T minus 5

5 Days

11/8/2009 – Summer School

Temperature -49.9F

Windchill -78.5F

Station Population: 175 (Summer People)

Station Population: 5 (Winter Overs)

Time until New Zealand: 123 hours

Days on the ice: 282

Hits to this blog: 23,538

On Wednesday about 25 winterover polies left the South Pole. This left about 10 on station. Over the next couple days about 5 more left. Now there are only 5 of us. Me and 4 scientists. I’m the last of the Raytheon winterover crew.

Polies Leaving

Leaving Polies

Heading to the Plane

 My departure date is November 12^th. The extra time here is a drag but the hardest part is seeing your friends leave and knowing that you will not share that part of the experience with them. The best analogy is can give is it is like failing Seinor Englsh and having to watch your friends walk across the podium and graduate while you have to go to summer school and get your diploma from the mailman. It has also been hard to watch all the Facebook posts of those who are now in Christchurch. As long as my flights go on time, I’ll be ok. Otherwise, I will be a very unhappy camper. One can only withstand so much disappointment with good spirits.

Those Left Behind

Last week I also had to change rooms. I had to give up my room to a summer person with more seniority. Again, the move itself is a drag and my new room is smaller. However, the part that’s hard to accept is that if I had departed with the other winterovers, it would not have had the hassle of the move. Just another drawback of not getting to leave on time.

So Hurc flight are now daily occurrences. The weather has been nearly perfect. Sometime we get 2-3 a day. This has brought the station population to 175 people. I now have to wait in line in the galley. The lounges are always busy. The Internet is slower. People stand in doorways and block entrances. For 9 months I saw the same faces everyday with never an exception. Now it is a rarity to see a familiar person. I’ve gotten to know a few of the summer folks and they typically nice people, but we are on different trajectories.

The temperatures are much warmer too. Ambient temps are running in the -40’s and windchills are in the -60 to -80 range. I have to be careful with the temptation of going out under dressed in windchills in the -80’s. Compared to the winter where the windchill rarely got above the triple digits, windchills in the -80’s are downright balmy. However, without good coverage it will still bite you. However, even with modest head gear, it’s easy to be comfortable in a -80 windchill where as at -130 or -140F even when wearing everything possible it still gets you. The range from -60 to -80 is tricky because you can be out for a while in big red, jeans, hiking boots, a hat and gloves, but if you’re out too long your hurting. I’ve found that a -60 windchills is quite manageable without a face mask.

I’ve got most of my stuff in boxes now. My plan is to ship most everything home and walk out of here with only a modest bag or two. In a couple days I’ll do my “bag-drag”. That’s where my “checked” luggage will become th property of the cargo department. They will weigh it and load it onto a airforce type pallet. This usually happens the day before the flight, but if the flight is delayed you could be days without your luggage. Another part of life in Antarctica that warrants careful planning and patience.

One interesting thing that is occurring is the removing of the winter drifts. These huge drifts that are around every building on station are excavated and pushed into even larger piles where they will eventually be drug off station.

Big Piles of Snow

Big Pile of Snow - with Polie (me) for scale

 I’m not sure what the future of this blog will be from this point on. I usually do my blogging on Sundays (my day off). Hopefully this will be my last Sunday on the ice and I really don’t think I want to spend my time in Christchurch sitting in the hotel writing about the Antarctica (or anything for that matter). So, I might try to make a few small posts during the week, both from here, McMurdo and Christchurch. Just updates, nothing philosophical. I may start other blogs in the future, but I doubt that I will ever have an experience that is of interest to such a broad audience as living at the South Pole for nearly a year..

 I will eventually do a re-cap and postmortem on the experience, but that might be months out when I’m back in Seattle. Either way, I’d like to thank all those that read my blog and and a special thanks to those who left comments or questions. At the time of this posting I’ve had almost 24,000 hits to this site.

PS: My Wife has been bicycle touring through New Zealand for the past month and has started her own count down…

 

9 days

 

8 days

7 days

6 days

11/1/2009 – N O V E M B E R

Temp -47.9F, Windchill -74.7F

Station Population: 121

Days remaining on ice: 12

Days on the ice: 278

Hits to this blog: 22,931

 The news of the week was the arrival of the first LC-130 Hercules airplane. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_LC-130 Due to all the bad flying weather, they have pushed up the Herc schedule to help us get caught up with moving people from McMurdo to Pole. The Baslers can only carry 16 passengers where as the larger Hurc can carry 30-40 passengers. These are still tiny compared to the big C-17 Globemasters that fly from McMurdo to Christchurch that take on about 100 passengers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-17_Globemaster_III The Hurcs are the largest aircraft that can land at pole because our landing strip is only a snow surface and cannot support wheeled aircraft. McMurdo has a sea ice runway that is much stronger. Rumor has it that there has been some talk of trying to create a hard surface runway here at pole to support larger wheeled aircraft. However on of the the arguments against doing that is it would allow more tourism here at Pole and that is generally frowned upon. I don’t know if that of that is true, but it’s interesting. Regardless, the ski equipped Hurc remain the backbone of logistics of the South Pole. Occasionally a C-17 will air drop supplies to South Pole, but that is more a test of concept than a significant method of moving materials. So the Herc showed up on content one day before its arrival at pole. They come here from working up north in places like Greenland. The weather the day the Hurc came in didn’t seem any better than any of the weather of the previous week. I wonder if there isn’t a little bit of rivalry between the Air National Guard and the Ken Borek Air Service as to who can get the job done. That is also probably not true, the the reality is more complicated, but I’ve got to wonder.

First LC-130 Hurc

So the Hurc landed on Wednesday and 30 something new people came to pole. Before their arrival, the winterovers still outnumbered the new people, but now we are the minority. No longer is the sight of a familiar face a guarantee, but is now the exception. Before the station had the feel that it still belonged to the winterover’s and the new people were only visitors. Now the situation has shifted and we are now being pushed into the corners. However we are happy to do this. We are steadily and quickly passing responsibility to the newcomers. This includes the duties of our emergency response teams. We conducted 2 drills last week. The first was conducted by the winterover team and the summer ERTs were observers to see how it’s done. The second drill was 2 days later (Saturday) and was conducted by the summer ERTs with the winterovers there offering guidance as needed. They did very well for their first time.

 

The continent is starting to feel a little crowed

One of the passengers of the Hurc brought me a US flag that I ordered online. We have been raffling off the old flags to the winterovers, but luck was not on my side. Regardless, the idea of having a flag that flew over the geographic south pole was tantalizing. So a couple days ago, it put up the flag and will probably take it down after a couple more days. Since we are on top of a huge glacier, we move 33 feet per year. That means the location of the geographic pole is now something like 28 feet from the real pole since the survey last summer. So I paced off about 30′ in the direction it should be and planted my flag. So to the best of my knowledge, my flag is flying directly over the geographic South Pole.

My Flag (in the foreground)

 

 

 

 

I have not been that interested in meeting the summer crew and generally preferring the company of my fellow winterovers. I attribute that to a number of factors. First is that we are on our way out and it seems pointless (to me at least) to get to know these people. I believe many of them feel the same about us and would rather invest their time into more important relationships. (They might be a little afraid of us too ) I am also kinda socially exhausted and the effort of meeting the new people seem like so much work. This does not seem to be the case with all of the winterovers however. Also, it’s just more comfortable to be with like mined people. We all have our inside jokes, the twinkle in our eyes of our futures and the toasty 1000 yard stare. We can commiserate or reminisce about our winter together. Much like our families, we didn’t choose each other, but for better or worse here we are.I answered a posting on a climbing forum (www.cascadeclimbers.com) by someone looking for mitts for a climb of a 20,000 foot peak. I thought I might have something to contribute so I replied. I’m been wanting to write about my hand wear system for a while, but never got the ambition to actually do it, I thought I would just add a copy here.

I’ve got to give a strong vote for the BD Absolute Mitts.

http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/shop/mountain/gloves/absolute-mitt

I’ve been living and working at the South Pole for the winter (February – November). I’ve come to really love these mitts. I used them almost exclusively when the temps are colder than -60F, and that has been virtually everyday for the past 8 months. When it gets really cold (ie -80F to -95F) my hands can get cold, especially if I am holding something, or if I have them out of the mitts too much. But really…-95F with a -145F windchill what do you expect.

 There might be warmer mitts, but there is more to a glove system than just warmth. I love these mitts because the shell is insulated with primaloft. Most other mitts have a really thick liner that goes into an uninsulated nylon shell. What I do is remove the liner from the right mitt (I’m right handed) and I wear a modest fleece glove (OR Gripper) on my right hand. Without the mitt’s liner, the right hand goes in and out easily. This give me the dexterity to do almost anything. This does not happen if you are trying to use a fleece glove with a mitt that has a fleece liner. If you were to try this with most other mitts, you wouldn’t have any additional insulation provided by the shell. Thus it wouldn’t be much warmer than your fleece glove alone. In extreme cold (like we have down here) exposing skin for a few seconds = frostbite (been there – done that). For my left hand I just run the mitt stock since I don’t usually need that level of dexterity in both hands.

www.freezedriedengineer.wordpress.com 

I’ve been really quite happy with these mitts and how they work with my system. The are obscenely expensive at $180 a pair, but if any one can justify the most expensive mitts on the market, it is some one spending 10 months at the coldest place on the planet. The program issues gloves and mitts too. There are 2 types of gloves, one is a lightly insulated leather glove and the other is a better insulated leather glove. Neither is particularly warm, but for some they are ok in surprisingly cold conditions. I tend to have cold hands so, this is not and option. The next step up is a pair of leather mitt that are reasonably insulated. These are fairly popular for winterovers. They are still rather pitiful, but can be paired with liner gloves and chemical hand warmers to result in a workable system. The next step up is the bearpaw mitts. These are just military issue mitts. I got a pair of these at the CDC, but I put them the the emergency gear cache and never used them. I actual own a pair back home, but they are so bulky that you can’t really do much with them. I guess they are good for driving the snowmobile or to use them like a muff where they are just a place to rewarm hands or for walking from place to place. In my opinion are not that warm. However, some people down here give them strong marks for their warmth.

Left Mitt Shell; Left Mitt Liner; Right Liner, Right Fleece, Right Mitt Shell

Like I said, even at negative whatever, it is rare for my to get really cold hands with my Black Diamond mitts. If I am holding something (especially metal), it does tend to compress the insulation a bit and the conductive heat loss can be an issue. One time my thumbs got very cold in them. I started out with cold hands and then took a snowmobile on a ¾ mile ride to take some photos of some buildings. It was about -85 F and I had to stop a number of times to swing my arm to force some more warm blood in to my vasoconstricted fingers. Another problem usually comes from when I am in and out of them for detailed work (ie writing, fixing something, taking pictures, etc). When I need dexterity, my right hand has a fleece windstopper glove with a liner underneath. That’s still pretty good dexterity and warmth. The most important part is that the fleece glove be windstopper, otherwise forget about it. If I know I will be doing a lot of detailed work I’ll drop in a pair of hand warmers inside the right mitt. One other “trick” is to use the idiot string where I can remove my right mitt and I can let it dangle while I do what I need to and the mitt doesn’t blow away or get lost in the darkness.

 I wonder what percentage of the world’s hand warmer industry output goes to Antarctica. I’m not sure, but we go through thousands of them here. I typically think of these things as cheating (or “aid” for the climbers). However, when the windchill is running at -130F or colder…anything goes. However, I try not to depend on them. I like to have the confidence that my system will keep my hands from freezing without the warmers, because they can get dropped or stop working prematurely. It’s a safety issue if you are relying on them.

Ode to the Handwarmer

10/25/2009 – Toasts With Eggs

Temp -57.1F, Windchill -91.8F

 Station Population: 72

 Days remaining on ice: 18

 Days on the ice: 268

On Monday the 19^th we go our first flight in. It was supposed to arrive on the 15^th, but they require 3 miles of visibility before they off deck from McMurdo. This seems excessive to me. It is also a rule that seems to bend in direct relationship to the number of days they are behind schedule. Regardless, the first flight came in without incident. Joe and I were up in comms at the time assisting the flight from a communications point of view. Comms is the center of activity when there are inbound flights and that’s where everyone wants to be to get the most up to date information. However, we had to eventually close the door and put of a “Stay Out” sign, since the commotion was starting to interferer with our ability to hear the faint voices in the ether. 16 people got off the plane and 3 winterovers left.

 

Going Out to Meet the Plane

 

 

 

 

The shock of new people was far less this time than when the transit flight came through. While the plane was on the ground, much of the station was helping to bring in the cargo. The Baslers don’t bring a lot of cargo; just some hand carried bags for the passengers, about 50 lbs of fresh food and a few critical parts we have been waiting for. Regardless, the hand carry bags are a bit too much for most of the new arrival to manage at 11,000 ft and the fresh food needs to get out of the -50F weather before freezing. After the plane departed and the cargo was up in the station, there was group forming in the galley eating the newly arrived fruit. Bananas and Kiwi fruit being the predominate options. There was quite a bit of mingling among the new people and the winterovers. Most of the people that arrived have one or more summers on ice so there wasn’t the complete star struck aw that would accompany completely new person, although there were a few. Some of the new people I recognized from the end of last summer or whom I have corresponded with throughout the winter.

 

Freshies

 

  

The next morning we had fresh eggs for breakfast. Two fried eggs. Amazing. I really haven’t had too many food craving here. They galley staff did a great job with providing variety and I’m not too fussy about freshness. However, these eggs were a surprise to my pallet that I was not expecting.

The next 3 days were touch and go in terms of flying weather. The visibility would be bad here. Then it would clear up and get bad in McMurdo. Then get bad here again.

On Wednesday, we had the winterover awards ceremony. Each winterover was issued an Antarctica Service Metal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica_Service_Medal  and http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Awards/ANTARCTICA%20SERVICE%20MEDAL1.html.  As I understand it, the metal is actually a military decoration that is award to civilians. Also, Steele, the winterover machinist, made each winterover a token that with out names and winterover number on it. My winterover number is 1243 since I’m the 1243rd person to winter at the South Pole. The token is made from metal from each of the South Pole stations. One of the metals from the old Navy station from the 50’s. Another is from the a discarded door frame from the old dome and also some metal that was from the new station. 

Finally on Friday, we got our second plane. More or less the same routine, only this time I didn’t have to work the comms and was able to be on the ice for the arrival. This second plane also brought in one of my colleagues. I meet with him and again helped haul cargo into the station. This was a late flight arriving around 7pm. Thus there was only a little milling about before everyone went off to bed. 

 

Freshies

 

The Awards Ceremony

 

 

Second Flight

16 New People

Darren "Got to see the people!"

Darren and "Boss"

Saturday, was a full work day for winterovers and the Monday arrivals. The newly arrived were still in hiding while attempting to acclimate to conditions here.  At 7pm we began our First Flight Festival. This was a concert and beer tent that was set up in the gym. The music started at 7pm and went to 11:30pm. All of it live.

 

The Rookies

Attendance was good, but still only about half of the station population of 72 was there. Many of the winterovers are toast and were just to tired to attend and some of the new arrivals were having the same symptoms, but for different reasons.

 

10/18/2009 – Waiting……

Temp -44.7F, Windchill -76.8F

On Tuesday, the Basler arrived at Pole, refueled and pushed on to McMurdo. The Twin Otter, being a slower aircraft, arrived at Pole about an hour behind. They too landed, but had trouble with one of their engines. Since the temp was around -73F they left the right one running while they refueled, but had to shut down the left engine to allow safe access for fueling. Well 20 minutes with the engine off at -73F was enough time for things to freeze up and ground the aircraft. Fortunately, one of the crew of 3 was the mechanic. So they set to the task of fixing the engine fully exposed to the triple digit windchills. This windchill exasperated the fact that the crew was greatly unaccustomed to the cold having only days before been flying through the tropics. This slowed progress and the next day a temporary tent was erected over the wing and heated with portable heaters. By Thursday the aircraft was again airworthy, but the weather was lousy. Regardless, the crew seemed very anxious to get going and took off in what seemed to me to be very low visibility. They made it off the ground and they were on their way to McMurdo. The Twin Otter’s roll for the next few weeks is only to provide Search and Rescue capabilities to the Basler crew should they go down. For now, the Twin Otter is the only other aircraft on the continent right now capable of a landing on skis.

The Basler was scheduled to make it’s first flight to pole with new people and fresh food on Thursday, but the low visibility caused by the winds persisted. Friday was looking better and the Basler actually took off and started flying south. Once again the weather deteriorated here at Pole and they eventually turned around in what is called a boomerang flight. Saturday they didn’t even try. Visibility was in half mile range. So now it’s Sunday. Visibility is better but still relatively poor. Either way, they don’t fly on Sunday. So it looks like Monday is the next shot. The forecast looks promising and if it is really good, they will try to get two flight in now that we are well behind schedule. If that actually happens, we will have about 2 dozen more people on station by Monday night. All these delays have created a roller coaster of excitement and disappointment. Surly this is no more true than for the 3 winterover poles that that will be leaving on this plane. There is also a lot of activity going on around station in preparation. Cargo is preparing for luggage and food that mush be handled quickly before freezing, there is a team that must read the fueling equipment. I am working with a communications group to monitor and coordinate communications with the aircraft and the South Pole ground crews. Plus we continue to work to prepare the station for visitors.

I’m excited for the first cargo/passenger flight of the season. However, I remain apprehensive about all the new people coming in. When it became evident that the crew of the Twin Otter was going to be spending the night, I was in my room just before heading up for dinner. I was trying to prepare myself for seeing the first new people since February 15th. I had always assumed that this would be a novel experience, but now that it was here, I had no idea how to do it. It was completely blowing my mind. It was like the President or some other famous person coming for dinner and to spend the night at your house. How do you react? Do you look excited and surprised? Do you stare? Or do you play it cool like it’s no big deal. Do you try to talk to them and ask a bunch of questions or do you give them some space. Well as it turned out, they were very cold and tired from their long flight and troubles on the ground, so for their sake, as well as mine, I just tried to be friendly, but nonchalant. There were actuality quite a few other people on station tripping over each other to get some time with our guests.

10/13/2009 – Transit Flight

Temp -69.2, Windchill -97.6

Days at South Pole: 256

Last plane: February 16th

The Basler Being Refueled

The Basler

The Twin Otter

10/11/2009 – The Last Week of Isolation

Temp -66.3, Windchill -102.5

Days until first plane: 5

I have not written anything is quite a while. The sun is now very much up. In fact, if there are no clouds you need the tinted lens in the goggles or sunglasses. Things are certainly starting to change here at the South Pole. The process of getting the station ready for summer is well underway. Some of the outbuildings that were cold all winter are now getting started up. The skiway for the airplanes is getting prepped and the flags that mark its boundaries have been replaced. The decorative flags have been replaced and the tightly spaced flag lines that were needed to guide winter Polies from place to place are being taken down. Inside the building, we are re-arranging the furniture to a configuration that is more appropriate for 300 instead of 43. We are also busy with our primary jobs too. Writing final reports, trying to get material ordered for the summer season, and finish all the projects we have started.

The first plane was scheduled for Monday10/12, but bad weather on the other side of the continent has caused at least a one day delay. This first flight is a transit flight only. Two small aircraft contracted from Kenn Borek Air (a Basler and a Twin Otter) have been working there way down from Canada to South America. Once the weather is good, they will fly to Rothera, a British station on the Antarctic peninsula. They will spend a day or two there, take on fuel and fly to the South Pole for another refueling. Since this is only a transit flight, they will not be dropping off or picking up anyone or anything from Pole. They will continue to McMurdo. Once in McMurdo, the Basler will begin making semi-regular flights to back and forth from McMurdo to Pole for the rest of October. The first of which is scheduled for the 16^th.

All of this busyness and the associated excitement is in direct contrast with a station wide fatigue. I had thought that the return of the sun would bring relief from all the ills of winter. However, in may ways, it has made things worse. Other than being able to see around, most of us are having trouble sleeping again and everyone’s fuses seem to be getting shorter. Again, I’m not sure if this is wholly attributable to the sun, or if it’s just the result of being this far along and this close to the end. Getting motivated to do much of anything takes twice a much willpower as it did just 2 months ago. Writing in my Blog is no exception. I guess we are getting Toastier. I am getting more and more forgetful, losing track of what day it is, forgetting people’s name.

It really is unfortunate too. There is still so much I wanted to Blog about…more clothing to discuss, a full tour of the second floor, where our water comes from. I guess someone else will have to pickup that torch. Please send me a comment if there is something you are really interested in reading about and I might be able to squeeze out one more posting. Other than that, I will be focusing my writing on the day-to-day activities as our 9 months of isolation is turned upside down.

We did take another group photo. We all voted on what photo will be our official winter-over photo.  (This photo and all other group photos in this blog are by Patrick Cullis)

 

 

 

The Official 2009 Winterover Photo

 

 

10/3/2009 – October

Temp -87.9, Windchill -122.6

 

Days until first plane: 12

Days left on ice for FDE: 42

Still Cold

Van with Tacks

 

Group Photo

Snowmobile with the Station in the Background

 

9/23/2009 – Before and After

Temp -62.9, Windchill -78.9

 Days until first plane: 21

 

 

BEFORE -- Feb 7th

 

 

AFTER -- Sept 23rd

9/22/2009 – Sunrise

Temp -82.7, Windchill -127.4

Days since sundown: 185

 Days until sunrise: 0

 Days until first plane: 22

 

 

Disclaimer

This post is to clarify something that should be obvious to any long term reader.

I am not a representative for Raytheon in anyway. I also do not represent the National Science Foundation. Furthermore, this blog is in no way is a representation of either organization. None of the information contained within is official. It is all my opinion and my observations from a very limited point of few. All information is subject to errors. My focus throughout this Blog has been to illustrate the experience of wintering at the South Pole through my personal experiences. I discuss very little about my work, the work of others or specifics of the program. If you are interested in more information on this topic please see the “Notes from the Editor” tab above. If you are looking for official or accurate information on Raytheon or the National Science Foundation please go to their respective websites. If you are looking for the incoherent rambling of the Toasty Polie formally know as Nathan Greenland aka the FreezeDriedEngineer, well, here’s the spot.

9/17/2009 – Contradictions

Temp -82.7, Windchill -112.2

Days since sundown: 179

Days until sunrise: 5

Days until first plane: 28

We are now just days from sunrise. For now the storms are gone and the sky is again clear. We can see the horizon and the wispy polar clouds. The storm had cloaked the sun’s progress but now all has been reveled. The clear weather has also allowed the cold back in, but -80F is really no matter at this stage of the game. The size of the snowdrifts continues to amaze all. One of the side doors in the Logistic Office was completely buried by the storm.

Almost Sun Rise

Anyone got a shovel?

 

We Ain't Goin Out This Way

This is a time of contradictions. Most of us had the expectation that the return of the sun would be an across the board improvement of all things. Moral would be up, it would feel warmer, we would be revitalized. The opposite has been the experience of many. We are more tired, feel colder, cranker, our skin feels drier, we are just Toastier. Is this really due to the sunrise or have we just crossed some invisible point on the calender that is irregardless of the sun. One theory is that the body can adjust to constant darkness, but the constant twilight seems to trigger the “go to bed” circuits in the brain. It’s all hard to say. At least with the window covers on, the brain could trick itself to think it was any time of the day it wanted to.

We have all been assigned dates for our departures. Mine is November 12^th. It is foolish to think of that date as an actual time, but rather the center of a bell curve of possible dates. There are dozen of factors than can cause that date to move (usually later). Weather is probably number one (both cold and viability can cancel flights). Others are mechanical issues of the aircraft, complication with those who are replacing us, etc. Regardless, it’s a date on the calendar and something to be thinking about. Most people on station have the number of days remaining in their head. Mine is 57 days. When I dwell on that number I get too simultaneous feelings. One is where I am a bit deflated when I think that I have almost 2 more months left before I go to New Zealand. The other reaction is I only have 57 more days to capitalize on this experience before it is over, never to be seen again. More contradictions. There is a certain harmony that we have developed down here. Yes, it may be played in a minor key and not aways in tune, but it is the music of OUR winter. Less than 1300 people have every wintered at pole. We will all be forever bonded to that. I want to go out and try to pack in more socializing. It won’t be long before we are dispersed. However I find myself wanting to be alone more and more.

 In only 28 days our isolation will be shattered by the first plane. It will bring new people that will disrupt our chemistry. Not too long thereafter, winterovers will start to trickle out. The first 8 planes that will visit poll with be Basler Aircraft. They are much smaller than the LC-130 Hercules aircraft, but have fewer restrictions. Even just 8 of these smaller aircraft will absolutely swamp the station with people. Then on November 4^th the first of the Herc will arrive bringing 20 or 30 people on each trip. Most of the winterovers are scheduled to go out on this first Herc. I will not be joining them. I will be here an additional 8 days. Myself and a couple scientists will be the sum total of the 2009 winterover crew after November 8^th.

 My excitement for leaving South Pole is not due to my desire to leave this place, but due to the exciting things that await me off the ice. My plans in New Zealand, seeing my wife, friends, and family. Experiencing the real world again. Buying a new pair of shoes…oh how I want a new pair of shoes. In fact, I think I would feel very much the same if this wasn’t the coldest, darkest place in the world, but instead it was an isolated tropical island paradise. It’s the isolation …. it’s the isolation. It’s the inability to do what ever you want. Even Gilligan wanted off his island. Even the characters in show LOST want off the island. How is it that 43 adventurous people have decided to all live in a place for 10 months where we cannot (or dare not) travel any further than 1 mile from where we sleep?

9/13/2009 – Two more videos

Temp -53.0, Windchill -95.7

Days since sundown: 176

Days until sunrise: 8

Days until first plane: 31

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-is0Yh7dcw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1kvPemP_Rg

9/12/2009 – Videos

Temp -57.8, Windchill -100.2

Days since sundown: 175

Days until sunrise: 9

Days until first plane: 32

I’ve posted a few videos on youtube.  This first one is a collection of several videos that I edited together.

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

 

The second video is kinda long and boring, but it’s a good represensation of what it’s like to walk around in a -135F windchill.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBTFtz72ckU

9/5/2009 – Big Red

Temp -95.6, Windchill -140.3

Days since sundown: 167

Days until sunrise: 16

Days until first plane: 40

Last weekend was my birthday. So what does a Polie like me do on his Birthday here at the South Pole, well I go camping and then fun a half marathon…. of course.  

Ready for bed at -75F

More often then not, I spend my Birthday in a tent. And this year was no different. So for my second South Pole camping experience I was a little wiser and a bit more comfortable than the last time. This was despite the temperature being 10 degrees colder at around -75F. The wind was also a lot stronger as well in the 20 knot range. This drove the windchill to around -120F, but this really wasn’t an issue inside the tent. This time I wasn’t so overdressed, so my thermal status was good. This time my complaint was the hardness of the foam pads. At -75F, the close cell foam was literally as hard as plywood. However, in the end, I got a decent about of sleep.

The next morning (my Birthday) I spent much of morning eating and trying to get my energy stores replenished for my run. At noon, I started off on the treadmill and by 2:18pm I had ticked off mile 13.1. I doubt that 2h 18min is a very good time for a half marathon, but at 10,800 feet of altitude where the air is only 66% the density of sea level, I’ll take it. After that I just lopped around for the rest of the day. Truth be told I wasn’t feeling very good. I’m not sure if was from my self inflicted abuse or if I was just going to be ill anyway. We really don’t have sickness here. Since we are an isolated community there are no colds or flu. This is unlike the summer population where people are coming and going and with 8 times the populations the quarters are much closer. It is a concern that since we have been isolate so long that our immune systems become some what suppressed and will not be able to deal with the onslaught of the new strains of sickness that will undoubtedly come in as the summer people arrive. The first plane is suppose to have the newest flu vaccine on board. That will help, but it takes about a week after it’s administered before it becomes effective.

As has been the tradtion for a long as people have been at the Pole, the galley made me a Birthday cake.  It just so happened to be Ross’ Birthday too. 

 

The Cake

 

 This week I passed the 75% done mark. This also correlates to 10 weeks remaining or about 70 days to go. In the pass few weeks, I’ve crossed that line where I’m really ready to go back to the real world. I knew this would happen eventually and I just consider it part of the experience. I really do like it here. I’ve already begun to project myself into the future and I am starting to preemptively miss this place and the people. The problem is that the isolation gets to you after a while. I am still never bored and I keep very busy at work. For me the challenge is that there are so many other things to see and do and experience in the world. Everyday it take a bit more discipline to keep going and stay productive. There are times I think I could just sit and stare a the wall for a hour without much difficulty. Those who know me back home would find this a very unusual behavior for me since I rarely sit still.

One very tangible indication that we draw nearer to our departure is the rising of the sun. Everyday it seems to get a bit brighter. It has driven most of the stars from the sky and replaced them with a bit of blue sky…actual blue sky. A week ago, you could easily navigate by the light, but you could not read a book by it. Today, I believe you could, but it is still relatively dark. Last week the winds have been quite strong. As usual, this corresponds to low clouds, blowing snow. This has curtailed some of the sun’s enthusiasm and has also generated a good deal of drifting around the station. The arrival of the sun has also meant the departure of the Aurora. I really don’t recall where I was or what day it was that I saw it for the last time. Despite my obliviousness to the event, in all likelihood, that was that last time I will ever seen the Souther Lights or the Aurora Australis. I already regret that I did not spend more time looking at them, but to an extent, they almost became common place despite their incredible majesty. It is kind of like the Sun. The sun is a truly amazing force as well, but 7 billion non-Polies will take it for granted tomorrow, so I guess it’s human nature to fail to notice the commonplace. The average temperature in August was -78F so that might have curtailed some of the sky gazing too.  

 

Sunrise

 

The departure of the Aurora has also brought the Aurora experiments to their conclusion. Thus we no longer need to keep our light pollution preventions in place. Where this is really an big deal is that we can now remove the covers over all the windows. For 5 ½ months, every window on station has been covered. This is to prevent the artificial light from interfering with the heavenly lights. The affect, however, was disappointingly undramatic since it is still really too dark to see anything outside unless you are looking directly at the sunrise or the full moon. 

 

Window covering in the Galley

 

Today, we are hosting the World Premier of the movie Whiteout. In case you haven’t seen the preview, it’s a movie about a murder that happens here a the South Pole. I really don’t know more than that. It won’t be released in theaters until the Sept 11^th, but the studio has actually sent us a copy (digitally of course) of the film which we will all be watching today. I’m sure I can’t legally post a photo of the movie poster or anything like that, but here’s a link and a photo of me (since I am a real Polie).

http://whiteoutmovie.warnerbros.com/ 

Polie

 

It still has not hit -100F yet. We are still hanging on to hope. In fact, the meteorologist office is still predicting a 68% chance that it will still happen. Right now it is hovering in the -95F range and I think was have hit the bottom of this cold snap. The temperature will probably start to rise any hour now.

Big Reg. No other item, clothing or otherwise, symbolizes the US Antarctic Program more that the red parks most of us wear. It is also, in my opinion, is the finest of the gear we are issued. However, it is not high tech, and not without it’s flaws, but it gets the job done. The parka is a sewn through goose down garment. Some readers might recognize that sewn through construction is generally considered to be an low grade construction method that is not usually seen in high-end down clothing. With the sewn through construction, the down is isolation into pockets where the inner fabric is sewn to the the outer fabric. This leave a border around each pocket where there is no effective insulation. High end manufactures use a box type construction or they offset pockets so there is always an overlap. Thus the parka has only really an inch or 2 of loft to it. This is easily eclipsed by the clothing that might be warn by a climber on a very high peak. This being said, it still gets the job done. As I’ve mentioned before, we usually are not outside sitting around. We are usually working or walking with a purpose and this makes a big difference. Also, as with the Carhart bibs, they represent a good start. If you need more warmth, it is simple and effective to add layers underneath. Over the quilted down, there is another layer of outer fabric. This does a very good job of blocking the wind. If this was not the case, at these temperatures that would seriously compromise the garment and those underneath. Only when it’s really cold do I bother with a fleece jacket underneath. Most of the time I just wear big red over a sweatshirt and I’m fine. 

 

Big Red

 

Where this jacket really shines is pockets. There are 2 large cargo pockets just below the waist with smaller pockets behind them. Just above the waist are 2 fleece lined hand warmer pockets. At the chest there are two more smaller cargo pockets. On the right arm is another long skinny pocket, and on the left arm there are 2 pockets for 2 pencils (because pens would freeze of course). There is one zippered inside pocket and one other large inside pocket. The latter I didn’t even find until mid-winter. Though the darkness of winter, I kept a lot of stuff in these pockets. I would keep a flashlight in the arm pocket and a headlamp in each of the chest pockets. One headlamp utilizes a remote battery pack that could be kept warm inside the jacket. I used a little creativity to route the wire so it stayed out of the way and was essentially integrated to the parka. The second headlamp was just a spare. I usually keep a spare radio battery in the other inside pocket. From time to time, I would keep a spare set of gloves or a balaclava in my pockets just in case I somehow lost the one I was wearing. Now that it’s getting light again, I don’t carry any of the headlamps anymore. I do wish the parka had more inside pockets since most things do not tolerate the cold and need to be kept warm or need to be re-warmed and inside the parka is the only way to do it.

There is also a snow skirt in the jacket to keep the wind from blowing up from beneath. I don’t think anyone uses this. Perhaps on the coast where is can get much windier. The biggest failing of this parka is the hood. I really don’t like the hood. For starters, if I have the hood up, I can’t zip the zipper up high enough. Consequently, it leaves the bottom of my neck exposed. I don’t think the designers were expecing someone who was wearing a balaclava, 2 hats and 2 neck gaiters. That all adds up to a lot of bulk. Also, the hood cannot be cinched down very well. An arctic parka should be able to cinch down to just a small circle and form a tunnel. This does not happen at all. The edge of the hood has a wire stiffener around it so you can shape it how you want, but the opening stays the same size. The edge of the hood also only really covers the top part of the face. From the nose down, it is really ineffective at blocking a cross wind. I rarely wear the hood unless the wind is from behind.  

 

The Hood

 

On the back there is a large reflective patch. This really lights up when it’s dark and a light shines across it.

http://www.antarcticconnection.com/AB1583000equick/shopexd.asp?id=1986

I don’t really have that much use for a parka like this back home. It’s too heavy for climbing and too warm for anything else in Seattle. They are commercially available and I have thought about buying one for a souvenir and trips to cold places (Minnesota), but at almost $600 it’s too expensive for something that’s impractical. Besides there are much better parkas for the price. No doubt the program mus get a great discount since they must buy close to a thousand of these parkas every year.

8/30/2009 – Sunrise..getting closer

Temp -75, WC -122

Days since sundown: 161

Days until sunrise: 23

Days on the Ice: 210

 

8/25/2009 – A Little Pink in the Sky

 

8/23/2009 – Carhart Bibs

Temp -83.6, WC -113.8

Days since sundown: 152

Days until sunrise: 29

This last week we have had seen a roller coaster of temperatures. Anywhere from -90’s to the -60’s. It hit 98.0F twice and it even hit -59F for a while. We haven’t seen any temperatures that warm in a long time. With the warmer temperatures also comes the wind which easily negates any comfort that is derived from the break in the cold. The windchills are still parked well below -100F. This has also meant that we all must be flexible. For most of August there is has been little vehicle activity on station. This means we are struggling to keep the supply lines flowing. Fuel to the outbuildings, construction material from the berms to the Station, food from the dome to the station. When there is a warm up or even an expected warm up schedules mush shift to accommodate.

Last Thursday was my 200^th day on the ice. I guess it’s just a number and doesn’t mean anything. If things go to plan, my total ice time will be around 285 days. So I guess that also means that my time is 2/3 done.

The sun is getting brighter on the horizon. To someone who saw the sun yesterday, it would hardly be worth a second look. It’s really not that bright. But to us, who haven’t seen the sun in 152 days, it seems like like a tremendously powerful force that is slowly creeping upon us. Last week I was lamenting the sunrise, however, now I’ve swung the other way. I’m ready. I’m not alone in this solar bi-polar dilemma. Many people here have mixed feeling about it. However, a good number of people think it can’t come soon enough.

 

Sunrise - Very Dark

Many people on station are busy planning there lives after the ice. This is usually in the form of a few weeks or months of travel followed by returning to the US or their country of origin. I too have been working on plans for New Zealand. My wife, Britt, will be traveling to Auckland in mid-October and will be traveling in New Zealand until I get off the ice in mid-November in Christchurch. From there, the two of us plan to bicycle tour the South Island and along the way hike the Milford Track. Our route is a clockwise loop that starts and ends in Christchurch. We will have to hop a few buses along the way to keep the number of bicycle miles in check. As usual, I am struggling to keep my sense of adventure in check so as not to make the trip too exhausting. It’s tough to find the balance between relaxation and seeing as much as possible.

 Yesterday, the population of the continent of Antarctica increased by about 12%. After two days of weather delays, flight ICE-01 landed in McMurdo Station as their first flight of the season. At about 7am, a C-17 lifted off from Christchurch and landed in McMurdo around noon. On board were 120 people and about 4000 lbs of fresh food for the McMurdo winterovers. After a short turnaround, they flew back north to New Zealand. Just like we did back in February, we maintain a radio watch during the flight. There is a significant segment of their route where McMurdo and Christchurch cannot contact the aircraft, but due to our elevation and other radio prorogation factors, we are able to communicate with both the aircraft and McMurdo. Thus, we assist by relaying radio traffic between the two. This usually consists of scheduled position updates and weather updates although there are other miscellaneous messages too.

 

Not A current photo - This was theC-17 I flew to McMurdo on back in February. I'm sure yesterday's scene looked about the same.

 

Moving along with the clothing discussion, it now time to talk about the bibs. With the possible exception of the big red parka, no other piece of clothing is as quintessential to the US Antarctic Program the the Carhart bibs. There are some people on station who I very rarely see not wearing their Carhart bibs. I always wear them outside if I’m going out for more than a minute or two, and I might wear them indoors if I expect to be going out later that day. However, I don’t typically wear them all-day everyday like some people. It is surprising that such a common garment is issued to people in such a unique and harsh environment. However, at the end of the day they are actually quite functional. First off they are very durable and we are tough on them. After 8 months of continuous use, some are in rough shape. Also, despite being relatively thinly insulated, they are surprisingly warm. They are warm enough to be comfortable if you are keep moving while outside. While at the same time they are not so warm that they can’t be warn indoors all day as well. When it gets really cold (ie 85 or colder) or if I don’t plan to be that active, then I will wear a pair of 300 weight fleece pants underneath. Although when it’s in the -90’s, the cold will soak though this too. The bibs, like all other items, need to be considered in the big picture. As I said before, the winterover Polie is only about 1% of the programs population so we aren’t the target market. One “modification” I have make is that I take some nylon straps and wrap them around the cuffs. Otherwise the openings are quite large and snow and wind can go right up your leg. The fabric of the bibs are not waterproof, but the snow is extremely dry and I can not imagine a situation where wetness would be an issue.

8/18/2009 — -98F

8/15/2009 – Station Tour Continued

Temp -80.1, WC -124.9

Days since sundown: 147

It’s been cold all week. Mostly in the -80’s and -90’s. The mythical -100F has continued to elude us and the weather continues to tease. Only twice in the history of South Pole records (since 1957) has it not gotten to -100F. Those years would be 1964 and 2008. Based on historical data, the meteorologists here are still predicting an 80% change we will still hit -100 this winter.

August is Cold

The cold temperatures have still not prevented us from a few attempts at our official 2009 winterover photo. There are may options for setups and since they are all being done in very low light with long exposure times, there results can be quite variable. However, we are getting some success.

 

I will now continue with my tour of the elevated station. We are still on the first floor and are working our way toward grid west. This end of the building has an area where much of the IT and communication gear is installed. There is a mini data center and a control room. There is also a fairly significant electronics repair shop as well. There are a few storage rooms where some of our food store are kept and extra stock for the store. At this end of the building is the main entrance that is called Destination Alpha, or DA for short. 

Doors to D.A.

D.A. from outside (and summer)

This is one of 2 TV lounges we have on station. This is the one we call the B-3 Theater since it is in the B-3 wing. This is the premium spot for movie watching since it has been arranged specifically in a theater configuration and has a very nice AV system including an HD projector and a 7.1 sound system. It has the usual media players and a beta player (which does get used).

 (Photo comming soon!)

Across the hallway there are several display cabinets were past pole makers and other memorabilia are on display.

 

Old Pole MarkersMore Pole Markers

 

More South Pole History

ICE CUBE dom

As we turn the corner, we enter B-4, the last wing. Here is where the music room is. There is a very nice compliment of musical instruments and supporting electronics in here. Since we have so many musicial endeavors being undertaken this winter, this rooms see a lot of use. 

Music Room

There is another small mechanical room that also stores some extra medical equipment. 

B-4 Mechanical Room

This is the gym. It is of course the biggest room on station. However, it’s not even close to being a full sized court, but it works pretty good for volleyball and an odd form of South Pole indoor soccer. At 11,000 feet of elevation, it seems huge when you are chasing a ball from one end to the other. Other activities occur here as well. Basketball, circuit training, dances, emergency response trainings, concerts and the occasional movie event. Due to the light weight construction of the station, the floor has a lousy rebound when dribbling a ball. If you bounce over a beam, the rebound is solid, but if you are not over a beam the floor kinda shakes and the ball’s rebound is significantly flat. That ok because on the arrogate, Polies are the worst basketball players on the planet. There are some exceptions, but the rest of use surely pull the average down to a basketball skill coefficient to well below Star Trek conventions, Microsoft CEOs and some nursing homes.