y-core: October 2010

Saturday, October 16, 2010

So...this is my first post of pictures or anything and all since I've been down on the ice (or Antarctica for the mis- or uninformed). Been here since about August 27th. Been goin' well. Works been great and its definitely a little different being down here the second time around. I still have my head up my ass, but it's only half way up there now- Basically I know a little more than last time and that makes work and life a whole lot smoother and easier - i.e., who people are, how things work, who to talk to, who not to talk to, where to go, where things are, etc.

It was a lot colder during August-September... and it actually got dark during certain parts of the day. That was part of the draw for me coming back early was to see the darkness and try and catch some of the southern lights. Also another part of the draw was that I worked for all of September in another capacity as part of the BFC before going back to the job as an environmental technician that I worked at during all of last season. The BFC is basically the REI of the program. It supplies, stores, repairs, examines, and tracks all the gear that is used by the scientists and people going out in the field. This includes but is not limited to tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, GPSs, thermometers, ice drills, climbing gear, ropes, kitchen appliances and utensils, stoves, water jugs, chairs, tables, heaters, sleds, tools, etc., etc., etc... All the gear is prepped (washed, cleaned, repaired, checked) before it is deemed "RFI" or ready for issue. I got to learn to sew a little! And I got to see how things worked on a different end. There is a lot of work in prepping for all the different science groups and what they need and the type of gear the works well in the environment down here.

Enough of my babbling.

Here's some pictures:

The Logo- United States Antarctic Program - National Science Foundation
Location: Christchurch, NZ. Check-in Terminal for flight to the Ice.

The following pictures are the types of clothing they issue to everyone in Christchurch. Our so-called ECW or Extreme Cold Weather Gear. We have to wear this or have it with us during the flight and once on Ice during any inter-continent travel off established roads.

Gear Picture 1 of 4. Typically everyone gets the "Big Red" on the left. But I have the brown Carhartt Parka instead as well as a brown Carhartt Jacket (same as the black one, but brown) and brown Carhartt overalls.

Gear Picture 2 of 4.

Gear Picture 3 of 4. The Gauntlet Mittens (aka Bear Paws) are pretty awesome. They are hard to use to do work with your hands but they are big, cover your wrists well, are easy to put, and are pretty warm.

Gear Picture 4 of 4. I have the blue FDX boots. They are really warm because of the insoles and the inner sock that you wear, but they are a pain to walk around in, if you are walking a lot.

The following pictures are from the C-17 that we flew in from Christchurch, NZ to McMurdo Station, Antarctica:

Inside of the C-17 with gear on air force pallets separating the row of seats on each side of the plane. Notice the ECW gear we are wearing.

View of Antarctica from the plane window. We were lucky to have non-cloudy weather to get good views.

The same as above... Super scenic.

The C-17. The flight to Antarctica from Christchurch, NZ on the C-17 typically takes 5 hours. My trip to Antarctica took 15 brutal hours. We flew out early in the morn and got to McMurdo station (5-hour flight), but the weather was slightly foggy when we arrived and we immediately turned around or "boomeranged" back to Christchurch. This is a somewhat of a common occurence, but we found out afterwards that the weather was actually pretty nice- I think there was miscommunication or something and/or the weather was just foggy for a short 5-minutes, who knows, but anyways we didn't land and we turned back (+5 hours). So usually when you return to NZ, you are sent back to the hotel in Christchurch and then try again the next day... but we did not. They put us back on the plane after we got off for maybe an hour (while they refueled and changed crews) and then we were off again (+5 hours). We landed this time, but that was after 15 hours of flying. We arrived at midnight and were in town at McMurdo Station at 1 AM. It was a brutal day. What made it a little more frustrating was that they didn't even tell us of their plan to fly out again that same day until we were off the plane, even though they knew that was the plan... I'm not sure if they have ever flown people twice in a day. No one had heard of it... There has been groups of people that have boomeranged mutilple times before arriving in Antarctica, but always have only flown out once per day.

Polar Stratospheric Clouds or Nacreous Clouds. Only seen in certain parts of the world during the correct conditions.... Wikipedia it for more info.

Aurora Australis - Southern Lights. I had to hike up to the top of Observation Hill in McMurdo to get out of some of the wash from the lights in town. Although, there was still some wash, I was able to get some good view of the southern lights... this was taken with a long shutter speed.