Life Around Town

Today is Con 2 in town, and Con 1 everywhere else.  15 F, Windchill -10, winds gusting to 52 knots.  This is day two of this and has meant a second day off with no Helos flying.  We'll pay for it on the other end when we start catching up all the missions we've had to put off.  Going to watch a band tonight at the coffee house (Con Fun is their name) and head to bed to hit the workout facilities in the morning.  There's a band room with amps, guitars, mics, keyboards etc.  This place has it all, its not quite like Scott and Shackleton had it down here.  We celebrated Halloween here the other day.  You see some pretty amazing costumes with no limit to the creativity but a premium on supplies.  There'll be a few pics below.  Some new video posted below too.  Mt Erebus caldera with a brief glimpse of the lava lake (black, steaming maw of death),   some glacial shots of the dry valleys (the oldest exposed ice in the world), and a trip into the Observation or Ob tube.  Went ice fishing for science last week with some folks studying the antifreeze properties of the fish in the area.  We had some luck.  Wasn't much different than the days I used to fish for perch, blue gill, and crappie on muskrat lake with grandpa.  Only here, seals pop up in your fishing hole.  Speaking of seals, a poor girl we were flying to different projects was tagging seals and got rolled over on.  Tore here knee up and ended her season here.  Funny in hindsight I guess, and a comic strip was posted about it.  Got to watch out for all sorts of strange things down here.  Including the last unicorn.  No the purple dress isn't me.  He's a professional mt. climber/guide from Denali who will be doing the South Pole traverse this year.

The Conditions

Currently we're in condition All Black.  There is some excitement regarding rugby, and that the New Zealand team, the "All Blacks" took the world cup vs the French (the Blues I believe).  Congrats to them.  The Kiwis here are rather stoked on this fact and I get to see just how much as they belittle and berate my French pilot Flo.  I don't think he really gives a shit, but they get him anyways. 

So the definitions of condition ratings is as follows:

Con 3 (Nice outside)

• Winds less than 48 knots, and
• Visibility greater than or equal to ¼ mile, and
• Wind chill temperature warmer than -75°F.

Con 2 (Not so nice outside)

• Winds 48 to 55 knots sustained for one minute, or
• Visibility less than ¼ mile, but greater than or equal to 100 feet sustained for one minute, or
• Wind chill -75°F to -100°F sustained for one minute.

Con 1 (Your ass better be inside)

• Winds greater than 55 knots sustained for one minute, or
• Visibility less than 100 feet sustained for one minute, or
• Wind chill greater than -100°F sustained for one minute.

I've only seen Con 3 and 2 so far.  Summer is coming here, up to 3 F this afternoon with light winds, so may not see Con 1, but never can tell. 

News here is that first load of folks went to the south pole today to open up for the season.  Its prob -40 F there right now.  Always real cold there.  Up at 9'000', but pressure altitude is closer to 11'000.  Playing some music.  I have a jam with some fellas tonight.  Doing some sewing and making a costume for Halloween.  Hard to explain what it its.  Kinda 80's pro wrestling thing.  Lifes good here.  Had an amazing day flying Saturday.  Pics and videos to come. 

This is serious...

Well, said I'd do it, n' I'm doin' it.  The blog.  I thought for a minute about doing the Facebook thing and thought better of it when I realized what it would mean when I was found after years of queries and invites to join.  No way.  I don't even know at this point who I don't want to find me, but I don't want em to find me.  So its this, and if you're reading it you were probably invited.  Hope this proves to be a good link to my friends and family interested in this place what, goes on down here in the name of science, and what experiments I am personally conducting.

I'll start basic and slow, and with any luck I'll provide some pics, video, maybe some music and prose, but a journal like thing that even I will be glad I made.  Check out www.usap.gov for more info and a web cam to see the current view and how nice it is here.

Arrived New Zealand Oct 3.  A 2.5 hr drive McCall, ID to BOI, 3 hr plane to LAX, 9 hr layover, 12 hr plane to Auckland, NZ, 2 hr plane to Christchurch, NZ.  Gear issue, overnight in Christchurch, 6 hr C-17 flight on the biggest damn plane I've ever seen.  Planes, helos, trucks all fit in this thing.  Fat like a guppy, and me in its belly over the sea, ice and eventually a landing on the sea ice in McMurdo sound at the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf.  A warm day compared to what I've seen since at around 2 deg F.  Several days to get settled, lots of training, and lots of jet lag and acclimation (physical and social) to deal with.

I've worked the helicopters for a while but this is something else.  The temps, the tempo, the terra firma, and the terra not so firma  are something to behold.  Rigging loads I would have never imagined.  Learning a lot and meeting some incredible folks.  Scientists, divers, drivers, pilots, professors, tradesmen, and all sorts of other supporting persons.  Full community here.  1,100 workers this season to make this thing happen for the United States.  Kiwi base is only a short distance from here on this island but only 34 people there.  US presence is the largest.  Tracked vehicles, huge wheeled vehicles, snow machines, forklifts, heavy equipment, ATVs, helicopters, fixed wing aircraft, trucks, vans, fire trucks.

Happy camper meant survival training in below 0 temps and lower wind chill in survival structures, tents, whatever for nearly 48 hours.  Sea Ice training meant going out on the sea ice to test cracks and general sea ice thickness and condition for safe travel.  Drills, depth measurements and you better believe your ECW gear.  Thats short for extreme cold weather gear.  It was -20 ambient temp but the wind was sustaining 20 to 30 mph and gusting more.  I don't know where that put the wind chill, but it was serious.  All that stuff you've heard about exposed skin in those conditions comes the closest to all the warnings you get in winter I've ever seen.  10 to 15 seconds with a glove off and you're a hurtn' unit.  If you left it off for a minute, the hand wouldn't work, probably damaged.  Permanently.  The wind is the issue.  It bites, it gnaws, it gnashes its teeth and gets through enough clothing to build a mongolian yurt from unless you've got a windproof layer over it all.  It seems to all come down to the wind.  There was another cold day just the day before yesterday.  Real cold.  I've noticed there aren't random thermometers around.  In fact I haven't seen one yet.  No one cares.  Fact is, its cold as shit outside.  All we care about is weather it's condition 3, 2, or 1.  I'll explain that.  Condition 3 is nice.  Like right now its con 3, its -4 with a wind chill of -15 winds are calm.  I'll give more info on the conditions and their parameters another time.  More on the job later too.

Lets see, about the rest.  Food's good, there're bars, coffee house, gym facilities, craft room, labs, equipment issue places, internet, auto shops, paint shops, airstrips (on the ice), a store, movie rental, housing dept, fire dept, welding shop, carpentry shop, REI type place called the BFC (some guy's name, but we call it building full of chicks)  sewing machines, gear borrow/rental with music instruments, skis and other things.  All sorts of sports, a ski tow rope on the Kiwi side (must get invited) and much more.  A big operation, and all to maintain higher morale than Shackelton, Scott (whose was so low he died), or Aemundson had in the name of science.  Well thats all I can take for now.  Feel free to write, I'll get back to you when I can.  Wish you all well from the bottom of the earth,
McMurdo Station, Ross Island, Antarctica.