The last weeks of my contract were everything I could have asked for. They were filled with drawn out goodbyes of people who had redeployment dates before mine. There was this weird surge of new faces taking over jobs for winter and workers brought in to unload the supply vessel. Last hurrays at the bars before they shut down for the summer season.
The best part of being one of the last flights to go was getting the feeling of solitude. On my last night I roamed the hallways which were very quite at that point. I ended up finding the few people who were left that I knew and spent the night hanging out and being goofy. At midnight a small group of us climbed Ob Hill one last time to witness my first Antarctic sunset, and most likely sunrise as at that point there was probably only a half hour between the two events. The glow of purple and red from the Royal Society Mountains hiding the sun bounced off every white surface creating a landscape of rich color for the first time. It was epic.
The next day brought a slow march to the runway after a morning of finding people and saying goodbye. Once we climbed into the C17 and strapped ourselves into the sides of the big cargo space it was extremely bitter sweet to feel the plane take off away from the ice.
Met in Christchurch by a dark, warm, stormy night, the only thing I could think of was how great the last months had been and how much I ended up loving the simple lifestyle and tumultuous job. The biggest thought I had was similar to the one people have the moment they get off their first roller coaster and love it, "I WANNA GO AGAIN!!!"
With a redeployment schedule of a lazy two months in Australia and SE Asia before heading home, I can only reflect on the work and hard living as the best time to date I have ever had. With my resume and applications already sent in for next year, all I can do is wait and hope that luck will find me going back for another season of no-privacy, cracked skin, long work day, totally isolated living. Can't wait!
Chris
Monday, March 12, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
West Antarctic Ice Shelf
WAIS Divide is a field camp about a thousand miles away from McMurdo. The flight there takes three and a half hours in a Herc military plane that is made to store pallets and cargo, people being strapped to the sides on net seats. The flight is similar to a flight from Florida to New York, if the two had nothing else in between. A little over a mile in elevation, WAIS is a research camp that studies ice core samples for age, gas, and climate change. These facts are then applied to current climate conditions to gage the effects of global warming all over the planet.
When you arrive at WAIS you will need to be wearing full ECW gear. While McMurdo experiences warm temperatures in the 30's, the same time of year leaves WAIS around 0. With the barren expanse of flat windblown snow drifts and nothing else for as far as the eye can see, be sure to prepare for wind sheers reaching -45.
You will be welcomed when you get off the plane by ten to twenty people all there smiling and waving. You won't know half of them, but as they spend three months here together in isolation, watching the planes land and welcoming people to camp becomes the social event of the week. If you are one who shies away at new social groups, go into one of the five or six outhouses for some helpful tips. The locals have covered the walls with wonderful pieces of advice which will get you through your pitfalls with some wisdom, or at least a hint of empathy.
"Big Trubs"
When you arrive at WAIS you will need to be wearing full ECW gear. While McMurdo experiences warm temperatures in the 30's, the same time of year leaves WAIS around 0. With the barren expanse of flat windblown snow drifts and nothing else for as far as the eye can see, be sure to prepare for wind sheers reaching -45.
You will be welcomed when you get off the plane by ten to twenty people all there smiling and waving. You won't know half of them, but as they spend three months here together in isolation, watching the planes land and welcoming people to camp becomes the social event of the week. If you are one who shies away at new social groups, go into one of the five or six outhouses for some helpful tips. The locals have covered the walls with wonderful pieces of advice which will get you through your pitfalls with some wisdom, or at least a hint of empathy.
"By keeping it light the heavy can be handled"
If you've been scrubbing dishes, mopping floors, and putting out food for eleven hours a day like myself, you will be ready to jump into the galley and get the job rolling. You then may be shocked to hear things like "9 to 6" and "Take a break whenever you need one." The proper response to this is of course two days of asking if there really is nothing else you can be doing until you finally get the hint and relax. Dishes, garbage, and floors are taken care of by the house mice, or town people, every meal and the only duties you really have are clean the pots and shovel snow.
"Kissing is like drinking salted water,
The more you have it
The thirstier you become."
"When I drink salty water I get diarrhea."
Shoveling snow will turn out to be much more important than just keeping your tent from caving in. "Clean snow" will be bulldozed up from the outer areas of camp. You then shovel snow into a clean large garbage bin and drag it to the door and inside where it then needs to be lifted up and poured into a melting tub. Once the three or four loads it takes to top the tub off are in then you can pump water into the holding tank that feeds into the sinks, showers, and dish steamer. If showers or laundry are available, you must first add the necessary amount of snow to run the processes. If you don't come out of this experience with a new appreciation for water conservation, as well as weight lifting, you've done it wrong.
"Sex at Noon Taxes"
Although you are doing the same job that you are beginning to hate a little more each day, it is important to focus on the positive. For example, being in a portable kitchen no bigger than one in a house leaves you cleaning pots and pans the size of normal pots and pans. No more 50lbs industrial mixing bowls here, just the usual sized with a regular sink and even a window to gaze out of. The kitchen staff will be you, Russ'el, Rosemary, and Kody, three very amazing cooks who are capable of producing options that will cause you to gain 5lbs in nine days.
"A mind is a terrible thing to WAIS"
While you are breaking and trying not to get on the cooks' nerves by offering more help, take some time to enjoy the galley tent. It's about 40ft long and attached to the kitchen mod. Here you can relax at the red and white checkered tables, drink tea, and have one of the many snack options of the day. Read, zone out, or chat with other's coming in to warm up by the stove heaters. If you're feeling more active, the crescent moon tent supports are good for climbing from the floor, up, across and back to the other side. Exercises that keeps the mind invested.
"Sexual frustration graph project-
Please initial appropriate week and level"
If you are lucky you could get a tour of the science facility here. The Arch was built in 2006 on the surface of the ice. In 2012 it is now so buried by snow drifts that one can drive heavy machinery over it. Walking down a steep ice slope gets you to the door that opens up into a giant frozen underground bunker. It is the closest I'll ever get to being on Hoth. A lofty bright metal arched ceiling running the length of an air bunker, The Arch is a frozen lab complete with a 30ft crevasse cut out of the floor into the ice below. The drill here is one complicated piece of equipment taking days to get down into the ice to pull out samples dating back into 1600's. They then take a look at the pressure lines and bubbles in the ice. Since the ice is porous, the ice itself is from the colonization of America, while the air dates back to the Industrial Revolution. The sample shows spikes in methane and carbon dioxide, which is recorded and then put in to use as data for aging other ice samples around the world. The facility, buried under heaps of snow, is still refrigerated to keep the samples as cold as possible and ice and frost hang from most surfaces.
"Someday an archaeologist is going to be excavating this shit
hole and find my sunglasses and wonder 'what the fuck?'"
Another science excursion you can take is going out to the snow trench. A hole carved just over two meters deep, squared off with chainsaws and covered with plywood. Then about a foot on the other side of the hole pits are dug to let in light. This creates a glowing blue room under the surface that lets in enough light to observe the patterns of snow fall for years at a time. Like looking at sediment, you can see the effect the environment had on the surface and where abnormal patterns occur. As you get lower, the snow compacts and becomes bluer, denser, and one more step closer to solid ice.
"Haiku's are awesome
Sometimes they do not make sense
Refrigerator "
After seeing the snow trench you can take a walk out to where the practice ice core samples are discarded. Then, as is custom at WAIS, play baseball with 400yo ice sticks. After exploding a few centuries of natural history load up the snowmobiles and the sleds they pull that you rode in on with more samples to carve into ice shot glasses for later that night. The ride back, much like tubing behind a speed boat, may get a little dull staring at snow going by at high speeds. If there are two ski doos pulling people on sleds, make a fun high speed snowball fight out of it, sled vs sled.
"This place smells like heaven"
There are weird mythical situations that happen out in the middle of the ice. A pink unicorn trafficking in military planes was the first sign that I wasn't in reality anymore. Fog in this kind of climate is really just ice crystals blowing in the wind. They're a tween's dream. Glittery flecks of ice making everything sparkle. To add to it the ice in the air created sun dogs, which are full rainbows that circle the sun. If you're lucky you get a light pillar from these which turn the sky into a giant bright keyhole, with a bright beam of light hitting the horizon.
"It’s hard to soar with the eagles when you work for turkeys"
Once the day is over and dinner is served it's time for some r&r. While McMurdo's big city life may include internet, the bar scene, and socializing with everyone, WAIS Divide finds different ways to let off steam. B movies projected for the galley to watch while other's play hearts, cribbage, or board games is a common night. On the more spirited evenings ice cups full of Jameson and Glenlivet are passed around before competitions like getting over, under, and back on a table without touching the floor begin. This would also be the night tent support climbing can be witnessed. If the galley doesn't suit, the medical mod is always a great place for sitting around as a group of twenty something and singing along to acoustic versions of "Hey Ya" played by Russ'el on his guitar and going around and making up song lyrics for a run on story about squirrels. Because of hard work and full stomachs, the group usually taps out by eleven.
"Remember it’s better to pee in your water bottle than drink
from your pee bottle"
Going to bed includes a march to Tent City and deciphering which yellow tent out of thirty was yours. It may take some time, but you get the hang of it. Shovel your tent out of the snow that has drifted around it as the day has progressed and get into three layers of clothes, a fleece bag, and then into the -40 sleeping bag. Make sure you've peed at the peegloo built as a urinal. If sharp flakes of ice whipping at your scrotum in below freezing wind doesn't appeal, there's always sitting in the outhouse, no standing allowed. The sun will be glowing through the tent, but if you burrow down enough in your bag it won't matter. You'll want to anyway, your nose will be cold.
"How do you enjoy your morning constitution with a -20 breeze
blowing up your ass?"
When you wake up everything will seem darker. It will also be louder because the wind from Con 2 conditions will be blowing the crap out of your tent and smacking it with snow. With 1/8 a mile visibility and 25knot winds it is acceptable to sleep in and wait it out for better, safer weather. When you get to the point where both the full pee bottle and water bottle are solid ice and your stomach starts rolling from hunger you should muster the motivation to pull yourself out of the layers of warmth and put on the cold coveralls, jacket, pairs of gloves, bunny boots, gator, hat, and goggles to venture out. If you are prepared with no skin showing it feels pretty warm, but that doesn't stop you from having to kick your way out of the wall of snow that has built up around your tent and crawl out of the small opening trying not to let a mound of ice fall in.
"Experience is not what happens to a man; it’s what a man
does with what happens to him…"
Once you get to the galley tent everyone has accumulated in you play the cabin fever game. There are only so many card games and old magazines that can hold you over till you suit up and make it a point to visit every outhouse in camp and write down your favorite one liners. It's also a good time to really experience what Antarctica has to offer in terms of severe weather, and what the NSF has to offer for warm clothes. Put the clothes to the test and you'll be impressed.
"The boat may be a confined space but from it the horizon is
endless…
WAIS may be a confined space but from it… you can’t get
anywhere Jack."
If you're as lucky as me, your Antarctic vacation will be prolonged due to two days of severe weather and you'll have a few more days with really great people in a really positive atmosphere.
"A good listener is not only popular with everyone, but after
a while actually knows something."
I was really impressed with the leadership and how much the camp respected the director and manager. The group as a whole wasn't fed up with each other but totally at peace with living day to day and maybe not getting out of there for weeks. Scheduled to get out this week, sixteen people flew back with me. The entire place should be shut down and packed away by the end of the week and it was impressive to see how efficient they were at making thing disappear around us. Really happy I had this opportunity I brought back ice core samples to share at the bar with the rest of the DA's, including some from the Taylor glacier that are 120,000 yo. Pam, I think that counts as old ice with my drink.
Until next time,
Chris
A few more of my favorites sharing the experience of sitting over a deep hole in the ice:
"Don’t touch the seat with your dick
You may be sorry because it’ll stick"
"I have a dream and this isn’t it."
"Shitting on this awful ice sheet
I freeze my ass to
the seat
Though I have work to do
I’m stuck atop all this poo
Gazing ruefully down at my feet"
"It’s so cold,
I haven’t seen my balls in days
I hope they are still there"
"Spell PIG backward and say funny"
"I am worried… for I fear I may have shat my lower intestine
into this awful abyss"
"Here I sit all broken hearted, came to shit but only farted"
"Here I sit all broken hearted, came to shit but only farted"
"Mother Nature may we call a truce?
I’m here trying to have a duce
But the wind you send swirling
Has all my toes curling
And it won’t let my sphincter be loose"
"Field Camp Janos!
Scrubbing frozen feces with a smile since 2011"
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Thirteen Miles and Counting
I ran my first half marathon today, two hours and thirteen minutes. The course for the marathon was from Scott base to mile marker 14 on the ice shelf and back. There were full and half marathoners for both running and skiing. The half marathon people were taxied out to the air strip (14 miles out) and started at the turn around point. I ran with one of my friends who just got back from three months at field camp. We kicked ass and stayed away, for the most part, from the temptations at each rest stop. The first had Kahlua and coffee, second had brats and beer, and the third Jack Daniels and port wine. I only had a beer with a frozen snickers, which neither were pre-cooled seeing as it was about 17 degrees out today.
Overall it was a BLAST! Getting out there where everything is flat and solid scared me at first because of the supposed monotony of the scenery. Luckily we had a clear day and could see the mountain ranges around us. I'd like to thank The Rolling Stones, Derrick Scott III and the A218 Band, Alanis Morissette, Tenacious D, and all the other artists that kept me from slowing to a walk or letting my mind get bored and lose the push to finish. Unfortunately the adelie penguins did not show up to follow the movement like they did last year, crossing the finish line with runners. No shows aside, it was still awesome to cheer on others and have a great sense of camaraderie during the whole thing.
My turn at field camp has arrived! I am set to go to WAIS Divide tomorrow morning and come back in a week. I've packed all of my ECW gear and done my bag drag so all I have to do now is wake up and make it on the plane. Excited to get a vacation away from the "big city" and all that comes with it.
I will miss working as a bartender for a while. I've been picking up a lot of shifts lately and have started getting creative. Along with shots and mixers, as a bartender we are allowed to bring in some of our own stuff and make custom drinks. these usually are very popular as people aren't used to the option and at this point are craving anything fancy, meaning wine out of a glass instead of a plastic cup.
Here are three great drink options you can find in Antarctica:
Thai Tini
Vanilla beans, black tea, anise, and cinnamon brewed together
Add tea to condensed milk, heavy cream, and a heap of sugar
Shake well with a shot of vodka and ice, serve in a martini glass
Bell Pepper Margarita (inspired by Seattle experience)
1/4 red bell pepper cut into thin slits
Muddle pepper with half a lime and add tequila shot and shake with ice
Serve on the rocks with a splash of club soda
Beef Blood Jello Shots (not yet sold, still testing it out)
Cherry Jello with a pan of beef blood added while still hot
Vodka (or whatever) added and let cool
Texture will be creamier, but taste will remain cherry (enjoy the extra protein)
Will be sure to come back with stories from field camp and life off of the island and on the actual continent.
Till next time,
Chris
Overall it was a BLAST! Getting out there where everything is flat and solid scared me at first because of the supposed monotony of the scenery. Luckily we had a clear day and could see the mountain ranges around us. I'd like to thank The Rolling Stones, Derrick Scott III and the A218 Band, Alanis Morissette, Tenacious D, and all the other artists that kept me from slowing to a walk or letting my mind get bored and lose the push to finish. Unfortunately the adelie penguins did not show up to follow the movement like they did last year, crossing the finish line with runners. No shows aside, it was still awesome to cheer on others and have a great sense of camaraderie during the whole thing.
My turn at field camp has arrived! I am set to go to WAIS Divide tomorrow morning and come back in a week. I've packed all of my ECW gear and done my bag drag so all I have to do now is wake up and make it on the plane. Excited to get a vacation away from the "big city" and all that comes with it.
I will miss working as a bartender for a while. I've been picking up a lot of shifts lately and have started getting creative. Along with shots and mixers, as a bartender we are allowed to bring in some of our own stuff and make custom drinks. these usually are very popular as people aren't used to the option and at this point are craving anything fancy, meaning wine out of a glass instead of a plastic cup.
Here are three great drink options you can find in Antarctica:
Thai Tini
Vanilla beans, black tea, anise, and cinnamon brewed together
Add tea to condensed milk, heavy cream, and a heap of sugar
Shake well with a shot of vodka and ice, serve in a martini glass
Bell Pepper Margarita (inspired by Seattle experience)
1/4 red bell pepper cut into thin slits
Muddle pepper with half a lime and add tequila shot and shake with ice
Serve on the rocks with a splash of club soda
Beef Blood Jello Shots (not yet sold, still testing it out)
Cherry Jello with a pan of beef blood added while still hot
Vodka (or whatever) added and let cool
Texture will be creamier, but taste will remain cherry (enjoy the extra protein)
Will be sure to come back with stories from field camp and life off of the island and on the actual continent.
Till next time,
Chris
Thursday, January 12, 2012
It's A Harsh Continent
When you first get here all the training videos and posters start by reminding the watchers and readers that "Antarctica is a harsh continent....." It's usually followed by how the climate and landscape can kill you in about thirty different ways and one little f-up could be it for you. Up until now the worst things I've been aware of are leg injuries. One from a slip and fall and one from a seal rolling over on a girl's leg. Talk about strength through mass.
At this point to say the galley staff is getting jaded and over it would be an understatement. The months of scrubbing pots, hearing people complain about the food, and LONG hours has caused us to adopt the catch frase from the safety videos. "You don't like the gluten free, vegetarian option? Tough shit, it's a harsh continent." "The music in the bar isn't what you and your drunk friend want to listen to? Harsh continent, get out m'office." "Paper cut...... Well it's a harsh continent isn't it?"
It's this status quo that makes us all live in a state of whatever. We recently got six new DA's to replace the few that have dropped out or been changed over to prep cooks. It is nice to see someone with the enthusiasm we all had four months ago when it was all new and exciting. At this point the hikes have been memorized and the pictures of white have finally blurred together. When the new people ask us about what to do and where to go, it's hard to not say "Eh, I'd rather just watch a movie and have some down time." It is nice to say I've reached my goal of having monotony in Antarctica.
And to break that bland streak? Become part of the third top dodge ball team on the continent!!! We were so bad ass, five DA's and a salad chef went through five rounds before finally being knocked out of the competition by the Helo Tech team. They also went on to take down the Jano's to claim victory and take the title. It was crazy fun, competitive beer induced hilarity and I got out some aggression. Our team's uniform was some sort of short shorts or spandex and free dancing to the music while the match was going. While this may sound flamboyant, the helicopter pilots and technicians were the pink team so you can guess the general idea behind the majority of the team's uniforms. After the match we had to take a picture around the dignity trash bin and do celebratory shots and dance the night away.
While the harsh continent only offers so many food options, it has been known to provide very decadent moments of hedonistic gluttony. Example, the galley appreciation party in Hut 10. Two tubs of lobster tails and a mountain of rib eyes. The only stipulation was we had to cook them out selves, but we could eat as much as we wanted. I never thought of lobster tail as finger food, but by the fourth tail I had eaten like a chicken wing I was convinced the mini forks and shell crackers were just filler for fancy restaurants. Given the money it took to fly them down and store them for who knows how long, this will probably be the most expensive meal of my life.
If shellfish and steak doesn't do it for you, I recently had a porch picnic. Nine at night with clear blue skies and the sun hinting at setting (losing 15min of sunlight a day at this point, yet still no darkness) sitting on industrial grating and fifty y/o plastic chairs. We managed to procure three types of cheese (favorite being the aged Gouda), a truffle sausage, dark chocolate, a fresh peach and apple, loaf of bread and a bottle of Wilridge Barbara from Washington. Although it was about 33 degrees outside, in the sun it felt like sweatshirt weather and as we looked over the view of the ice shelf, mountains, and industrial fuel tanks I thought about how with the proper friends in low places and preparedness of bringing bottles with you, you can make a great night of it anywhere.
There are other great stories about good food here, but most include Cheetos packaged in 2006 and how no other vintage will ever hold a candle.
Now I said "until now" earlier. We were informed this morning that a Korean vessel near Palmer station caught fire. There were eight injured and a couple of deaths. The injured people are three thousand miles away and still being brought here because it is the closest place to get help. They are helicoptering them in to be stabilized and then going to medivac them off the continent. It's weird to think that being on the South American side of the continent still gets you a ticket to New Zealand if injured, but that is how few and far between our little towns are.
For now our redeployment meetings are over and decisions are needing to be made for travel after we leave. I'm still up in the air with solid plans, but with a month and a half to go it seems odd to be jumping the gun. In any case, I'll be sure to make at least safe decisions, if not fun one's.
Chris
At this point to say the galley staff is getting jaded and over it would be an understatement. The months of scrubbing pots, hearing people complain about the food, and LONG hours has caused us to adopt the catch frase from the safety videos. "You don't like the gluten free, vegetarian option? Tough shit, it's a harsh continent." "The music in the bar isn't what you and your drunk friend want to listen to? Harsh continent, get out m'office." "Paper cut...... Well it's a harsh continent isn't it?"
It's this status quo that makes us all live in a state of whatever. We recently got six new DA's to replace the few that have dropped out or been changed over to prep cooks. It is nice to see someone with the enthusiasm we all had four months ago when it was all new and exciting. At this point the hikes have been memorized and the pictures of white have finally blurred together. When the new people ask us about what to do and where to go, it's hard to not say "Eh, I'd rather just watch a movie and have some down time." It is nice to say I've reached my goal of having monotony in Antarctica.
And to break that bland streak? Become part of the third top dodge ball team on the continent!!! We were so bad ass, five DA's and a salad chef went through five rounds before finally being knocked out of the competition by the Helo Tech team. They also went on to take down the Jano's to claim victory and take the title. It was crazy fun, competitive beer induced hilarity and I got out some aggression. Our team's uniform was some sort of short shorts or spandex and free dancing to the music while the match was going. While this may sound flamboyant, the helicopter pilots and technicians were the pink team so you can guess the general idea behind the majority of the team's uniforms. After the match we had to take a picture around the dignity trash bin and do celebratory shots and dance the night away.
While the harsh continent only offers so many food options, it has been known to provide very decadent moments of hedonistic gluttony. Example, the galley appreciation party in Hut 10. Two tubs of lobster tails and a mountain of rib eyes. The only stipulation was we had to cook them out selves, but we could eat as much as we wanted. I never thought of lobster tail as finger food, but by the fourth tail I had eaten like a chicken wing I was convinced the mini forks and shell crackers were just filler for fancy restaurants. Given the money it took to fly them down and store them for who knows how long, this will probably be the most expensive meal of my life.
If shellfish and steak doesn't do it for you, I recently had a porch picnic. Nine at night with clear blue skies and the sun hinting at setting (losing 15min of sunlight a day at this point, yet still no darkness) sitting on industrial grating and fifty y/o plastic chairs. We managed to procure three types of cheese (favorite being the aged Gouda), a truffle sausage, dark chocolate, a fresh peach and apple, loaf of bread and a bottle of Wilridge Barbara from Washington. Although it was about 33 degrees outside, in the sun it felt like sweatshirt weather and as we looked over the view of the ice shelf, mountains, and industrial fuel tanks I thought about how with the proper friends in low places and preparedness of bringing bottles with you, you can make a great night of it anywhere.
There are other great stories about good food here, but most include Cheetos packaged in 2006 and how no other vintage will ever hold a candle.
Now I said "until now" earlier. We were informed this morning that a Korean vessel near Palmer station caught fire. There were eight injured and a couple of deaths. The injured people are three thousand miles away and still being brought here because it is the closest place to get help. They are helicoptering them in to be stabilized and then going to medivac them off the continent. It's weird to think that being on the South American side of the continent still gets you a ticket to New Zealand if injured, but that is how few and far between our little towns are.
For now our redeployment meetings are over and decisions are needing to be made for travel after we leave. I'm still up in the air with solid plans, but with a month and a half to go it seems odd to be jumping the gun. In any case, I'll be sure to make at least safe decisions, if not fun one's.
Chris
Friday, December 30, 2011
I'm There
There is a place where seals and penguins are common things. Where snow storms happen in the summer and glare from the ground burns the whites of your eyes. Butt cheeks get dry skin, and I'm there.
I'm at a place where thin beards and hairy pits are commitments. A place where overalls make you desirable and hiking boots are considered attractive. Where inhibitions drop with time regardless of how sober or perpetually drunk you are. It's a low standard paradise, and I'm there.
It's a place where people can get there cabin fever on. Where producing Freezing Man for Thanksgiving or MAAG for Christmas brings out the need to ride the giant seesaw or run on the human gerbil wheel. Where Under the Bed Gallery is really a mini art gallery under someones bed and Ice Stock brings in the New Year. A place where a round of whiskey slaps turns into an all bar slap/punch fest and no one hits out of anger, and I'm there.
This is a place that 34 degrees makes you sweat. A place that talking about the smell of moss causes folks to salivate. A place that produces enough free time having a drawn out conversation about the logistics of making a child that is 75% genetically yours doesn't seem ludicrous, but worth while.
This is a place where spending all day working with someone and eating every meal together still leaves you making plans with them for that night. A place where no matter how annoying or abrasive someone seems, you learn to love them because there are NO other options. It's a place that has equality the communists would be jealous of and the lack of materialism needed to take down Wal-Mart. Hippies would seem high maintenance, and I'm there.
Talking about a favorite bar in Beijing isn't one upping the other guy, because they've been there too. Bouncing off ideas of Siberia or Malaysia next isn't chatter, because they're thinking of going too. It's the realization that crazy is normal and "real life" is here and they all feel it too. It's a rolling stone's paradise, and I'm there.
Hope you all had a great holiday season and enjoy the new year!
Chris
I'm at a place where thin beards and hairy pits are commitments. A place where overalls make you desirable and hiking boots are considered attractive. Where inhibitions drop with time regardless of how sober or perpetually drunk you are. It's a low standard paradise, and I'm there.
It's a place where people can get there cabin fever on. Where producing Freezing Man for Thanksgiving or MAAG for Christmas brings out the need to ride the giant seesaw or run on the human gerbil wheel. Where Under the Bed Gallery is really a mini art gallery under someones bed and Ice Stock brings in the New Year. A place where a round of whiskey slaps turns into an all bar slap/punch fest and no one hits out of anger, and I'm there.
This is a place that 34 degrees makes you sweat. A place that talking about the smell of moss causes folks to salivate. A place that produces enough free time having a drawn out conversation about the logistics of making a child that is 75% genetically yours doesn't seem ludicrous, but worth while.
This is a place where spending all day working with someone and eating every meal together still leaves you making plans with them for that night. A place where no matter how annoying or abrasive someone seems, you learn to love them because there are NO other options. It's a place that has equality the communists would be jealous of and the lack of materialism needed to take down Wal-Mart. Hippies would seem high maintenance, and I'm there.
Talking about a favorite bar in Beijing isn't one upping the other guy, because they've been there too. Bouncing off ideas of Siberia or Malaysia next isn't chatter, because they're thinking of going too. It's the realization that crazy is normal and "real life" is here and they all feel it too. It's a rolling stone's paradise, and I'm there.
Hope you all had a great holiday season and enjoy the new year!
Chris
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Happy Camper
WAIS and Byrd are two field camps out in the middle of nowhere where about thirty people stay and support science ventures like taking and studying ice core samples. The camps are a handful of semi-permanent buildings and a cluster of tents that house the people there. The closest populated station to these two (other than each other) is the space station when it passes by. Given that if someone is sent here they face two weeks to a month of rough, hazardous conditions, peeing in bottles, working longer hours, living outdoors in much colder weather, facing large elevation changes, and being limited to a two minute shower once a week, it's obvious that we all have been fighting for a chance to go.
My boss took me aside last week and began apologizing for pulling me around so much on changing back and forth from days to nights and thanked me for being so flexible. I figured she meant to tell me I was going back to nights, but instead informed me they are sending me to field camp.
Although working a field camp is non-stop shoveling snow, washing dishes with melt water, and trying to sleep out in the elements, it's one of those perks that pops up and makes you enjoy mopping, scrubbing, and cleaning just to get the chance to go. None of us came to Antarctica for the luxuries and cushiness. The chance to go to snow school, or Happy Camper, has been incentive enough for some of us to be on our game to a competitive level, much less be sent out. Only eight to twelve of the thirty some people I work with get to go so I am totally stoked.
Happy camper was this past weekend. The instructions for the course are "Pack all of your ECW (extreme cold weather) gear and meet in the science building for two days of snow school." Other than that all I had to go off of was the advice thrown to me by the seasoned kitchen staff, "Sleep in the trench, but be sure to bring a pillow, scrape it as flat as possible, and make your roof high enough to not get claustrophobic..." What am I getting into?
The 22 people that made up the class included the two guides, one of my buddies I flew down here with, a woman from Brazil here to study penguins and draw their blood, a handful of PHD and Masters students, as well as the one other person from the galley going with me, the former swimsuit competition winner for Miss Texas. The people you meet when traveling...
We spent the first half of the day studying hypothermia, frost bite, heat loss, and a hand full of other survival situations people raised in Florida have never thought about. We then lugged our ECW bags, food boxes, and extra gear into our vans and were driven outside of town to the snow pack on the ice shelf. The shelf itself is giant and the expanse of nothingness is like sailing on the ocean on a VERY still day. With hundreds of meters of snow and ice, it's a perfect setting for learning survival practices while still being close enough to base to be saved if things were to really hit the fan.
The first thing learned was where the latrine (a deep hole carved into the ice about a hundred feet down) stood and to be sure to lock the door to keep the door from blowing off the hinges. Then we went over stove operation, what to expect in a survival bag if need be, and what to expect for that night. We all picked up a sleep kit and hiked our way out to the happy camper sight. We spent the day learning how to set up Scott and mountain tents under severe weather conditions, cut ice blocks out of the snow pack, build a snow wall as a wind breaker, use the quarry from the block cutting area as a makeshift kitchen, and finally how to dig a trench into the snow as a means of shelter. At the end of the day none of the projects started had been completed and no trenches had been dug. The instructors assigned the Texan and myself as the camp managers and left for warm indoor shelter as the class was left to our own devices to figure out completing the wall, getting the kitchen set up, boiling snow for water, and lastly digging out our trenches. In no way shape or form were we going to let each other bitch out and sleep in a tent. If you're going to be bad ass, go all the way.
To dig a trench (if you are ever in the situation where you need one) dig down in the snow until you're just over waist deep. Be sure to lay down in it so the length is long enough where you don't touch with your head or feet. Dig out the sides at the base to combat claustrophobia while still leaving the opening narrow enough to form a roof. Flatten the area as much as possible. For the roof either use the sled that was full of saws, shovels, and tents, turned bottom up over your opening and then fill the edges with snow chunks, or cut out thinner, less heavy blocks from the kitchen/quarry and lay them across or against each other on to of the opening. Bedding should include two mats as insulation, a fleece sleeping bag for the inside, and a -40 degree sleeping bag for the outside layer. Crawl into bed with long underwear, head wear, and dry wool socks on and place any wet clothing against your skin to dry. Plug the opening with your ECW bag and anything else you can think of. Once inside, after all this hassle, you'll automatically have to pee. Use the pee bottle then close it tight and shove it in you sleeping bag as extra warmth.
It was the first time I've been surrounded by blue ice in my life. With the sun over us the whole time I figured it would be hard to sleep. Just as I was going to bed in my ice coffin the snow was coming down hard enough to hide the volcano looming over us, much less McMurdo in the far distance. It created a total silence and the light pitter patter of snow hitting the sled over made me pass out right away. I woke at some point in the middle of the night and heard NOTHING. Without a watch and movement of the sun, the only way to tell how much time had gone by was the icicles that had formed from water vapor dripping down the sled above me and how much ice had formed inside my water bottle. I lied there for a while and enjoyed the sensory deprivation. It was the first time since I've been here that I've been able to be alone and quiet in a comfortable position. I woke to footsteps above. I popped my head out of my hole and was met by hard wind, a tent flying away from a camper, and dark clouds overhead. I apparently slept nine hours straight, minus the alone time. The pants and gloves I had tried drying with my body had turned to solid clumps of frozen fabric. Thank God for extras. We ate breakfast in the kitchen (complete with snow L shaped benches and large coffee table) and broke down our camp ready for pickup.
The second day we were brought back to the Happy Camper building and run through drills to see how much information we could access while in an emergency. Then we got to pull out the HM radio in the survival bag that is modelled after the trench radios used in the world wars and attempt to contact the south pole station. The final task before dragging our bags back to the road for pickup was the drill of wearing buckets on our heads to simulate severe conditions and try to find our missing person. We were maybe three minutes away from finding her, but time ran out.
On our return to town we were instructed on helicopter safety before being allowed to get back for a shower and food. It's amazing how much chocolate they fed us. The amount of calories allotted for keeping warm is pretty staggering. After a shower and quick nap I devoured a huge plate of food then bartended for 7 hours. I was lucky in that the Mad Max themed dance party was that Saturday in a different building and we had a relatively relaxed night.
More Later,
Chris
My boss took me aside last week and began apologizing for pulling me around so much on changing back and forth from days to nights and thanked me for being so flexible. I figured she meant to tell me I was going back to nights, but instead informed me they are sending me to field camp.
Although working a field camp is non-stop shoveling snow, washing dishes with melt water, and trying to sleep out in the elements, it's one of those perks that pops up and makes you enjoy mopping, scrubbing, and cleaning just to get the chance to go. None of us came to Antarctica for the luxuries and cushiness. The chance to go to snow school, or Happy Camper, has been incentive enough for some of us to be on our game to a competitive level, much less be sent out. Only eight to twelve of the thirty some people I work with get to go so I am totally stoked.
Happy camper was this past weekend. The instructions for the course are "Pack all of your ECW (extreme cold weather) gear and meet in the science building for two days of snow school." Other than that all I had to go off of was the advice thrown to me by the seasoned kitchen staff, "Sleep in the trench, but be sure to bring a pillow, scrape it as flat as possible, and make your roof high enough to not get claustrophobic..." What am I getting into?
The 22 people that made up the class included the two guides, one of my buddies I flew down here with, a woman from Brazil here to study penguins and draw their blood, a handful of PHD and Masters students, as well as the one other person from the galley going with me, the former swimsuit competition winner for Miss Texas. The people you meet when traveling...
We spent the first half of the day studying hypothermia, frost bite, heat loss, and a hand full of other survival situations people raised in Florida have never thought about. We then lugged our ECW bags, food boxes, and extra gear into our vans and were driven outside of town to the snow pack on the ice shelf. The shelf itself is giant and the expanse of nothingness is like sailing on the ocean on a VERY still day. With hundreds of meters of snow and ice, it's a perfect setting for learning survival practices while still being close enough to base to be saved if things were to really hit the fan.
The first thing learned was where the latrine (a deep hole carved into the ice about a hundred feet down) stood and to be sure to lock the door to keep the door from blowing off the hinges. Then we went over stove operation, what to expect in a survival bag if need be, and what to expect for that night. We all picked up a sleep kit and hiked our way out to the happy camper sight. We spent the day learning how to set up Scott and mountain tents under severe weather conditions, cut ice blocks out of the snow pack, build a snow wall as a wind breaker, use the quarry from the block cutting area as a makeshift kitchen, and finally how to dig a trench into the snow as a means of shelter. At the end of the day none of the projects started had been completed and no trenches had been dug. The instructors assigned the Texan and myself as the camp managers and left for warm indoor shelter as the class was left to our own devices to figure out completing the wall, getting the kitchen set up, boiling snow for water, and lastly digging out our trenches. In no way shape or form were we going to let each other bitch out and sleep in a tent. If you're going to be bad ass, go all the way.
To dig a trench (if you are ever in the situation where you need one) dig down in the snow until you're just over waist deep. Be sure to lay down in it so the length is long enough where you don't touch with your head or feet. Dig out the sides at the base to combat claustrophobia while still leaving the opening narrow enough to form a roof. Flatten the area as much as possible. For the roof either use the sled that was full of saws, shovels, and tents, turned bottom up over your opening and then fill the edges with snow chunks, or cut out thinner, less heavy blocks from the kitchen/quarry and lay them across or against each other on to of the opening. Bedding should include two mats as insulation, a fleece sleeping bag for the inside, and a -40 degree sleeping bag for the outside layer. Crawl into bed with long underwear, head wear, and dry wool socks on and place any wet clothing against your skin to dry. Plug the opening with your ECW bag and anything else you can think of. Once inside, after all this hassle, you'll automatically have to pee. Use the pee bottle then close it tight and shove it in you sleeping bag as extra warmth.
It was the first time I've been surrounded by blue ice in my life. With the sun over us the whole time I figured it would be hard to sleep. Just as I was going to bed in my ice coffin the snow was coming down hard enough to hide the volcano looming over us, much less McMurdo in the far distance. It created a total silence and the light pitter patter of snow hitting the sled over made me pass out right away. I woke at some point in the middle of the night and heard NOTHING. Without a watch and movement of the sun, the only way to tell how much time had gone by was the icicles that had formed from water vapor dripping down the sled above me and how much ice had formed inside my water bottle. I lied there for a while and enjoyed the sensory deprivation. It was the first time since I've been here that I've been able to be alone and quiet in a comfortable position. I woke to footsteps above. I popped my head out of my hole and was met by hard wind, a tent flying away from a camper, and dark clouds overhead. I apparently slept nine hours straight, minus the alone time. The pants and gloves I had tried drying with my body had turned to solid clumps of frozen fabric. Thank God for extras. We ate breakfast in the kitchen (complete with snow L shaped benches and large coffee table) and broke down our camp ready for pickup.
The second day we were brought back to the Happy Camper building and run through drills to see how much information we could access while in an emergency. Then we got to pull out the HM radio in the survival bag that is modelled after the trench radios used in the world wars and attempt to contact the south pole station. The final task before dragging our bags back to the road for pickup was the drill of wearing buckets on our heads to simulate severe conditions and try to find our missing person. We were maybe three minutes away from finding her, but time ran out.
On our return to town we were instructed on helicopter safety before being allowed to get back for a shower and food. It's amazing how much chocolate they fed us. The amount of calories allotted for keeping warm is pretty staggering. After a shower and quick nap I devoured a huge plate of food then bartended for 7 hours. I was lucky in that the Mad Max themed dance party was that Saturday in a different building and we had a relatively relaxed night.
More Later,
Chris
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Holidays
I figured being down here would throw a wrench in the feelings of joy and excitement I get around the holidays. Not only is it becoming summer and McMudhole is creeping out of the snow melt, but being without people who've known you for over two months kinda puts the breaks on the vibe.
Thanksgiving turned out to be one of the easiest days I've worked here. We had adopt a DA going on, so for an extra hour we had someone come in and replace us from the community. We also had a full hour to eat dinner which was a challenge as the urge to eat everything clashed with our habit of chowing down dinner as fast as possible. The icing on the cake was the standing ovation the kitchen staff got after the first of three Thanksgiving meals was served. If I could have every person I served in a day stand up at the end and applaud for me I think it would make the crappiest of situations better. I recommend this to anyone. I don't recommend trying for a nap when drunk people are waiting for their turn to eat in the hallways outside your door. Just make sure if you do you don't have any sharp objects, or heavy things to throw at them when they don't understand your frustration when you ask them to be quiet.
I am finding myself thankful for the small things. And here they are:
Till later
Chris
Thanksgiving turned out to be one of the easiest days I've worked here. We had adopt a DA going on, so for an extra hour we had someone come in and replace us from the community. We also had a full hour to eat dinner which was a challenge as the urge to eat everything clashed with our habit of chowing down dinner as fast as possible. The icing on the cake was the standing ovation the kitchen staff got after the first of three Thanksgiving meals was served. If I could have every person I served in a day stand up at the end and applaud for me I think it would make the crappiest of situations better. I recommend this to anyone. I don't recommend trying for a nap when drunk people are waiting for their turn to eat in the hallways outside your door. Just make sure if you do you don't have any sharp objects, or heavy things to throw at them when they don't understand your frustration when you ask them to be quiet.
I am finding myself thankful for the small things. And here they are:
- Insects, Butt Face Bumble who came in the honey, and the fruit fly I bonded with who showed up in the salad. You guys remind me that every time a bug dies here a species becomes extinct on the continent. Thanks for sharing your last days with us.
- Freshies, aside from bringing said insect buddies, they are the only source of fresh food we have. Sucks that a two day storm kept them from arriving for Thanksgiving dinner, but it made life easier for all involved to just open that can of fruit cocktail from the 90's and call it a holiday.
- Knowing your neighbors, in the sense that the question "Where are you from?" is no longer asked because there is no straight answer down here and no one has the time to explain the last five years of traveling that got them to this point anyway.
- Living on the edge, where naked is socks and a base layer. You always feel like a deviant when you walk down the hall from the shower in your shorts. Exhilarating.
Till later
Chris
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