At the end of the world's longest logistical chain..

...that's a phrase from my resume. In the context that I use it in, it sounds very impressive, but the truth of the matter is, it can also be very comical.

Every year a re-supply vessel brings all the supplies down that will be needed during the next year's science season. Food, construction materials, machinery, parts, science equipment, liquor...basically everything that one can imagine. Due to the beauracracy of getting items down here, it takes approximately two years from the time an item is ordered until it actually gets here. During that two years, the order is heavily scrutinized and tough questions are asked which establish whether the item is actually needed, can the item be substituted, is there already something on station that could be used instead...The idea is a sound one and the procurement process is designed to maximize your tax dollars. Sounds great right? Well...in some cases it isn't great. Someone's job is to ensure there is enough bedding on station to support the approximately 1100 people that the station can hold. This person apparently decided to order new comforters. Through the process of scrutinization, a less expensive alternative was found to the comforters that were ordered, so they were purchased and shipped instead.....so after two years a container full of comforters finally arrived and was promptly put back on the ship to be sent back. Why do you suppose they won't work? Because they are 'dry clean only', and we haven't got any one-hour martinizers.

Napkins were ordered from New Zealand, but they don't fit our USA napkin dispensers

Nasty old mattresses were replaced with new ones, but they were 'single' mattresses and the bed frames on station are 'twin' so they slide around while you're trying to sleep....the comedy of errors goes on an on.

Pics from Pole

The South Pole

South Pole Station

The only way out is north

Since man has been coming to Antarctica, the ultimate destination has always been the south pole. Early explorers endured the most extreme hardships. Some lost everything along the way. They endured frost-bite, unbearably cold temperatures, some of the fiercest winds on the planet. My hardship, the crust on my sandwich was a tad bit hard. I probably won't go down in history books for my efforts in conquering stale sandwiches, but I am at the South Pole. When I first started thinking about coming to Antarctica, I fantasized about getting an opportunity to visit “Pole” as it's called by the locals. It was unreasonable to think that I would get to come my first season, but the opportunity arose this season and I jumped at the chance. I only found out a few days ago that I would be coming, I had to tie up some loose ends before departing McMurdo so I really didn't have too much time to get excited about the whole affair. I first started to feel the excitement the night before I came. I woke at about 3A.M and wasn't able to go back to sleep due to the excitement. The flight down was an uneventful 3 hours on a ski-equipped C-130. On the way down, I took an opportunity to look out the window. I was reminded the vastness of this continent. It's amazing how easy it is to forget about the rest of the continent when you're at McMurdo. The feeling I got when I stepped off the plane at Pole was on of exhilaration. I feel extremely honored and privileged to be in this otherworldly place. I received a very warm welcome from the operations manager here. I spent the rest of the day settling into my room and trying to learn my way around the 60,000 sq. foot elevated station.

I intend on getting some pics posted on the blog over the course of the next few days. Until then, here are some tidbits of information:

The current station was completed during the 2005/2006 austral summer.

Conservation is for real here. All water comes from melting snow, which burns a great deal of fuel (at about $16/gallon by the time it gets here). Only 2 showers, lasting 2 minutes each are allowed.

T-shirt design

I couldn't bear the fact that my life is so empty that my "Happy New Year" post was STILL the most recent post clear up until the middle of January. That is akin to leaving the Christmas lights up until Valentine's day. In light of that, I felt obligated to post something..anything so here it is. In November I designed a T-shirt for my work center. I was pretty proud of my wit. I took orders from the guys at work and placed the order. They turned out really good and I was amazed at the satisfaction derived from seeing something that I had designed being worn by residents of the community. Here are some pics of the design.

Happy New Year!!!

I hope everyone is having a happy New Year. I know I am. The start of a new year always causes one to think about what they did during the previous year and what they wish to accomplish in the next. My New Years celebration was supposed to be themed around having fun with karma. You see, I have a friend who is particularly fussy about her coffee. It's cute and funny and it gives me a chance to overlook my own peculiarities and make fun of hers. Her, and her boyfriend, were to be working the coffee house for New Year's Eve. The coffee house actually serves more wine and liquor than anything else, but it is "The Coffee House" so, one should expect there to be coffee there. Now, especially on a busy night, coffee drinks (specifically espresso) take a long time to make. Add to that the tendency for people to assert their individuality by ordering a complicated coffee drink and I can have some compassion for somebody who may not want to be bothered with making coffee when it is much quicker to pour a glass of wine. But, since my friend tends to be picky I fantasized about the karmic humour that would be had by ordering copious amounts of coffee on New Year's Eve. The couple decided to have a little fun and post faux newspaper articles about how e.coli had been discovered in the coffee machine and that coffee wouldn't be available on NYE, all the reasonable people who are lacking in sticks up their asses thought it was funny. But that one guy in management who, apparently does have a stick up his ass, failed to find the humour and had all the signs removed and had my friends relieved of their duties as coffee house bar tenders. Yes, things have been so mellow this year that stupid shit like this makes major headlines. Unbelievable.

On another note, I have done some reflecting about the past year. Marsha and I have had an absolutely great year. We've travelled 3 continents, surfed in Mexico, visited no less than 3 world-heritage sites, visited ancient ruins, witnessed the beginning of a revolution and been to Antarctica - TWICE! I've skied in 2 countries, toured 13 (or so) western states with my kids and I've just done some amazing things. I am very grateful for the freedom that I have to be able to do all this stuff. Here's to another amazing year!

Destination Gulmarg

I'm calling it the Global ody-ski for world peace, it's a bit of self-aggrandizement surrounding my vacation plans. But, here's the plan: I will depart the ice sometime on or about 14 February and spend a couple of weeks kicking around in New Zealand. I need enough time there to process an Indian Visa. Marsha and I will be together for this leg of the journey. Our plans are pretty open but I want to give surfing another shot and want to tour around a bit with her. I'll leave on March 3rd for the U.S. I'll only be passing through the states very briefly. I'll make a quick stopover in Vegas to see a friend whom I haven't seen in years and am eager to catch up with. From there to Riverton, WY where I'll pick up my skis and my Suburban, drive to Jackson, see the boys and then drive to Denver from where I'll depart for Kashmir on March 8th. My trip will take me from Denver to D.C. to Munich to Delhi where I'll spend a night then on to Srinigar, the capital city of Kashmir. From there, it's land transportation to Gulmarg the site of a single gondola that has a vertical rise of 1330 metres (~4300 vert. feet!) that's a greater vertical rise than anything in North America! The gondola, in its 2nd year of full operations, only sees about 50 skiers/day. To say that I am excited about this trip is a bit understated. Currently, I have a hotel booked there for 2 weeks but my plane ticket is one-way and I have no obligations to be anywhere else. Ahhh...the benefits of being homeless. So, I'm not sure where I'll be going after Kashmir, but Chamonix (in France) is high on my list. Skiing in Transylvania has an appeal due to its low cost, or possibly St. Anton, Zermatt....the list goes on. I'll just follow the snow. When the skiing peters out, I plan on meeting Marsha somewhere in Europe to tour around a bit, especially eastern Europe. From there I plan on flying directly to Buenos Aires and on to Barlioche in Patagonia for some Austral-skiing before returning to work....either back to Antarctica or somewhere else. Anyhow, that's it. I would enjoy seeing you along the way.

Of course, this is all subject to change :)

Have a great day!

Couple of random notes...

Myself and the guys I work with took a trip to Cape Evans a few weeks ago. It was a great trip out of town as well as a good bonding experience. This time, I drove the newest, most reliable piece of equipment, that's the "Elephant Man" on the right. We also took 3 Pisten Bullys and 2 Tucker snow cats. We were out until almost 1 A.M. We saw seals and toured an historic hut that was built in the early 1900's by one of the first expeditions.




Havin' a BLAST. Yesterday, I witnessed the launch of this season's most impressive baloon payload. It's called BLAST - an acronym for Balloon Borne, Large apeture, Submillimeter Telescope. In a nutshell, its job is to detect star-forming regions.

Why come to Antarctica...?

Recently, some observations from friends of mine who were here under the auspices of the National Science Foundation have been causing me to think. The rhetorical question was asked "Why would you be here if you're confined to town?" To answer that, first, nobody is really confined to town. Even the people who work in the dining facility get out every once in a while. The larger answer though, is that we're here for the experience. Just like you are. My experience won't be less rich because I didn't spend time in a field camp. My experience will be richer though because you have.

What I'm trying to get at is that your success depends on my success and I am emotionally invested in your project before you even hit the ice. Do you think your transportation just happens? Do you think your gear just arrives? Do you think your meals magically appear? To do whatever it is that you came here to do, you need transportation, quarters, food, gear and various other stuff. We make it happen. Maybe you haven't noticed, but there isn't an auto parts store nearby. You probably have noticed that the equipment you are driving around in is used. During a great part of the austral summer, it doesn't seem too cold at McMurdo, but try holding onto a hunk of metal that is 30 degrees farenheit. Believe me, it's cold! Knowing that I have overcome adversity, knowing that I have had to make do without fills me with a sense of pride.

Yes, we envy you. We want to get out and experience Antarctica but please don't pity me for not spending my time here exclusively in a field camp. I take a great deal of pride knowing that I, in the face of great adversity, have contributed to the furtherance of human knowledge. Phrases like "I can't do that without parts" have been replaced by "I'll think of another way to do the job". Thanks to the kitchen staff, the housing staff, logistics, fuels, waste, IT, firehouse, cargo, ATO and all the other departments, without whom I couldn't do my job and without whom my entire experience in Antarctica might not be as rich.

May contain peanuts...

So what's up with everyone's food allergies? I made some crack the other day about seeing signs for "gluten-free" this and that and got a very stern response from a bystander about how people have allergies. There are peanut allergies. You can't send latex balloons to school because of latex allergies. I have a cousin who has a soy allergy - damn good thing she's not lactose intolerant as well. I think that the pussification of America may have gone beyond being politically correct and may now encompass every facet of our being. And on that, what's up with workplace "sensitivity" type training. I'm told that if my actions, words or pictures that I view offend someone in my workplace then I must change my behavior. I have three words for someone who finds my stuff offensive: "Deal with it you moronic, worthless piece of spineless trash"

So....everyone who comes to Antarctica signs an offer letter that states their wages. It is also made very clear to anyone wanting to work here that they will be expected to work 54 hours per week. If you can't be happy working for that amount of pay and for those hours, then don't sign up - simple! Also, there was a question asked at today's "all hands meeting" about televisions and why there isn't a television in every dorm room. Seriously, did you come here to watch fucking tv?


I had a bit of an emotional meltdown a few weeks ago. Some tough questions came up, and in the end, I am a better person and know more about myself for confronting those questions. As a result of this I now know that, as I get closer to my 40th birthday, that my big aspiration in life is to be a ski bum. That's it, I'm not going to be the one to cure cancer or solve world hunger or promote world peace. I simply want to ski.

O.K. enough of my drivel. Have a good one!

Pointless Babbling

After the disaster of the Black Island traverse, I've been kept on a short leash so I haven't got any new adventures to report on but out of an overwhelming feeling of obligation to my readers (mom) I feel the need to write about something so here goes... Tucked in the many nooks and crannies of McMurdo you can find lots of things that you wouldn't normally see outside of a mental institution. For example, insane people, boxes upon boxes of paper products and powdered bleach. I guess they try to save on weight when they ship it down but it's really a drag when washing your whites because there aren't instructions on how to mix it for a non-institutional load of laundry. Such is life here.

Last Saturday I was privileged to attend the annual 70's disco themed party. Marsha commented that it was strange that this is part of our lifestyle. She's right, along with world travel and eating dinner amongst some of the best and brightest that the world has to offer, we go to parties where people put on some sort of wig and dance to awful music. Disco music is something that most of us tried to forget, why are we memoralizing it here? Why not a 70's Lynrd Skynrd party or something? I've also come to accept the fact that guys here, especially those who work at the fire department, love to dress up in drag. Didn't Salman Rushdie or someone say that in a society that hasn't got enough females that the males will assume the role? I dunno...I find it disturbing yet humorous. Here are a couple of pics. A big thanks to Sylvestre Guidi for immortalizing these precious moments.


Marsha gets jiggy!


I can dance if I want to




This guy'll be sorry when his senate campaign is derailed by this picture


Lip service is still being paid to safety here. We've all worked places where that happens, but here's how it works here. In the coffee house, there's a space where they show movies from time to time. Last season this space was lit with Christmas lights. They're just about perfect for when you want to go to the restroom without stepping all over the bodies strewn about. Well, this year they have been removed because they are a fire hazard. I now have to feel my way through a maze of sweaty rednecks (well...only on Dolly Parton marathon days) to get to the restroom because Cletus and Lerlean wrapped three tons of conductive material around a tree that nobody has bothered to water since Halloween and they done burnt up the trailer park one Christmas. Meanwhile, my employer is perfectly o.k. with taking someone with two or three year's worth of experience driving their mother's escort and putting them behind the wheel of a ten ton articulated cargo truck and driving up and down an icy 12% grade all day. I feel safer already.

I have a long-standing philosophy about picking up girls at the gym. I have always felt that women who go to the gym may very well be interested in being picked up but it ain't by any man who's there. However, my mind may have been changed. First, you have to consider what some of these girls wear. A baggy pair of shorts and T-shirt are adequate workout wear but when some girl wears a form fitting tight outfit it becomes difficult to not ogle. Lately, the girls who are lacking the form to have form-fitting clothing seem to be trying to compensate by veiling themselves in a cloud of toxic gas smelling perfume. I guess if my eyes are burning from this haze that emanates from you, I can't possibly be disgusted by your haggard looks. I can't help but wonder if we've received a plane load of Eau du Seahag.

Well, that's about all I have for now. I must excuse myself to go snort some powdered bleach to try to rid my nostrils of this stench.

Will goes blonde...

All waste generated by the United States Antarctic Program must be shipped back to the U.S. 60% of all waste from here gets recycled. Last year 100% of the plastic that was used here was recycled. Personal items and clothing that people bring down and then decide they don't want for whatever reason can be discarded in what is called Skua (named for a scavenger bird that comes here in the summer). I stopped into Skua last week and found a blonde hair dye kit. I was pretty apprehensive but decided to give it a shot. I really like it. What do you think?

Fun at mealtime...

...One of the neater things about the culture at McMurdo is the mealtime conversation. Marsha and myself have been trying to break from our safe routine of sitting with the same people every day. We have been branching out and meeting some new people at mealtime. It has been very rewarding. Today however, we sat with our normal group of people. The conversation was rich in talk of world travel. We compared notes with our friend Holly on travel in Australia. We discussed travel in Europe with the group. It's not every day or in every place that you can have conversations such as that with your co-workers. The conversation took a turn for the worse. Somehow or another we got on the subject of Dan Savage. Dan Savage writes a syndicated sex-advice column. As a reaction to Senator Rick Santorum's condemnation of homosexuality, Mr. Savage challenged his listners to come up with a sex-related definition of the word "santorum" as a satirical form of political protest for the express purpose of "memorializ[ing] the Santorum scandal […] by attaching his name to a sex act that would make his big, white teeth fall out of his big, empty head". I won't print the winning word and definition here, it is certainly not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach nor is it safe for minors. If you insist, you can find it here. Lunch turned out to be a wonderfully fun experience with my friends!

vomit

Life in Antarctica has its ugly side too...the following is a cut 'n paste from an email from the station manager:

Current station policy holds all individuals responsible for their actions with regard to alcohol consumption. This includes those who consume too much alcohol and vomit in the common areas of living quarters. This has occurred on three separate occasions this past week in the second floor men's bathroom [both galley and lounge side] of Building 155. Regrettably, the persons responsible for these actions did not clean up after themselves.

Let me be clear, if you vomit inside of a building, you are responsible for cleaning up after yourself. In the dorm areas, on each floor there are buckets, mops, etc. in the janitor's closet. There is hot water from the sink and cleaning products available to help you with this task.

More importantly, each individual needs to assess their alcohol tolerance and learn to moderate their consumption accordingly. If you are going to consume alcohol, pay attention to factors such as rest, when you last ate, and if you are recovering from a cold or flu. These factors may reduce your body's ability to process the alcohol in your system. If you believe your consumption habits are out of control, their are resources on station to help you.

Please join me in promoting responsible alcohol use. If you make a poor decision, step forward and take responsibility for correcting that decision.

Richard's take on the Black Island traverse

Richard's take on the trip

18,600 pounds of pure joy...

...Properly called a Nodwell. It's a 1982 model of a tracked vehicle manufactured my Canadian Foremost. I am to drive this calamitous contraption 60 miles across the Ross Ice Shelf from McMurdo Station to Black Island Antarctica. I'm a heavy equipment mechanic tasked with repairing the two generators at Black Island that are down. There are other problems with other systems on the station also. Six other people will be going on the traverse (any overland trip here is referred to as a traverse) with me. We are taking a total of four vehicles. Three of them being Pisten Bullys and the fourth being the aforementioned Nodwell. The Nodwell was brought into the United States Antarctic Program back in the days when each piece of equipment had a unique name. The Nodwell's name is T-Rex. Pisten Bully is a German made ski groomer type of vehicle. It's name is a reference to the French/Italian term “piste”. The Pisten Bully is a great vehicle for its intended purpose but that purpose wasn't to transport scientists and equipment across Antarctica. Despite the snow and ice, this place isn't Squaw Valley.











A Pisten Bully

Black Island gets its name because it is mostly snow and ice free. The katabolic winds here are treacherous and Black Island bears the brunt of their force, scrubbing the island clean of any accumulated snow and ice. The plan was to leave on Monday at 7:15 AM. But high winds in the forecast caused a 24 hour delay to our trip. This worked in my favor as I have a great deal of tasking on my plate and really need to get it done. During the delay our manifest increased by three people as a film crew wishes to go along for the ride. On Tuesday I checked my email at 6:15 to see if we were a go. An email outage prevented anyone from being notified so everyone prepared for going. For my part, this involves starting T-Rex which is no small task considering there isn't indoor parking for vehicles. Think about how hard it is to start your car when it's cold outside and multiply that by ten. The temperatures are colder, the wind is fiercer and the equipment is older. I also had to load a few “do not freeze” items on T-Rex and gather my personal belongings for the trip. After the preparation I went to the dining facility for breakfast. It was there that I eventually found out that the traverse was postponed another 24 hours. I wondered how Shackleton, Scott and Amundsen were able to do what the did without the benefit of weather forecasters and email.

By Tuesday evening our manifest had grown by another person. This time a cook and friend of mine from former trips into the Antarctic hinterlands. It was a relief to know that I wouldn't have to rely on boil-in-the-bag type backpacker food. As the day went on, I realized that my luggage for the trip was getting heavier as I kept thinking of items that might be good to have along. As time would soon tell, this was a good thing.

Wednesday morning I received notice that the traverse was a go. I went to the shop, started T-Rex, loaded some last minute items then went to the galley to meet the rest of the traverse crew. We did some last minute planning, gathered the last of the gear that we would need and departed. I feel it necessary to mention at this point that T-Rex is somewhat of an underdog. The traverse leader commented that the machine probably wouldn't make it as far as “KOA” (a shelter about half way between McMurdo and Black Island). When we got to KOA we made a point of radioing back to McMurdo to let everyone know that we had, indeed, made it that far. Very soon after passing KOA we entered what is called the dead zone, so-called because there is no radio communication back to McMurdo from anywhere in the dead zone. It's really pretty ominous. If anything happens while you're there, you're on your own until somebody at McMurdo decides to do something about it. The trip through the dead zone is about an hour long and went by uneventfully. On the other side of it, we promptly checked back in with McMurdo. Soon after our scheduled radio check in, something went horribly awry with T-Rex. I felt something give and heard an atrocious noise from the undercarriage. I brought the machine to a stop and opened my door. Dave, my supervisor and passenger, asked me “What's wrong? Do you smell something hot?”

As I was looking down at the ice, I replied “That thing that I step on to get in and out is gone” The thing that I was referring to was the left side track. It had broken and was laying about 50 feet behind us. “What do we do now?” I thought to myself hopelessly.










Self Laying Track Vehicle Photo: Anthony "Antz" Powell



Dave and I were under great pressure to get this right. It didn't take long for the film crew to get set up and start filming.

The decision making process went into full swing with Dave and myself not wasting any time conferring about what to do or how to do it but rather fiercely attacking the problem at hand. I was able to back T-Rex up mostly straight onto its own track. We used one of the Pisten Bullys to pull the track sideways ever so slightly as I backed T-Rex up. Next, we had to get the other half of the track over top of the drive assembly. We put a few of the grousers over the drive sprocket and engaged the transmission of the machine and it pulled its own track over. That maneuver concluded the easy part. In order to complete the repairs, we would have to come up with material to mend the break and we would need to get enough slack in the track to bolt the two ends together. Fortunately for us, the break had happened in a previous patch. We could simply remove both halves of the patch and use the longer piece to go back in place and bolt less of it to the existing track. T-Rex has an air compressor and I was well equipped to deal with any situation. I got an air impact wrench and an air hose from my tool kit and spent a good bit of time unbolting six track grousers. That done, we only had to figure out how best to re-use the old section of track patch and get slack in the track. The track is tensioned by a cylinder packed with grease. Dave and I are both experienced mechanics. By experienced, I mean that we both know the consequences of removing a fitting that has grease under pressure behind it and neither of us was willing to take a face-full of frozen, pressurized grease. We also had no way of putting grease back in the cylinder once the pressure was off. It was getting late and dark and the decision was made for us to ride in the Pisten Bully back to camp, get some rest and come up with a plan to finish the repairs to T-Rex.

That night, I slept in the bunkhouse at Black Island. The bunkhouse is a building that I would come to know, like many before me, as “the night train”When the wind starts blowing the bunkhouse creaks and sways. The low rumbling and gentle rocking resemble the feeling and sound of being aboard a train. When the winds are calm, the night train is unbearably hot, especially in the top bunk that I was in. When the wind picks up to about 40 knots the temperature drops to comfortable when the wind is harder than that, the bottom bunks are, apparently, unbearably frigid.

After a night of insufficient sleep I woke to the howling of winds in excess of 40 knots. The short 50 yard walk to the main building was grueling. There was no chance of going out to complete the repairs on T-Rex in weather such as this so I opted to work on what I was here for, the generators. The first generator that I worked on proved to be a relatively easy fix. Engine vibration had shaken a wire loose on the starter and I was able to fix it by crimping the wire on tighter. The other generator is a victim of being near the end of the earth's longest logistical chain. Absent proper parts to repair things, equipment gets cobbled together by whatever means available to make them work. This is just a fact of life in Antarctica. Unfortunately when these types of repairs are made they make little, if any, sense to the next person to come along. After a series of such repairs it becomes impossible to make the equipment work like it's supposed to again. In the end, the second generator was not repaired and will have to be completed on another trip.

The next day I woke in a puddle of sweat. A calm night in the night train was indicative of calm winds. Dave and I spent a few hours cleaning snow out of Pisten Bullys and getting two of them started. We needed one to venture back to T-Rex and wanted a second one running in case something happened and we needed help. Due to all of this, we got a late start. We arrived at T-Rex at 12:30 PM and made a decision to return to camp no later than 4:30 so that we wouldn't have to try to find our way back in the dark. The road is marked by bamboo poles that are supposed to have flags on them, but the flags have all been violently ripped off by the high winds. Trying to navigate this route in the dark, under whiteout conditions would be extremely difficult as we would later find out. Soon after we arrived at T-Rex the wind picked up. Ambient temperatures were a brisk -22 F. Wind chills were off the chart. Dave commented “I have been this cold before, but never so quickly”.

We took frequent breaks and kept an eye on one another to avoid cold-weather injuries such as frostbite. The work was painfully slow. Fine motor skills become severely diminished when all one thinks about is how cold they are. Skills are further diminished by the necessity of wearing gloves. Touching frozen metal with bare hands in these temperatures instantly produces a sensation much like a burn. As 4:30 approached and then passed we hadn't accomplished much. By 5:30 we were close enough to having the track back together that it was extremely difficult to quit now, but in the interest of our survival we stopped and headed back to camp. The drive back took twice as long as normal due to the inferior visibility. By the time we returned to camp, our stress levels were elevated and a drink was in order.

Saturday proved to be another calm day. Temperatures were considerably warmer and the wind hadn't blown overnight. Pisten Bullys started with ease and didn't require any shoveling out. We arrived at T-Rex at 9:30 AM and had it back together by 11:00 AM. I drove it back towards camp and parked it about 20 minutes away to avoid driving the fragile track across the abrasive volcanic rock of Black Island. By the time we got back to camp, the wind was starting to pick up. Before this night was up, the winds would peak at 97mph. I slept on the floor of the main building that night as getting to the bunkhouse was impossible due to the high winds.

T-Rex was in need of fuel if we were to drive it home. By noon on Sunday the winds had subsided enough to facilitate taking some fuel to T-Rex. We made two trips with six 5-gallon cans. We filled the machine with fuel and pumped the tensioning cylinder up with grease. After the second trip we crossed our fingers and hoped for all to go well the next day so that we could return to McMurdo.

Monday morning was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. The sky was displaying a magnificent array of colors that are only possible here. The air was silent, crisp and clean. The weather forecast was favorable so the decision was made for seven of us to return to McMurdo in two vehicles. T-Rex and a Pisten Bully. We departed at about 10 AM drove for an uneventful five hours back to McMurdo.

Every moment that I spent on the ice-shelf was pure misery. The constant drone of T-Rex's engine, the bitter cold, the stinging of ice crystals and volcanic pebbles hitting my face, my eyeballs freezing shut, every moment of it was agonizing and grueling. Sharing this with another person formed a bond that can't be formed anywhere else. This is why I am here. This is the Antarctica that I came here to experience. We completed the traverse without help from anyone. We proved to be completely self-sufficient under impossible circumstances. I was able to take great pride in the smallest of victories such as getting a bolt through a hole in T-Rex's track. Such accomplishments are taken for granted in normal circumstances but Antarctica is far from normal and accomplishments here are always grandiose.

Upon my return to McMurdo I took my first shower in six days and was welcomed back by my peers in much the same fashion that celebrities are welcomed. For the second time in less than a month I have returned to McMurdo and felt at home.

Oh..and sometimes just like in the movies, the underdog wins!

Snotsickle: A Self-Portrait

Trip to Black Island...the prep..

So..there's a generator (or three) at Black Island that is in need of repair. I am gearing up to go take care of it. Today, I got to hear someone whine about how they don't get to go because they haven't had happy camper. I'm thinking the guy could have fulfilled the obligations of his contract last year, rather than leaving after six weeks and he could have gotten happy camper then and would be ready to go this year. Also, all these fuckers who complain about not getting to go out can pound sand in their ass. Where are they all at when I'm working on Sunday? Where are they while I'm working past quitting time out in the cold, working through break and eating sack lunch or sometimes not getting lunch at all? Cease the whining boys and take some initiative to do something.

Anyhow, I'll report more on the trip as it progresses

pictures

pics of Marsha and myself!

seventh archival post

Season Two: The Adventure.....Repeats

Hi All,
I've found myself once again in Antarctica. The feeling I had as I
got here was one I hadn't expected. The bonds I formed last year have
proven to have lasted during the off season. When I got here, I had
an overwhelming feeling of home. It only makes sense. Since last
February, the longest I've stayed in the same place was three weeks in
Mexico. Even there, I made the occasional side trip. So knowing that
I'll be staying put for six months is kind of nice. The connections
that I made here last year are akin to those that one makes in a
foxhole. Sharing the experience of a harsh continent with a small
group of people really cements a relationship.

Contrary to what some of you may believe, I had not fallen off the
face of the earth. Here's a summary of what I've been doing since
last February:

One week in Tasmania. Gorgeous contemporary small cities, pristine
beaches, stunningly beautiful world heritage rain forests.

One week on the mainland of Australia. Sydney, the Blue Mountains,
Uluru. Friendly people, dramatic coastlines, far too vast and diverse
to explore in a week.

About 30 days skiing and seeing the kids in Jackson Hole. Epic powder
days, party nights

Quick road trip to Whistler, B.C. Stayed a night in a Yurt, had a
wonderful time skiing with Cody and Kegan. Diagnosed with a salivary
gland infection which put a damper on my good times.

Back to Jackson Hole for a few days where I learned that competent
Canadian "Infection" translates into inept American "Cancer"...no
worries, the Canadian diagnoses was the proper one.

Three week surf vacation to Puerto Escondido in Oaxaca (pronounced
wah-ha-ca)Mexico. Monstrous, bone-crushing waves, friendly people,
squalor. Took a side trip to Oaxaca city, saw the amazing ruins of
Monte Alban. Saw the beginning of an uprising in Oaxaca city. Drank
some really good Mezcal. Took a side trip to San Cristobal de las
Casas in Chiapas, Mexico, home of the Zapatista uprising of 1994 and
still the base for an active post-modern revolution.

One month water park tour of 12 western states with Cody & Kegan.

One week of Boy Scout camp with Cody.

One week of school in Denver. It was for work and covered everything
I will need to know about the Cat 950G Series II loader

Three days of school in Reno, NV on the Pisten Bully. It's a ski
groomer type vehicle that we use in Antarctica to transport scientists
around.

That takes me up to when I left again for Antarctica. The journey was
long and agonizing but the reward for dealing with that is that I am
once again in this beautiful and unique place. I intend on
chronicling the journey down in a later email. I am also working on
putting a blog together. I hate those things, but it might work well
for me as I can keep an archive of all the stuff I have written.

That's all I have time for right now. I'll write more later. I hope
this finds all of you doing well. I hope to hear from you all soon.

Later,
Will

This is just a photo I put here to test upload of photos. It's of auroras at the South Pole. I didn't take the picture, never even been to the pole.

sixth archival post...The Boondoggle

"I will light the match this morning so I won't be alone."

Pearl Jam – Indifference


A boondoggle is defined locally as any trip off-station. Boondoggles
are highly coveted by the population at McMurdo. We're all here for a
chance to find the Antarctica that we came here to see.

McMurdo station is on Ross Island. It's not on the mainland of
Antarctica. When I was presented with the opportunity to go on a
boondoggle to a station located on the mainland, I jumped at it. My
destination was Marble Point, a remote outpost that provides
logistical support for research on the continent. The generator on
the station was down and my job was to get it running again. My
reward for my efforts was an experience so powerfully spiritual that I
fear my words won't do it justice.

I arrived by helicopter, was greeted by Crunch, the station manager
and briefed on the problems the generator was having. It turned out
to be a relatively simple, albeit time-consuming fix. Long story
short; Will said "Let there be light!" and there was light.

The next day I took full advantage of where I was. I went for a walk.
Shortly after breakfast, I loaded my pockets with various
calorie-laden foods that were available, grabbed a radio and embarked.
I had walked less than 15 minutes when I suddenly felt completely
alone. By alone, I mean it was easy to believe that I was the only
person in the entirety of the universe. The emptiness of Antarctica
enveloped me. I couldn't see, hear, feel, taste or smell any sign of
any living thing other than myself. This is the kind of emptiness and
loneliness that I had only envisioned in one of my favorite childhood
dreams. The only connection I had to the real world, the only thing
that made this experience real, was the song going through my head;
something by Green Day, "…I walk these lonely streets……I walk
alone……"

The destination was Hogback Hill. I had scouted it out on the map. I
pride myself on my map reading and land navigation skills. One of the
things that I have always preached to Cody is to check the information
on the map to see what units of measurement are being used.
Case-in-point I read the hilltop to be 734 feet high, in reality, it
was 734 meters. I was humbled to think that I was that tired climbing
a 700-foot hill. On my ascent, I noticed that it was so quiet that I
could hear my own heartbeat. I heard it! It sounded like when you
listen to an unborn baby's heartbeat through a stethoscope. The only
sign of life was my own heartbeat. Lacking any outside validation,
the beat of my heart was the only proof I had that I was alive, that I
even existed in the otherworldly empty vastness that I was now
surrounded by.

I walked along the base of a glacier. The crunching of snow was like
thousands of microscopic caverns collapsing in a thunderous roar under
the weight of my boots. Like the report of a shotgun, the sounds of
the glacier cracking ripped through the flesh of silence. The
cacophony of dripping water sounded like a shower that the earth was
taking. Chaos theory started to make sense to me when I contemplated
the melting glacier before me. The ice towered above me for hundreds
of feet. The heat of the sun was randomly releasing molecules of
water that had been frozen for countless millennia. Some would
evaporate and blow northward to the ocean, others would refreeze only
to be locked again in ice for countless more millennia. I was there
to witness their re-emergence and their random dissemination.
Something senseless made sense. A landscape devoid of life caused me
to feel more alive than ever.

The hike ended eight hours after it had started. I arrived safely
back at the station. Tired, yet somehow refreshed. Self-aware and
ALIVE! Grateful for the chance to experience what I thought
Antarctica was.


Hi all! It's been a long time since any of you have heard from me.
Nothing much new has been going on aside from my weekend retreat
described above. I did get some new pictures up, mostly from my trip
to Marble Point. There are some of the landscape and some that bring
things to light that nobody probably ever thinks of (read the signs).
The pictures can be found at:
here
kudos to anyone who gets the reference in this picture

(UNLESS is spelled in rocks, in case you can't make it out-my rock
writing sucks almost as much as my handwriting). Something that I had
the privelige of seeing a presentation on tonight was the American
Women's Expedition. Four women set out to ski across the continent.
They abandoned their expedition upon reaching the South Pole, but it
was a remarkable story nonetheless. Here is the best info I could
find on it:
I was impressed. You should be too!

That's about all I have in my world. I hope all of you are doing well.

Later,
Will