bag drag

Part of the Antarctic experience is bag drag. This is when you bring all your belongings with you up to the building I work in and check-in. Checked bags are left overnight and built into a pallet (pictured), and myself, my carry on and my ECW (Extreme Cold Weather) gear goes home to be brought back up for transport the next day. This happens the day before the flight so accurate weights can be recorded for the flight, so there is time to load the baggage pallet, and to get paperwork ready for the flight. My job was to check people through and make sure they brought the appropriate gear.

To Christchurch, we are allowed to check up to 75 pounds and have one carry on bag. This year, I packed four bags northbound to a total of 71 pounds and have a 63 pound carry on. I'm not sure how I packed all that weight in my bag, but it's got to arrive in Christchurch somehow. From there we can mail things home to lighten our load while we are traveling.

pavlova paul

Part of our job in Air Services is to work with Scott Base and move their passenger on the flights we manifest. The two folks we work with most often are Paul and Yvonne. Paul brings the Kiwi's bags over to our station so we can add them to the baggage pallet and I always told him to also bring me some pavlova when they had some for their tea time at Scott Base. One day, Paul walked in the office with an entire pavlova that their chef whipped up for me. It's certainly a tasty treat!

i spy

I spied on someone the other day.

First, I should preface this posting by telling you that the Coffee House has been closed for the past three weeks due to a leaky roof that culminated into a structural problem in the men's loo. The carpentry shop along with others have been working on getting one of the favorite places on station back in running order.

So, I was running on a treadmill in the "Gerbil" Gym a few days ago, looking straight out of a 2x2 foot window toward the Coffee House where Dave (the guy who had to patch up a hole in the crashed Pegasus aircraft) was finishing some metal work on the roof.

I watched him toss off his used and broken parts, clean up his tools and put them away, walk over the roof to inspect the creases and make sure his metal was secure. After all this, at the close of his workday, he began to walk off. But before he moved too far away. He stopped and turned around and looked at his work. He took one more walk back to the building, and made sure his work was good and complete.

I got to thinking a bit how God must look at his redemption work in our life. He tosses off the used and broken parts of us and he looks us over for any adjustments that need to be made, or things that need to be smoothed out. And, when he's done forgiving us and making us clean again, he steps back and admires his work in each one of us. The only difference is that Dave will likely not have to fix his handiwork for the next few years; whereas God is in a continual process of redeeming our sinful selves.

if it is not one thing...

Usually our C-17 is delayed for one maintanence reason or another. Sometimes, mostly at the beginning and end of the season, they are delayed due to weather in Antarctica.

Today the C-17 is delayed due to a stabbing at the Christchurch Internationl Airport. And, we all feel so safe in the nice country of New Zealand.

In any case, our C-17 flight from Christchurch has been delayed because the airport is being closed. Passengers are being removed from flights and we are anticipating a late transport for our passengers going North.

my christmas, part 1

Well, since I've been receiving e-mails and it appears the story has hit the international news circuit, I may as well tell you about the unfortunate event that cause somewhere near 100 people (from South Pole and McMurdo, to Christchurch and Denver), including myself, to work on Christmas Eve.

There was a drunken fight (also know as the "Christmas Punch-Up" by off-continent news sources) at the South Pole the night or morning of our two day Christmas holiday. One man (not a favorite frequent flyer in Antarctica) had his jaw broken and required a medevac from the South Pole to McMurdo. Unable to treat him here, we had to send him North to Christchurch. You can imagine how excited everyone was to come in on their day off to get this guy to New Zealand. My senior, Susie, worked the South Pole flights in the morning and I set up the Christchurch flight in the evening. I can't say much more than what the press has gotten a hold of; other than most of their information is accurate.

News Stories:
Guardian Unlimited: Antarctic Base Staff Evacuated after Christmas Brawl
The Register: Antarctic Base Staff in Drunken Xmas Punch-Up
The Age: South Pole Slugger gets the Sack

Also in the news was the emergency landing of the Basler aircraft. You may remember this photo of me with the Basler (and the seal) from Christmas last year.

News Stories:
Canadian Content: Canadian Basler Aircraft Crashes in Antarctica
The Press: Researchers Rescued After Antarctica Crash
The New York Times: 10 Survive Plane Crash

Another fun and exciting (but not so news-worthy) event occurring in McMurdo between the holidays was a massive power outage that cut off communications between McMurdo and the northern world. A dump trunk snagged a power line with the bed of the truck in the "up" position. Crazy, but true. This incident downed two power lines, put a few buildings out of power along with T-site; where our back-up communications systems and antennas are run. Who knew a dump truck would pose a threat to our power and communications systems?

antarctic terminal operations

ATO, Antarctic Terminal Operations, is the department I work under in Antarctica. We specialize in anything to do with fixed wing air support. If you are wondering what we're doing to keep busy, I've pasted parts of our Christmas letter from our department head, Billy T, to give you an idea of what we've done this year so far:

Post Office: According to my office door everyone loves mail! Well I believe it since we have processed 24,779 lbs of mail [headed] off station this season. I know your more interested in how much we received. Well that number is an impressive 72,477 lbs!

Shuttles: Some passenger numbers for your pleasure...over 26,000 passengers carried and that does not include the passengers moved for flights.

Courier: A lot of walking around delivering interoffice correspondence. 4,441 runs delivering 3,039 packages.

USAP (Science) Cargo: Cargo processed so far this season is 108,963 lbs. Science cargo delivered is 781,491 lbs.

Passenger Services: Our passenger movements have totaled 3,803 passengers and the Air Services staff have always been dedicated to customer service even when that has been difficult.

Cargo: Over 8 million pounds folks. Passenger numbers are also included. Load Planners, cargo teams, and airfield crews thanks for a very productive season to date: 8,085,985 pounds of actual payload cargo and fuel.

good ending to an unfortunate day

My day at work was overwhelming, busy, and stressful. Though we didn't get this e-mail from station management until the end of the work day, we were aware of the situation and making changes and arrangements from the time we walked in the door to the time we left work yesterday:

Sent: Thu 12/20/2007 5:37 PM

To: MCM-RPSC All

Subject: Basler Incident

Hello all,
A Basler (DC-3 aircraft) was working with the POLENET project yesterday in the vicinity of Mt Patterson (along the coast to the grid west from McMurdo). The aircraft and passengers were leaving the site when a mechanical issue developed and they decided to return for a landing. There was some damage sustained by the aircraft on landing and it is currently not flyable. Ten people were on board and, thankfully, there were no injuries. There are currently two Twin Otters dispatched to Mt. Patterson that will pickup the passengers and bring them back to McMurdo this evening. I just received notice that both Twin Otters are indeed on the deck at Mt. Patterson.
RPSC Site Manager

McMurdo Station

The Basler is a DC-3 aircraft, retrofitted to fly in Antarctica. It holds 18 passengers and four crew. We tried sending a search and rescue air drop out, but we ended up getting to smaller planes into the location to get the passengers and crew from this flight. In summation, the day was made of all sorts of flight changes to accommodate a search and rescue mission; combined with a C-17 late night arrival and a couple weather delays and mission aborts.

So, by the end of the work day, my friend Lucas was still stuck at Siple Dome (a field camp), we made dozens of changes, and I wore a hole in my jeans.

So, after work, I went to the galley to put on a blank stare and vegetate for a few moments.

The rest of my evening was spectacular. I had an opportunity to catch up with my friend, Michael, sit by myself in the Coffee House, sing in the Chapel with Martin, and then head back to the Coffee House for a few minutes before bed.

Only, my few minutes at the Coffee House turned out to be nearly two hours. First I ran into our town "Santa Claus" who told me about his flying experience on a DC-3 in Morocco with his father when he was 8 years old.

I was a bit distracted by the Italians who had just flown in from Mario Zuchelli Station (at Terra Nova Bay), though, as they were getting drinks and had no American cash to pay for them. So, I bought their first round of wine and then conversed as well as I could with their broken-English-over-Italian-accents.

They were fascinating folks, just dropping in for for an evening before catching the midnight C-17 express up to Christchurch. The French chef was leaving to go back to his job as chef to the Emir of Qatar. I wished he could have made us all dinner last evening; rather than chowing on microwavable mini-pizzas. Instead, after he raided the cash machine for American funds, he paid for my drink. Their pilot told me that he was given a couple months off from his work in Qatar and asked where in the world he wanted to go. Antarctica was his answer and they found him a position at Terra Nova.

Bob, the Kenn Borek Air pilot had plenty of fascinating stories to tell of himself! He's been all over the world. I heard tails from the Arctic, the Maldives, Chile, and many other stops he's had on the way. He finds a touch of humor in the opulence of people and isn't above staying in the dirty town of McMurdo for a few nights.

At the end of the evening, I had to say good-bye to my Italian friend, Roberto, who was based out of McMurdo this season. He is a journalist, funded by the National Science Foundation. He will spend some time in Washington D.C. before traveling back to Italy. Roberto spoke impressive English; though he was as embarrassed, as I might be, when he spoke at times.

When I left, I got to walk the short way back to my dorm in a beautiful snowfall. The flakes were big, and wet, and a perfect way to end the day!

a strange today

I was so happy to be able to talk with my friend, Erin, yesterday. I love my friends down here, but being able to communicate with people who love me back home is fantastic! I was also happy to get some mail today in the form of Christmas greetings and a couple of pictures and a wonderful package from Linda! Since it's my second year down here, I thought people would forget the peculiarity of the location, but the mail is a great reminder that people back home still remember me! So, thanks to those who drop me e-mails, letters, postcards, and packages. It puts a massive smile across my face when I hear from you!

The last two days have been a bit strange. I had a dentist appointment for a tooth that has been bothering me yesterday. If any of you know me, you know I don't entirely enjoy being in the dentist chair, but I've offered the dental industry some job security over the past few years. Nothing is really wrong with it, and it seems that some muscles in my neck that have cramped up may be causing the discomfort. He did say that the tooth in question appears to have gone through a war zone. This was my first trip into McMurdo General Hospital though and it was interesting to see how they operate under limited Antarctic conditions. Our dentist, Fleet, is familiar with the Western Washington area and even knows my dentist's father!

This afternoon, I woke up quite early at noon when the fire alarm went off in my building. So, I put on my slippers first, and then traded those for my bare feet in my boots. I pulled on my fuzzy bathrobe, yanked my external hard drive out of the drawer and pulled the big red parka over it all to walk downstairs for 10 minutes until everything was cleared to return to my room. I've felt pretty good all day, but things seemed to tangle themselves up with our flight schedule and complicate work, and when I put my belt on, one of the loops broke, so I have a little sewing project for tonight!

On the up side of things, it was a whopping 34F today! This is warmer than most of my friends and family back home who live in the northern states, or southern provinces. No complaints there. And, after I leave work in an hour, I'll be off for two days to transition to a day shift schedule. No more nights! I also received my holiday schedule and the way Christmas and New Years fit into the week means we get extra days off for the holiday.

runway to skiway

Every year, our little community of about 1000 people makes use of three airfields.

Annual Sea Ice Runway: This airstrip is built on temporary sea ice on the fresh ice in the shipping channel that the ice breakers come through. The Ice Runway sits about 1.5 miles from town and hosts wheeled aircraft until the end of November. The photo is a view of what is left of our Ice Runway after the airfield was moved.

Williams "Willy" Field Skiway: The skiway is used by ski planes. This includes the LC-130 aircraft as well as the Ken Borek fleet of three small privately owned planes. The skiway is built on packed snow on the permanent ice shelf. Because it's about 7 miles out of McMurdo, it is only used as an emergency landing airfield until it is officially put into place after the Ice Runway closes.

Pegasus White Ice Runway: This is packed snow that has become white ice. It is named after the airplane, Pegasus, that crashed near the airfield and is still permanently parked under snowdrifts. Pegasus is the runway where we land our C-17 and other wheeled planes after the Ice Runway is closed. Pegasus is about 10 nautical miles from Station, but nearly 17 miles by our permanent ice roads.

This past weekend marked this year's transition from the Ice Runway to Willy and Pegasus. It means taking down the tower, the galley, the toilets, and ice melter, the departmental trailers, the communication lines, generators, and all other equipment to run the strip. Once this is done, the other airfields become populated with those buildings and equipment and Ice Town becomes Willy Town.

This change also means that the fuel lines get stretched out from our storage in McMurdo through Scott Base via a permanent pipeline and then through temporary hose all the way out to the airfield. We unroll big spools of hoses and eventually fuel our planes with jet fuel by way of these huge tubes. Our fuel lines are marked with blue flags and there are special places in the roads where we drive with care to avoid rupturing the lines.

A few years back, the temporary ice froze over too soon for the fuel tanker to dock in McMurdo, so they anchored the ship to the temporary ice with big beams and rope frozen into the ice (like a "dead man"). Then they ran some of this hose all the way from the tanker back into McMurdo for four miles. Because fuel is so important to our operations down here and the inability for the ship to dock was unexpected, they ended up keeping people on late that season to make the operation happen.

december one office fun

After our midnight meal, I came back to work on December 1 to Christmas tunes and an office of festive cheer. The eclectic mix of decorations that is stored in our cargo bay the other 11 months of the year was pulled down and, in the absence of any other good work to be done, we strung up garland, tossed beads over our fake palm tree, and bestowed a wreath over our model LC-130.

Dave was our leader in sorting and arranging the decorations around our work space. He appreciates the Christmas season for all the memories associated with family and friends. He's been in the department a few years and knows where things hang. He also has a grand collection of Christmas music which will, no doubt, be played every day he is on shift from now until Christmas, and perhaps beyond!

Amanda had no problem putting on some holiday cheer. She made the comment that our office looked like a Walgreens Christmas; with such a mish-mash of flashy, multi-colored, gaudy decorations arranged in a ridiculous fashion; simply because we have them.

I must admit that our workspace hasn't improved much with the additional "decoration." But, it's not a particularly pleasant space to occupy anyway. It's dusty, sterile, eclectic, windowless, and unfashionable; but that's nearly entirely due to the fact that we sit in Antarctica. Our palm tree and travel posters are, perhaps, the biggest morale boosters in our department; aside from any postcards, letters, and packages that show up on my desk and in my name!

the second coffee shift

On only my second shift at the Coffee House, Ann Curry, and her producer, Matt, came in and I made a few coffee beverages for them. It was fun to spend some time behind the bar listening to people talk with her and snag the photo. Some were interested in knowing more about her. Others were so nervous they forgot what to say. Most were engaged in her upbeat casual conversation, and curious what she meant when she described herself as "crunchy" (this is an earthy, granola-eating, simple living-type person from Ashland, Oregon).

I think beyond the celebrity and her bright personality, she is a connection with "back home." I know a lot of people here wanted to be on TV, but at the root of it, I heard a lot of people say, "I don't really care about being on television, and I don't really want to be outside in the cold waiting for a live shot that I probably won't be on, but I know my family and friends want to see me or know I made the effort to be there." It's knowing that people back home may recognize the same person who we see right in front of us. It's comforting.

I was so impressed with her happy persona that I told her that as she closed down the Coffee House. She made time for everyone with a smile on her face. And that encouraged me to make extra time to keep the Coffee House open that morning. She made her best effort to live within our community and not above it; and was successful, too. She found the science she came to report on and was passionate about communicating back to North America, and she had a great time (albeit, cold time) in a beautiful place this adventure trip.

condition 1

You know something is going on when you find the following message in your inbox:

From: Williams, Andrew (Drew)
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 3:21 AM
To: McQuiston, Samantha; Grass, Megan; Skews, Geoff
Subject: FW: WEEK THREE MENU 11-8 THROUGH 11-14

THE MENU BEGINNING THURSDAY. THERE WILL BE CHANGES DUE TO THE LACK OF FRESHIES.
SO SORRY. DREW

It's the weather. We haven't seen a C-17 flight from Christchurch for over a week; and therefore, no freshies and we haven't seen package mail since October 17!

Now, picture waddling outside, bundled up like a massive red penguin with marshmallow-like layers of warm clothing. You have a small hatch in your hood which lets enough shocking cold air in that you wish wasn't there. Snowflakes get in your eyes and cloud your vision, and icicles run off your cheeks. Your entire face begins to look like a frosted birthday cake. The wind echos over head as it rips through the air and you can also hear it whip and flap against the cold weather gear you have on. Snow snakes slither along the ground, wrap around your feet, and occasionally flare up off the dirt and snow. The only noise you hear beyond the wind gusts is the crunching of snow under your insulated boots and the insulated consistent steady air you breath in and out through your parka. Wind blows so hard, your legs are shifted involuntarily in the air before they step down. At times it feels like you are doing the moon walk against the gusts. It's then, that you look out of the small window in your parka, wish you had goggles, but can't see a thing anyway. Then, you keep walking in hopes of find a door and a place to shed layers.

We had a Condition 1 storm in town two days ago. We had an advanced warning at work and our department exited our building in search of the galley right as they called the Condition 1 storm. The walk down the hill and between buildings was more adventurous than usual. I am happy it's not usually like that; but thrilled to be out in some Antarctic weather conditions!

The first picture is the sun during our Condition 1 storm. The second is of our condition scroll right after my cold walk.

food, coffee, and fun

On Thursday morning, I had my first shift as barista at the Coffee House and Wine Bar. I had just a few hours of training and was glad I had access to the SOP (Standard Operation Procedures) to guide me through a shift. I wanted to spend time fixing drinks here this season for the atmosphere and social interaction this small place has to offer. At the beginning of the season, the schedule for workers was filled up, but they found me a shift and I happily poured a few glasses of wine and prepared some mochas and lattes.

On Wednesday, my friend, Richard, had a birthday. He's 28 and to celebrate, he checked out Hut 10 for the evening and threw himself a birthday party. Not only did he host the party, he made some mouth-watering chocolate truffles. Lorraine, the one of the sisters who works in the mailroom, is as close as I was over this tray; only my hand was perpetually hovering over the chocolate! I was thrilled to have the night off and enjoy the good times.

I also played Bingo that evening. Bingo daubers are one of those items I can't believe we have in Antarctica. Do they make a special shipment just for the stampers? Even though I didn't win, we had a grand evening socializing over our numbered cards.

icy night

Our department has gone to 24 hour operations this week. So, the past two days a group of us has been transitioning from a day schedule to a night schedule. It's a strange concept; completely upheaving the body clock and showing up for work at 1800 (6pm) on Monday evening. My shifts will be five 12 hour days. It's a bit easier to do such a strange schedule in Antarctica in the summer when it's light no matter what time you find yourself out and about!

One of the benefits to staying out late is being awake for the fading sunsets and sunrises. We have passed the last official sunset, but that doesn't mean the sun still doesn't occasionally tuck behind the mountains, or peak out on the sparkling sea ice.

While transitioning, those of us who were moving to the new schedule tended to congregate with one another during the mealtimes. Our conversation focused on sleep schedules, transitioning techniques, how and what to eat, and tips for staying bright eyed and bushy tailed. To get us started and kick off another fun and exciting season of flight and cargo movement, our department hosted a party on Saturday evening. The picture is of our cargo bay; cleaned out and set up for our social event of the evening.

Last evening, while staying awake until 8am, we watched a storm move in. Town was eerily calm and slightly snowy most of the night, so Chris and I took a short walk to make snow angels on the Chalet deck. By the time we fashioned our heavenly bodies in the snow and turned to go, the wind began ripping through town. After settling back inside, Condition 2 was announced and we could hardly see the ground outside the window at times!

antarctic terminal operations

The department I work for is ATO (Antarctic Terminal Operations). I worked as a shuttles driver last year under the same umbrella. This year I have a new position, though:

Air Services Representative: My job entails moving passengers around the continent of Antarctica on our fixed-wing aircraft (we are not responsible for helicopter passengers). We enter everyone’s movement information into our ancient software program, e-mail key Antarctic Program contacts and military personnel, arrange for transportation on the McMurdo end of each flight, keep track of everyone’s travel plans when the redeploy back north to New Zealand, and make sure each passenger is accounted for.

Some of the extra-fun parts of my job include giving the Air Force crew tours of our town. It’s great to see them so excited to visit our corner of the world on our dry cold continent. One of the pilots who I met, Scott, is friends with a high school acquaintance. It’s fun to make connections at the bottom of the earth; and nearly humorous that people can live so close and have to come to Antarctica to meet!

Another fun “extra” of my job is helping people find their bags when they arrive to McMurdo. We don’t have a baggage carousel here, so instead, our cargo handlers unload the bags off the pallets and we line them up in our building for people to search through. I’ve had a great time getting to know the incoming people. I am continually amazed by how much we all bring down to this continent!

This past week, I was able to welcome down Brandon, another Calvin College graduate to Antarctica. Laura mentioned that he was to be working at the South Pole, so I made a point to intercept him while he stayed over at McMurdo Station.

special dinner invitation

Scott Base is the New Zealand station just two miles from McMurdo Station. The two research and logistics operations have a great working relationship and support each other as needed throughout the year. The Kiwi station is off-limits for United States personnel. There are a few exceptions. We can visit their store during store business hours, and we are allowed to spend time at their bar for "American Night." Because Scott Base is smaller, it's a good way to keep from overwhelming their place with our heaps of potential McMurdo guests.

We are also allowed to visit their facility when we receive an invitation. So, on Thursday night, our Air Services office was invited to spend some time at dinner getting to know our counterparts on the "other side of the hill" (Ob Hill) that separates our two populations. I had never been invited to a dinner there (although, i was given the opportunity to have a luncheon at Scott Base last year where I met Sir Edmund Hillary and the Honorable Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand).

Amy, Susie, and myself visited their new bar, lounge, and dining facility; just completed this winter. They even have a gas fireplace with all sorts of windows overlooking the sea ice and the amazing pressure ridges. Dinner was very tasty (they only have to cook for about 60 people right now), the conversation and kiwi company were interesting, and the views from their station were breathtaking (or maybe that was the cold weather).