October 26, 2009 - Day 18

Sea Ice Training
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Random Pics
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An Iceberg (first one I've seen - beautiful blueish tones)


Me in front of iceberg - to give some perspective on size

Some island.

Me in front of Mount Erebus (still active). You can see it smoking/steaming.

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Went to my last major training - “Sea Ice.” So today I really learned what sea ice is. With the exception of the sea ice runway, what I probably referred to as sea ice before was not in fact sea ice. For example, the “Happy Camper” course was not on sea ice as I previously thought, but on the frozen Ross Ice Shelf – basically frozen water and snow on the Ross island shelf. Sea Ice is actually frozen ocean or sea water. McMurdo Station is located on Ross Island and is completely surrounded by sea ice and the frozen ice shelf. The sea ice and the ice shelf melt, but dependent on conditions only certain portions may melt.

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We learned how to identify and assess cracks in the sea ice, such that when we travel over sea ice we can determine if they are safe to cross. Cracks are caused by tidal forces, temperature, winds, radiation, etc.

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Identification of cracks are mostly visual. Assessment involves assessing the depth (thickness) of sea ice and how wide the crack is at the crossing point. The general guidelines for assessment are: To clear the snow off the ice to visualize the crack Auger holes through the sea ice over the width of the crack and at the ends of the crack Put these holes in approximately 18 inches apart With the type of vehicle we were using a crack could be 24 inches wide and it would be safe to cross (determined by track length on vehicle).

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Taking a measurement of sea ice thickness/depth after hole was augered through to ocean water.

A line of auguered holes taken on the edges of a crack and in the crack.

Two picture of cracks:

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If the sea ice is thicker than 20 feet that particular section is considered safe and not part of the width of the crack.

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Here’s a pic of the Haaglund that we rode in.

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Hope to add a video here of us augering into the sea ice and pushing through to the ocean water.

(Part of assessing safety of crossing crack)

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We also learned how to make anchors (i.e., tents) in the ice and visited an ice cave. Here is a video of the ice cave.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-makL6iaiY

October 2009 - Happy Camper Videos

The video was too big to post here - so check it out. Hope it works.

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The squeaking in the video is the sound of the ice/snow as one walks or moves around. First you'll see the outside of the Kwinzi (or Quinzie -spelling?) that I helped build and slept in for a night with 3 others, then the camp. Surrounding area, Mountain tents, cooking area/galley, Scott tents, and then me entering and exiting the Kwinzi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0OADBPCZQI

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This video was taken by a fellow camper on the morning after we camped out on the ice. I am the third of three people that you see wearing a black jacket appearing around :10-:11 seconds in. I'm not sure if the video does the actual scene justice, but it'll give you an idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da15DU53ccY

Day 12-13

October 20-21

HAPPY CAMPER

FYI- time zone. We are 4 hours behind California time, but one day ahead OR 20 hours ahead - however you want to look at it.

So Tuesday and Wednesday were very interesting days. Starting Tuesday morning and going to Wednesday afternoon I attended a course called Snowcraft I, or better known by its nickname "Happy Camper." This course is sort of a survival course in which students are taught safety and awareness of working and being at locales that are not near McMurdo Base. Thus if we are caught in harsh conditions, we have the knowledge, experience, tools of how to survive and how to stay warm. Some of things that we were shown:

• MSR Whisperlite Stove (a backpacking stove, how-to-use, how-to-maintain)
• Safety/Awareness/Ways to Prevent being cold-frostnip-frostbite
• Proper personal gear to wear (PPE of sorts)
• How-to-build shelters in the ice and how-to-erect mountain tents and Scott tents (more on this later)
• Use of VHF and HF (like a Ham radio) radios
• Went over some safety videos for boarding/deboarding helicopters

Me personal geared out.

Three instructors led the twenty students in the class to an area maybe 30 minutes from McMurdo. This area was on the sea ice, i'm guessing 3-4 miles from the base. Sort of seemed like a valley amid mountains, although in the late morning when we arrived the visibility was poor and we couldn't see any of the surrounding mountains. (wikipedia defn of Sea ice - is largely formed from ocean water that freezes. Because the oceans consist of saltwater, this occurs at about -1.8 °C (28.8 °F). Sea ice may be contrasted with icebergs, which are chunks of ice shelves or glaciers that calve into the ocean. Icebergs are compacted snow and hence fresh water.). When we got there, we had lunch...which consisted of stiff sandwiches and hard candy bars. We then were prepped for camping out the night on the ice - thus "Happy Camper." The instructors gave us some directions and showed us some techniques for creating shelters and a camp and then left us to our own devices while they went over to stay in an enclosed tarped "Jamesway" type shelter that was heated - this was maybe a half mile from where our camp was.

Things we did/learned how to do...

More traditional shelters:

Put up Scott tents - Teepee like shelters but with 4 corners, fairly large. Put up Mountain tents - Normal 4-season backpacking type tent

Less traditional shelters:

Create a Kwinzi - Native american origin, sort of ice cave, igloo-like, shelter Create ice trenches - trench/passageway underground to try and stay out of wind/trap hot air. (You could get creative with these, but were a lot of work digging.) Create ice blocks - simple to do, but a decent amount of work. For use in shelter construction and creation of walls for wind blocking. Hand saw and a shovel are only tools needed.

Other things:

• Hold water bottle inside jacket and upside down to help prevent freeezing
• Best methods for cooking
• Best methods for staying warm (minimizing sweating, layering, moving around, looking out for each other, Sleep with a hot water bottle, fit as many people as possible into shelter, venting tent to prevent ice crystals from forming inside, not consuming alcohol contrary to popular belief) Changing socks to avoid trench foot
• Safety plans
• Pee bottle - a nalgene that you can pee in so you don't have to go outside. For women there is some sort of attachment or funnel that you can use. Is awesome for not having to go out in cold. I haven't had need to use yet though. Clearly Marked with a P on the lid and PEE written on the outside so not to get confused with drinking bottle.

I slept in the Kwinzi with four other people. I have a video of the overall camp that I'm trying to post but it hasn't worked yet...

Night
So, the night. Went to sleep early around 8:30ish, although I wasn't tired, but unless I was moving around my feet and hands would get real cold. So decided to go to sleep - I climbed into the Kwinzi, tucked into a fleece blanket and then into a mummy bag that was sitting on two mats (for insulation), wearing just my baselayers, switched to clean, dry socks, pulled on my beanie and tried to go to sleep. In the Kwinzi, i had one of the spots that was close to the wall so the walls of the cave were a little tight on me. I few times I tried to sit up and adjust my laying down position and my head would scrape the top of the wall and chunks of ice would fall on me. It actually was decently warm in the bag, it was in no way comfortable though. But passable. I don't feel like I slept at all, but had my eyes closed for many hours. At least two of my Kwinzi-mates slept well though, b/c I could hear their light snores within 10-15 minutes.

Morning

The morning. Upon wake up, the camp plan was to make and boil water for hot drinks and oatmeal and then pack up camp. But upon exit of the Kwinzi we found that the visibility was really bad, it was crazy windy, and really, really cold. So alternate plans- everyone starting just packing up camp - there wasn't really anything else you could do. This was a mess. Things were blowing around, vis sucked, there were all kinds of little potholes in the ground from our camp that people would step in and fall, and it was really, really cold (did I already say this?). One of the worse parts was trying to remove the rainflys from the mountain tents. These were attached by little black plastic clips that have to be squeezed on both sides and then slid out (normal type of clips on backpacks and tents). With big gloves on this was impossible, so you would have to remove your big gloves and then just wearing liners try to do this. But this was hard to do even with just liners on. I tried to squeeze one and I had to take multiple tries and had to use lots of effort just to pop off this small little clip. This was b/c the coldness had stiffened up my hands really bad. It was really, really cold. Clothes, neck gaiter, gloves, etc. would stiffen if they were wet at all. Chunks of ice would get stuck on your eyelashes. It was quite a scene and a mess. But we managed to get it all packed together and put away into the storage units adjacent to the campsite. During this morning fiasco, I wasn't wearing goggles because they had gotten a little condensation on them and then the condensation had froze making the visibility thru them horrible. But I was wearing a full balaclava that covered my nose and mouth and head (with the exception of some breathing/vent holes) to protect my face. Near the end of the cleanup someone noticed that I had some whiteness on my cheeks (an early sign of frostnip), and I was given someone else's goggles to don for a while. My cheeks were definitely cold, but there had been no other signs that caused me much concern. The ice chunks on my eyelashes sucked and the winds blowing in your face sucked, but I wasn't losing any sensation or anything. But my feet and hands hurt a lot from the cold. (Note: the next day, the tips of two of my fingers are a little hard and kind of numb - some light frostnip effects I guess)

Here's a pee block (Urinal for the males) that is outside and next to the outhouse. Kind of disgusting.

Anyways we got it all done and completed our training, but here's a picture of my frostnip/windburn (it's actually a lot darker then it looks in the pic):

No one else really had this problem...and as if I didn't stand out enough already (being asian and with long hair). HA! It sort of just feels like a sunburn right now (dry, tight skin, and a little sore). Happy Camper was an awesome experience...

If I can get the video to post...First you can see the mountain tents and some people cooking in the established kitchen and eating area and then the two tall (teepeeish) Scott tents and then me entering and then exiting the Kwinzi that I slept in.

Day 10

First Week of Work on the Books
So finished my first week of work last week. Work week is Mon-Sat, 0730 to 1730. We get two 15-minute breaks and a 1-hr lunch. The days don't feel so long, its that additional day that makes the week seem much longer. The week included lots of trainings for vehicle usage and for traveling to restricted areas. Ski-doo (snowmobile) training was definitely the funnest. After a 45-min to 1-hour classroom safety and maintenance training, we got to drive the ski-doos around for 40 minutes.

Food
Food here is pretty good. Some meals are really good, others are mediocore. Although there seems to be only "freshies" - meaning fresh fruit and vegetables only 2-3 days of the week so far. When there are freshies, there is usually a big rush and longer lines. People often take extra food when there are meals that they really like - they'll either saran wrap a plate or bring in tupperware. Everyone has a refrigerator in there room to store drinks and or food. Meals are at set times: 0500-0730 for breakfast, 1200-1300 for lunch, 1730-1930 for dinner, and a 2400-0100 midnight meal called "midrats" (this meal is for nite shift workers, but is open to everyone after 2430). PB and J sandwich making materials and cereal are available at any time.

Pictures
Here's some more pics:

The Logo. The crosshairs near the middle of the continent is the South Pole.


Map to help show positioning in world with pen pointing to where McMurdo is.


Overview of most of McMurdo Station. Taken from Observation Hill.


Here's a plane on the sea ice runway, if you look close you can see a red-orangish speck in the top left of the picture, that's a helicopter. We are scheduled to fly in the helis later. The runway supports C-5, C-17, C-141, C-130, LC-130, and Twin Otter aircraft.

Here's some pics of some of the vehicles out here. There are many vehicles out here that look really fun to operate/drive. I kind of feel like a kid in the sandbox playing with my tonka trucks, looking at all of them and thinking how cool they are. I think I'll be limited to the piston bully, ski-doos (snowmobiles), ATVs, and trucks. (Although I don't have one complaint - these all are going to be sweet to use, with the exception of the truck being the norm)

This is Ivan the Terra Bus. Its used as a shuttle to and from the airfields. Its huge, there isn't really a frame of the reference in the picture, but the tires are very close to my height 5-6 feet tall.

This is a Piston Bully.

This is a Challenger. Its mostly used for transporting cargo. Two pictures.

Day 2 - Day 4

Day 2

In the US Antarctic Program (USAP), everyone that comes down is issued clothing. This consists of a variety of fleece, thermal, wind, and insulated baselayers, underlayers, jackets, coveralls, gloves, and boots. I think the point is that you have at least one set of Extreme Clothing Wear (ECW) - in case you get stuck outside during a major storm or want/need them while working in the cold. People often wear their own technical gear, but most seem to wear a combination of their own gear and the issued clothing. I have heard that later in the summer it'll warm up and you can wear shorts when heading to the gym. Other issued clothing and gear is work clothing that is usually pretty heavy duty, may be insulated, and can be particular to the job you are doing on the ice. These items are loaned to you for the duration of your stay and then are returned.

Some of the general gear that I have is:

Insulated Carhartt Parka

Insulated Carhartt Jacket and Coveralls

Wind Jacket (Shell)

Balaclava

Leather Gloves

Ski Gloves

Glove Liners

Wool Socks

Blue FDX Boots

Observation on the People - a lot of facial hair on the guys (beards, 'staches) and long hair. Ha - one way that I'll fit in (at least with the long hair, not so much the facial hair). Because everyone is issued the same type of gear, it makes it a lot harder to determine who is who, especially outside. Even when people wear their own things, its always some technical patagonia, north face, and/or mountain hardwear gear that doesn't really help with distinguishing anybody. Ratio is probably 3:1 - guys to girls, there are a large range of ages from one kid I met that is 19 (although most are older) to people that are easily in their 50s. At the peak, there is approximately ~1100 people at McMurdo Station with ~75% of them support staff and the rest researchers.

Day 4

Some of the activities that I've done on station so far (besides work)- is gone to "Gerbil Gym" (treadmills, stationary bikes, etc.), weight room (free weights and machines), and the climbing wall, and participated in pick-up basketball and a yoga class. There seems to be quite a lot of activities going on, but there is also a lot of free time b/c you don't have to spend much time cooking or cleaning and there are limited places to travel to. Just found out today too that you can check out up to two dvd movies from the store for free to watch on your computer.



But, actually the best activity so far was a hike that I did tonite around midnight with a couple of fellas I met up to what I believe is Observation Point. It was a 25 minute hike from my dorm and had a beautiful lookout over McMurdo Station, the New Zealand (Kiwi) Station (also called Scotts Base), Mount Erebus (an active volcano), and the mountain ranges to the Southwest. The cross in the picture is the memorial cross constructed of Australian jarrah, dedicated to Robert Cross and his polar party.

Finally!

October 9, 2009

Arrival

After about a week of orientations, trainings, briefings, some downtime, checkpoints, layovers, and flights - FINALLY arrived at Antarctica, also known as the ice.

Flight pattern:
Departed 10/3 and Arrived 10/9
San Diego, USA - Denver, USA - Los Angeles, USA - Sydney, AUS - Christchurch, NZ - McMurdo Station, Antartica

Interesting note: Actually landed on the ice shelf and not on land, so technically didn't actually arrive on Antarctica until some time into the 45-minute ride to McMurdo station. It was -30 degrees on arrival.

First Oh-yeah-I'm-in-Antartica Experience

On the flight down, we flew in this massive C-170 US Air Force Plane. My first experience on the ice took place on the plane: with 45 minutes left until landing, the flight crew announced that anyone who needed to use the lavoratory should use it now. Now, on this plane there was only one lavoratory for approximately 100 people and since the time it was allowed to use the lavoratory, there had been a constant line of 3-15 people. So at this last call, immediately a long line formed and I decided to wait until it dwindled down to try and urinate one last time (I didn't need to go that bad at this time). Anyways, the line dwindled but before I could get up and go, the air crew announced that everyone needed to be in there seats with seatbelts fastened. So I just decided to hold it, thinking there was 15 minutes left on the flight. But when they announced 5 minutes later that there was 25 minutes left I started to get antsy and was worried I wouldn't be able to hold it. So I asked a crew member if I could use the lavatory and he said I'd have to wait. Anyways once we landed and had finished taxiing, I beelined for lavoratory and made it. As I was urinating - I noticed that I was peeing onto a little frozen toilet water lake. It didn't even melt with my urine. So that was my first on ice experience.

Arrival (continued)

First Thought on arrival: Wow! Really have No Words though. Part of me is just relieved to finally have made it, other part is just trying to orient myself. Very picturesque. I snapped a few photos right after landing, but then my hands got really, really cold - especially my fingers. May not take as many photos as I would like until later in the summer, when it warms up a little more.

Definitely a different feeling being somewhere where you are completely new, don't really know too many people, don't know where anything is, not sure how everything works.

Really reminds of freshmen year in college: dorm, cafeteria, community-life, different social scenes, etc.

My second Oh-yeah-I'm-in-Antartica experience - after yet another orientation and briefing, grabbing my bags, picking up my dorm keys, picking up my linens, and then having dinner in the cafeteria I went to my room to unpack. At 8:30 pm I went to meet some coworkers at a place called the coffeehouse that was having open mic nite and serves coffee, whiskey, wine, and Baileys. As I walked out of the building I was expecting darkness, but yet it was light outside - which I know happens, but I just unconciously was expecting darkness. So far it seems to be kind of an overcast late morning light all day.