to Fiji in January as a relax-and-unwind, but while coming to the decision, we flicked past a site that runs a cruise down to Antarctica - whale-watching, penguin colonies, Titanic reenactments (well, not really), and so on.
Sounded fantastic... we just can't really afford the $12k-25k NZD per peron...
-Hyp.
Edit - person! Per person!
Whew - Evita jokes narrowly avoided...
Sounded fantastic... we just can't really afford the $12k-25k NZD per peron...
-Hyp.
Edit - person! Per person!
Whew - Evita jokes narrowly avoided...
Last edited:
Warehouse23
First Post
Howdy All! Greetings from the Ice! Indeed, we've had some beautiful weather here the past two days--cold, clear, and slightly breezy (my nose was the very first part of me to remember what it's like here--chilly!). Unless there's a Poley (South Pole Station personnel) somewhere on these boards I don't know about (but would love to), I think this may be the southernmost post ever made to EN World.
Arrival at McMurdo station is a whirlwind of briefings, meetings, training (Survival Training Overnight == "Happy Camper School"), reunions with old friends, and exploration of old haunts. When I've not been in meetings, or doing my best to put on body mass in the well-stocked galley here, I've been hard at work preparing my group's meterology sensors which we will deploy during the season to better quanitify the physical conditions under which the landscape here is evolving and changing. Odds are I'll be in town until at least Monday or Tuesday of next week--so feel free to ask lots of questions before now and then. After I hop a helicopter to Beacon Valley, I probably will be off-grid (and off-indoor plumbing) until at least Janurary 15).
I hope all is well back in the warmer parts of the world! If someone would mail me mid-term election results, it would help me formulate a decision as to whether or not I'd like to apply to winter-over (and maybe take up residency down here). : -)
PS-- I've got a bunch of photos from arrival I'll try to post after supper or tomorrow.
Arrival at McMurdo station is a whirlwind of briefings, meetings, training (Survival Training Overnight == "Happy Camper School"), reunions with old friends, and exploration of old haunts. When I've not been in meetings, or doing my best to put on body mass in the well-stocked galley here, I've been hard at work preparing my group's meterology sensors which we will deploy during the season to better quanitify the physical conditions under which the landscape here is evolving and changing. Odds are I'll be in town until at least Monday or Tuesday of next week--so feel free to ask lots of questions before now and then. After I hop a helicopter to Beacon Valley, I probably will be off-grid (and off-indoor plumbing) until at least Janurary 15).
I hope all is well back in the warmer parts of the world! If someone would mail me mid-term election results, it would help me formulate a decision as to whether or not I'd like to apply to winter-over (and maybe take up residency down here). : -)
PS-- I've got a bunch of photos from arrival I'll try to post after supper or tomorrow.
Warehouse23
First Post
Sorry about the lack of arrival photos--I've had some trouble connecting to the network here and have been up to my ears in work and briefings (on the agenda for this morning: "Waste Management at -20*" and "Comms--How Not to Sound Like a Trucker on the Radio."
In the interim, he's a shot of the view out of my workspace at the Crary Science Labs:
http://www.geokem.com/images/pix/G-Discov.jpg
In the interim, he's a shot of the view out of my workspace at the Crary Science Labs:
http://www.geokem.com/images/pix/G-Discov.jpg
Warehouse23
First Post
Howdy All--
Pictures today! The first is proof that yours truly is in fact on the ice. It's a photo of me sitting on more than 300 man-days of packed food (at least the dried component--the frozen foods we pull on Monday) in the Berg Field Center--the staging area for all field equipment here in McMurdo.
The second photo is an annotated view out the lab window here. You can see the approach to the ice runway, the Ross Ice Shelf (mis-labeled the Ross Ice Sheet), the Royal Society Range of mountains, and, a real treat, an Antarctic mirage (caused by super-warmed air, heated by the sun, rising off from above the cold ice, forming a lens out of thin air).
The first photo, of course, leads to the question--what's on the menu? Breakfast consists of hot chocolate or hot powdered cider (two packets per person), instant oatmeal/cream-of-wheat/grits (two packets per person) mixed with some granola or grape nuts or dried fruit, and maybe some instant coffee. Our intrepid leader, Dr. David Marchant eats two tins of Dinty Moore beef stew for breakfast each morning, but he's more hardcore than the rest of us (and has a higher salt tolerance). Lunch is taken in the field and consists of peanut-butter and jelly (kept thawed by carrying it inside one's parka) on cabin-bread (a mega-saltine cracker, about the length and width of a playing card, and about 1/4 to 1/2" thick), beef jerky or meat sticks, a little gorp/trail mix, maybe a cookie, and a thermos of hot Tang or Raro. Returning from the field after a long day, we have a hot supper. The menu rotation includes: chili, burritos, stir-fry, spaghetti with sausage, "Thanksgiving Dinner" (tinned chicken or frozen chicken patties, stuffing, and instant mashies), and "Sheans Beef and Bean a roni" (which is new this year--if it's tasty, we'll toast Dave Shean--if it's gnarly, well.....). Dinner drinks include cocoa and a variety of teas, as well as water. We can thaw beer out on the camp stoves, and have been known to take a dessert of hot cocoa with a little disgestif mixed in. Throughout the day we munch on chocolate bars (ration: two per day per person), jerky, gorp, etc. to keep our energy up and stay warm. A solid day's work at any of our field activities can burn up to 6,000 calories--meaning no one goes to bed without seconds. It's a matter of survival.
Looks like we'll be deploying to the field Wednesday. Hope folks are enjoying the posts!
Pictures today! The first is proof that yours truly is in fact on the ice. It's a photo of me sitting on more than 300 man-days of packed food (at least the dried component--the frozen foods we pull on Monday) in the Berg Field Center--the staging area for all field equipment here in McMurdo.
The second photo is an annotated view out the lab window here. You can see the approach to the ice runway, the Ross Ice Shelf (mis-labeled the Ross Ice Sheet), the Royal Society Range of mountains, and, a real treat, an Antarctic mirage (caused by super-warmed air, heated by the sun, rising off from above the cold ice, forming a lens out of thin air).
The first photo, of course, leads to the question--what's on the menu? Breakfast consists of hot chocolate or hot powdered cider (two packets per person), instant oatmeal/cream-of-wheat/grits (two packets per person) mixed with some granola or grape nuts or dried fruit, and maybe some instant coffee. Our intrepid leader, Dr. David Marchant eats two tins of Dinty Moore beef stew for breakfast each morning, but he's more hardcore than the rest of us (and has a higher salt tolerance). Lunch is taken in the field and consists of peanut-butter and jelly (kept thawed by carrying it inside one's parka) on cabin-bread (a mega-saltine cracker, about the length and width of a playing card, and about 1/4 to 1/2" thick), beef jerky or meat sticks, a little gorp/trail mix, maybe a cookie, and a thermos of hot Tang or Raro. Returning from the field after a long day, we have a hot supper. The menu rotation includes: chili, burritos, stir-fry, spaghetti with sausage, "Thanksgiving Dinner" (tinned chicken or frozen chicken patties, stuffing, and instant mashies), and "Sheans Beef and Bean a roni" (which is new this year--if it's tasty, we'll toast Dave Shean--if it's gnarly, well.....). Dinner drinks include cocoa and a variety of teas, as well as water. We can thaw beer out on the camp stoves, and have been known to take a dessert of hot cocoa with a little disgestif mixed in. Throughout the day we munch on chocolate bars (ration: two per day per person), jerky, gorp, etc. to keep our energy up and stay warm. A solid day's work at any of our field activities can burn up to 6,000 calories--meaning no one goes to bed without seconds. It's a matter of survival.
Looks like we'll be deploying to the field Wednesday. Hope folks are enjoying the posts!
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Angel Tarragon
Dawn Dragon
Hypersmurf said:
I love peguins. And Otters.
I am seriously looking forward to seeing Happy Feet!
GlassJaw
Hero
Great to see you made it Joe. Thanks for the info on what's going on down there - I find it pretty amazing. Sounds like you guys eat like kings too! Although now I see why you need "Waste Management at -20*" after eating chili and burritos. 
Be safe on the ice and we'll kill some baddies for you at Carl's game day!
Be safe on the ice and we'll kill some baddies for you at Carl's game day!
Warehouse23
First Post
It's been a busy day in the sky above McMurdo. The clear, crisp air must make for fine flying, as helos (helicopters) are buzzing about left and right, and the ice run-way is in constant motion with LC-130 cargo planes coming and going.
Here's a link to an image of an LC-130 "Hercules" aircraft:
http://www.sarahandrews.net/antar_images/LC-130_2.jpg
We're scrambling down here to get the first field team (a tiny, mobile camp of two grad students) deployed tomorrow. The day after, my team (five of us, growing to six on Friday, and eight later next week) will be loading all of our gear into a Bell 212 "Huey" helo and making for Beacon Valley.
Most of our gear is ready to fly, though, which means we had a little free time yesterday afternoon for some R&R (Sunday is the offical "off" day in McMurdo, else folks work six ten hour days a week, making a stint on the ice hard, but lucrative work). My team put on our ECW gear and headed to Observation Hill, an old, extinct cinder cone (volcanic feature) on the edge of McMurdo station. The wind was howling, and the trail was icy and steep, but we finally made the summit and were rewarded with spendid views of the Ross Ice Shelf, Scott Base (the New Zealand station on the other side of the hill from McMurdo), Mac Town itself, and of course, the mountains across the sound.
I've included three photos today. The first is a view up the imposing face of "Ob Hill." These photos definitely fall into the category of images I can't show my parents (they very specifically said, "Do not go near the edge"--I fear the trail up Ob Hill counts as going near the edge). The second, On_Ob, is a view at the summit. You can see David Shean, our group leader and an old friend of mine, leaning into the wind, a wooden cross (which is a memorial to the victims of a helo crash a few years back), and some of the Royal Society Range mountains in the background. Finally, Mac_Town is a view looking back on base.
With some luck, I'll be around to make one final posting tomorrow. Else, I'll be in touch some time in January if all goes well, and will pick the thread back up. Enjoy the Game Days between now and then, and stay warm this winter!
PS--If anyone is going to be somewhere warm, feel free to send me a post-card (which will be delivered by a resupply helo) at:
Joseph Levy
McMurdo Station
Project G-054
PSC 469 Box 800
APO AP 96599-1035
Because it's APO, postage is just like sending mail in the US.
Here's a link to an image of an LC-130 "Hercules" aircraft:
http://www.sarahandrews.net/antar_images/LC-130_2.jpg
We're scrambling down here to get the first field team (a tiny, mobile camp of two grad students) deployed tomorrow. The day after, my team (five of us, growing to six on Friday, and eight later next week) will be loading all of our gear into a Bell 212 "Huey" helo and making for Beacon Valley.
Most of our gear is ready to fly, though, which means we had a little free time yesterday afternoon for some R&R (Sunday is the offical "off" day in McMurdo, else folks work six ten hour days a week, making a stint on the ice hard, but lucrative work). My team put on our ECW gear and headed to Observation Hill, an old, extinct cinder cone (volcanic feature) on the edge of McMurdo station. The wind was howling, and the trail was icy and steep, but we finally made the summit and were rewarded with spendid views of the Ross Ice Shelf, Scott Base (the New Zealand station on the other side of the hill from McMurdo), Mac Town itself, and of course, the mountains across the sound.
I've included three photos today. The first is a view up the imposing face of "Ob Hill." These photos definitely fall into the category of images I can't show my parents (they very specifically said, "Do not go near the edge"--I fear the trail up Ob Hill counts as going near the edge). The second, On_Ob, is a view at the summit. You can see David Shean, our group leader and an old friend of mine, leaning into the wind, a wooden cross (which is a memorial to the victims of a helo crash a few years back), and some of the Royal Society Range mountains in the background. Finally, Mac_Town is a view looking back on base.
With some luck, I'll be around to make one final posting tomorrow. Else, I'll be in touch some time in January if all goes well, and will pick the thread back up. Enjoy the Game Days between now and then, and stay warm this winter!
PS--If anyone is going to be somewhere warm, feel free to send me a post-card (which will be delivered by a resupply helo) at:
Joseph Levy
McMurdo Station
Project G-054
PSC 469 Box 800
APO AP 96599-1035
Because it's APO, postage is just like sending mail in the US.
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