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A Trifecta of Traverses

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One of the most impressive operations here are the traverses. A few seasons ago, I posted about the SPoT team (South Pole Traverse) that drags fuel and cargo from McMurdo to the South Pole, usually three times a season. They are always a team of hearty people that get through tough conditions, driving their tractors for ~30 days each way.  HST getting set up in the background This season I've been spending time to get to know the Heavy Science Traverse (HST) team. This will be the first year they take their modules to the South Pole and then head even further than anyone has been before to take scientists to locations they need to do their work. There are 6 tractors that will go on this trip. They will follow SPoT1's trail to Pole, but then go further than the South Pole. They leave in early November and do not return until mid-February. Can you imagine?! You have to take everything with you for all that time and only stop at a station once (at Pole). You can only do things lik
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Gym Rage, Bird Strike, and Other Surprises!

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There's really only one activity that I do here besides work, and that's go to the gym. Sometimes it's really hard to get motivated to put on all the clothing, walk through the wind, and get to the gym only to remove the outer clothing and start to warm up. Fun fact...the dumbbells can be really cold on your hands. That's the gym building So you can imagine my frustration one day when huffing it through crap weather to get to where I can work out, expecting all the treadmills to look like this: And they looked like this: At that point, we only had ~400 people on station and only 1 working treadmill. It was like the Hunger Games trying to get to use that one. After gym raging a bit, I asked the contractor to look into fixing at least some of the treadmills that all went belly up at the same time. Luckily, a tech was able to get 4.5 of them going. The treadmills are so needed for our mental and physical health here. Only the craziest of people can run outside in these con
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What Does One Do in -40 Deg F Weather?

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This past week has been extremely cold. One reading showed -56 deg F with the wind chill, and boy did it blow like crazy a few of the days. It's hard to envision being warm and just having come from Texas where the temps are still in the 90's. After trying to sleep in a room that was in the 50's, I finally broke down and procured a space heater for my dorm room.  What does one do in this type of weather? Stay inside and walk briskly between buildings for sure. Here's a little view out my office window on a "sunny" day.  Up on Observation Hill, you can get better views of McMurdo nestled in the snow below. Just taking these photos about froze my hand off. McMurdo Below Dusted in Snow I took a few tours this week of different departments. First up was one I really enjoy, Station Services. This includes areas such as food services, the galley, retail store, recreation office, lodging office, craft room, etc.  One of many freezers What's left of the freshies f
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A Cancelation, An Abort, and a Success! Here At Last!

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Getting to and from McMurdo is always a challenge with lots of surprises. You try to set your expectations low for a smooth travel day. Our first flight was supposed to have been on September 16th, however the weather in McMurdo was too bad. It was canceled, but not in time for some of us to have already gotten up and starting our way to the terminal.  The next flight attempt was on September 17th. There was no cancellation message, so I checked out of my hotel and proceeded to the terminal only to be told it was cancelled. Went back to the hotel, checked back in, and got back in bed, only to find out that it wasn't canceled, so repeated the process again.  Before boarding the flight, we watch a series of safety, USAP, and NSF videos that help prepare you for the upcoming process of travel and your deployment.   Watching preflight videos in the terminal Getting onboard the NZ Air Force C-130 We finally boarded the plane and took off. Let's just say the NZ C130 is a TIGHT fit wi
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Tractor Repairs and Snot Mittens!

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Welcome back, Gentle Readers! Here I go again on my next deployment. (cue Whitesnake) Made it to Christchurch, New Zealand on Monday, September 16th after a dreaded long journey.  I spent the first day trying to stay awake and going to my usual "last time before I'm on the ice" places like the Riverside Market to get my haloumi (a fried cheese) salad and walk in the Botanical Gardens. Last deployment was a bit later in the year, so I was able to see a lot of pretty flowers. This deployment is still a bit chilly in Christchurch (in the 40's), so not many flowers, but there were beautiful daffodils to look at.                     Day 2 was my day to go to the Clothing Distribution Center and try on the cold weather gear I'll have to wear on the plane to McMurdo. The process was much quicker this year because I already knew my sizes and what clothing I did not need issued to me. We did not have to do any COVID protocols, nor are we quarantining this year before flyin
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