A Sunday trip to the igloo village

On Sunday I drove four others out to the the igloo village. Several had thought about cancelling due to high winds and temperature down to -48 degF but since the weather was condition 3 (normal weather and safe travel) a few of us decided to go. My camera, along with others, were acting up due to the cold. I am surprised they even operate in this weather. So the pictures aren't that good.

Time to power up a Pisten Bully.

My igloo partner dug out the inside while I shoveled the snow away.

Icicles inside on the ceiling.

This looks like an underwater scene.

Nicely cut door.

No - it's not cold, it is really warm inside. The first thing I learned in Antarctic is that glasses are a real detriment. I have tried several defogging solutions but have found that nothing works. The lenses immediately ice over.

Our chef for lunch.

A thorn between two roses!

It was actually very comfortable with five of us inside.

One part of the igloo had collapsed resulting in this huge ice ball.

Another picture of the collapsed part.

The stove.

Chicken noodle cup-a-soup.

A good pot of soup but he didn't remember the beer!

Hot soup in an igloo can't be beat.

A outside picture of the collapse.

We replaced the doors and resealed with snow and water. The water instantly froze making a good seal.

It was darker and colder after we left the warm interior.

Last one to seal then we quickly left.

The "camping test" was a success and we are looking forward to some real camping in the near future. The National Science Foundation (NSF) must approve any overnight outings. Camping in an igloo will be a first if approved.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YVbAdqG2gw&list=PL23C92E9701D94326&feature=view_all

A YouTube playlist link for 4 videos (less than 4 minutes)

A challenging place to live and work

This week we had some challenging conditions as three of the days we were in condition 2 with winds 48-55 knots. Condition 3 is normal and Condition 1 is greater that 55 knots. 


My work partner and I received a page at 4am Thursday to check on one of the antennas. We attempted the drive up the hill with our 4-wheel drive van but quickly became stuck in the snow. We gathered our gear and walked down to where the Pisten Bully's (PB) are parked and proceeded to follow the lengthy start up procedure. Since there is a 30 minute warm up window we found some shelter as the wind was biting cold and dangerous. We then were able to access the antenna and found that the dish had moved down to the limit and stuck. We hand moved it out of the limit then used a laptop to command it to stow.  The bottom line was 5 minutes of real work took us over 3 hours.

Wednesday evening walk to dinner.

Outside of the radome.

Which way do I go?

As we were riding in the Pisten Bully the wind was howling and the snow blowing in total darkness. We knew "The Thing" was out there somewhere!

The weather is very nice today +10.4 degF snowing and no wind. This is beach weather for us!

We began our Austral Winter with a beautiful Antarctic day

Tuesday April 24, 2012 was the last sunrise and sunset. The length of  the solar day was 45 minutes. 12 of us drove two Pisten Bully's to Castle Rock for the viewing but we never saw it as the sun was too far to the east. It was a beautiful warm day compared to the full gale that blew through yesterday. Today, Wednesday, we are once again in Condition 2 with a full gale.

The sun will return in mid-August. We will still have a semblance of light for about a month before we move into darkness for about two months, from which we will begin to emerge at the end of July.

Our light will come from the moon and stars reflecting off the ice.

Our chariots for the afternoon.

Our igloos are still standing.

This is the one I worked on. This Sunday (weather permitting) we will dig it out and test camp (cook lunch, lay out sleeping bags and operate a heater) for the afternoon. Sounds fun. The moat around the igloo was carved by the wind.

Castle Rock and Mt. Terror.  Mt. Erebus and Mt. Terror are named after the HMS Erebus and Terror, the ships during the Captain James Ross, RN expedition of 1841.

Mt. Erebus (13,000 feet and with a small wiff of steam) and Castle Rock.

Mt Terror to the right and the east end of Ross Island.

The Kiwi's Hagglund.

What a crowd! Who brought the beer?

The colors were amazing. When we returned to town the sea-ice had a purple glow to it.

So it turns out this was the last sunset I saw. And it could very well be that my friend Justin and I were the only ones to see the last sunset. April 19, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdqj5kBj6hY&list=PL050EDEB0ABBBEC59&feature=view_all

A YouTube link that will play 7 videos (about 4 minutes total)