fifth archival post..Survivor: Antarctica

Outdoor Survival School AKA Happy Camper.

There are advantages to camping out in Antarctica. They are:
1) The outhouse doesn't stink.
2) There are no bears.
3) There are no rodents.
4) If you forget your insect repellent, no worries!
Other than that, I wouldn't recommend the experience unless you wish
to gain a new yardstick by which to measure future misery. The number
I have to quantify my own suffering is –43 degrees Fahrenheit. 10
other people and I spent the night out in that extreme of a
temperature without the benefit of external heat sources. We all made
it mostly unscathed. My experience caused me to abandon 4 of my 5
senses. The only thing one knows in these conditions is cold.
Nothing else matters. One must reach deep to find the fortitude with
which to simply ignore the pain and force oneself to do what must be
done to generate heat.

The training course started off, benignly enough, with classroom
discussion on cold weather injuries and their prevention/treatment,
then moved to the operation of cook-stoves and various shelters that
one may encounter on the frozen continent. We then went afield, were
dropped off with some tents and tools and built camp. By the time the
tents were up and the protective wall was built, the sun just began to
dip behind the ridge to our north. Then it was time for me to
discover what NASA has known for quite some time. O-rings have a
propensity to fail in extreme cold conditions. One of the cook-stoves
that my tent-mate and I were using sprang a leak, spraying pressurized
fuel directly into its own flame. Not being one to think of fire as
friendly, I was mildly annoyed by this. The problem was complicated
by not having an effective means to extinguish a fire. Water was
available, but thanks to Joseph Hazelwood of the Exxon Valdez, I know
what petroleum products do on water, so I thought better of trying to
build a scale model of Prince William Sound amidst the conflagration.
The next logical method would be to smother the fire, but at the
behest of the course instructors, I had only brought clothing of
modern synthetic fabrics. The mantra goes something like "Cotton
kills." In this case cotton sure would have been a lifesaver. Then I
noticed my wool socks lying in a heap on the floor. I tried my best
to put out the fire with them, but they just weren't big enough. At
about that time, I remembered that I had brought a wool blanket with
me. I pulled it out of the bag and did my best to wrap the flaming
stove up in it. I heard my tent-mate returning. Very calmly I asked
him to hold the door to the tent open. I explained that we had a
minor disaster and I needed to dispose of it before it became
unmanageable. Not knowing what to expect, he did as I requested only
to be rudely met by a ball of flame masquerading as a wool blanket.
His reaction was rather lewd but we succeeded in averting a
large-scale disaster.

The remainder of the night was mostly uneventful, albeit very cold.
As has become the norm when I camp out, my feet were cold all night,
preventing me from getting much sleep at all, but considering the
temperature, I did relatively well. My results were in-line with
those of my peers so I declared a victory on that front. The point of
the night out was to survive, not necessarily to be comfortable.

Getting out of my sleeping bag was the hardest thing that I did during
the entire ordeal. Going from being relatively warm to excruciatingly
painfully cold was very difficult. Forcing my feet into frozen,
rock-solid boots was pure torture. I spent about 30 minutes just
walking around to try to generate body heat. Eventually the activity
worked. We broke camp and returned to McMurdo in time for lunch. I
did suffer minor frostbite on the tip of my nose and the very tips of
two fingers on my right hand. The investment I made in physical
suffering will pay psychological dividends in knowing I can endure in
horribly adverse conditions. I am thankful for the newfound respect
that I have for the explorers of the heroic age who endured these
conditions for what must have seemed like forever.

My camera didn't work for very long in the cold. I did get a couple
of pictures. I'll get them up soon.

Have a great day everyone!
Will