Hello all! I didn't think that I could do worse than last year on the blogging, but I was wrong. But, here to make up for it am I with an update for these pictures after nearly three months on the ice. A quick summary of the season so far, and hopefully we'll do better on the upcoming posts.
Laurel and I are both here this winter (Austral Summer) and having a good time. We haven't taken too many pictures together, but we live together here and get out to do quite a few things together. Laurel works in the fuels department and keeps this place running for the most part. Her group is responsible for keeping our helos fuelled up, the fixed wing runway gased up, all the other tanks, pipelines and fuel reservoirs full, and fuel moving smoothly between them all. She's gotten to go ice fishing, ice drilling, skiing on the ice shelf and the sea ice, ice walking to look at pressure ridges and seal watching. She's seen penguins and skua, giant weather balloons, gone on helo rides and been to an Antarctic field camp. So all in all, she's had a pretty good first season, and seeing quite a bit. She hasn't taken a lot of pictures of all of these things, so you'll have to use your imagination.
I've been having a great season, seeing and going to lots of places I haven't been before. Some projects have been visited before, but this place is so beautiful you could keep going back. Laurel and I ran a 5k and a 10k race together, went on a half marathon length skate ski on a beautiful sunny day, and go to yoga together 3 days a week with some other workout sessions when we can fit them in. I've been real busy with music this year. Open mic every other Thursday for me and my original music along with some of the folk, country, blues, and indie covers I do. The big project has been my 80's hair band Pink Torpedo. We've been doing covers of Motle Crue, Scorpions, Guns n' Roses, Bon Jovi et al. Its been a pretty big hit around here as everything has a great dance beat and we get the audience to get into 80's costume with us. Pretty fun. Some of the show's attendances top 200 people. Icestock will probably bring in half the station or 400-500 people. Ive been hands on helping with science more this year. I've been installing gps units, digging, chipping, and moving ice, helping with weather stations, catching fish, taking measurements and weights of samples, helping install communications equipment, helping to spot penguins, whales and seals, and collecting lots of rock samples and fossils from all the mt tops and hillsides we go to.I'll put captions next to the pics below for some specific info. Feel free to hit us up with any questions, we'd love to answer them when we can. Enjoy! Matt and Laurel
Byrd Glacier work here. This glacier moves about a half mile per year, is 3000' thick and 20 miles across where we are in the above picture. Here we're securing the over-winter gps and weather unit for the summer season. Removed several batteries too due to increased solar input during long days.
Pilot Ryan Skorecki in the background and 6 time Everest summit reaching guide Mike Roberts of New Zealand in the foreground.
Hard to believe this is the surface of a glacier when you're standing there. Some of these features are 50 ' tall.
This crevasse was found a few feet from our helicopter and was at least 30-40' deep, and wide enough to swallow you.
This photo shows numerous "snow bridged" crevasses. Some much larger than the helicopter.
Here's a video of Ryan coming in on the approach for the Byrd gps site.
An emperor near Big Razorback island with the Mt. Erebus cone venting some steam in the background.
Erebus is an active volcano that occasionally emits pyroclastic bombs with crystals attached. These "Erebus Crystals" are only found here and in one other known volcano area in the world. There is also a lava lake in the bottom of the cone that you can see if you're lucky on a clear calm day. I'll attach a video of the lake in another post.
These are some pics of "Step Out" training. That's me on the skid directing traffic and "spotting" people, delivering and receiving gear from the helo to the search and rescue team. We would possibly use this as a means to deliver search and rescue personnel and equipment in the event that we couldn't land to help someone.
In this pic, we've come back to pick up the SAR team and the litter with a packaged patient in it. My job is to stay in communication with the pilots and the SAR team to position the helicopter such that we can load and unload everyone in a safe manner. I'm tethered to the inside of the helo, and am also hooked up to a comms box via my flight helmet. We use a standardised set of commands for checking my harness and attachment, opening the door, moving to the skid, getting into position for personnel delivery, and delivering and receiving the team and gear. Pretty fun training.
Mt. Erebus (the active volcano of Ross Island) and the Royal Society Range in the far backdrop.
Atop Mt. Terror's summit at 3362 m. Had to make the summit after the effort of dragging a 240lb repeater box a quarter mile to the saddle adjacent to the summit. Cape Crozier and the Ross Ice Shelf visible in the backdrop. Cape Crozier is home to the largest Adelie penguin rookerie in the world.
Laurel and I at hut point, site of Falcon Scott's Discovery hut built in 1902. Weddell seals in the background.
Fishing for science at Cape Evans Wall with Mouse, Rich and Dan Hassumani. What a great day! Thanks Dan! Reminded me of ice fishing with my gramps and pappy back home in Michigan.
Here I've caught 2 Pagothenia borchgrevinki or "Borks" on one hook. I'll bet one tried to rob the other. Its a harsh continent, the ocean around it probably isn't any more forgiving. We caught 52 fish on this trip, the most the scientist taking us out had ever caught in one trip.
Weighing and measuring some of the catch to record the data. "Bernies" and "Borks" in this view.
This is an Antarctic Toothfish or Mawsoni. Caught at about 400-500 meters deep, it preys on fish and is a favorite food of weddell seals and killer whales. This one is about 5 ft long and weighed about 120 lbs. These fish have been used to progress research and understanding of cold water fishes, heart function (their hearts beat about once every 6 sec) and predator/prey relationships in Antarctic waters.
Laurel and Marshell (fellow helo tech) and I skiing on the ice road (on McMurdo Sound) with Observation Hill and Mt Erebus in the background.
