We're Supposed to Drink How Much?

Last week we all smelled like fuel, and today we all smell like beer. We pulled 40,000lbs of beverages from the DNF (Do Not Freeze) building into the extra bedrooms in the station: root beer, soda, but mostly, wine, liquor and more beer than you've ever seen. At first we assumed this was stock for both the winter and the summer, but then we were told that whatever we don't drink this winter, we have to move back into DNF at the end of the season... No one has done the math yet, but I'm pretty sure when it takes 80% of the station 3 hours in a human chain to unload our 'new stock' we've probably got enough for everyone on the continent for two years.

It was pretty fun since everyone was involved, but 12 cases we hauled up had gone bad so we all smelled like a college frat party:

Waiting for the next load:

An unlikely doorstop:

Fuelie Imposters

Today, we all have the same problem. We smell like fuel. We've been outside a couple days this week breaking lines and transfering bladders to the hard tanks in the fuel arch. It's nice to get to work outside even if it is the coldest weather (to date) that I've ever been in. We may have a few 'suggestions' for the team who has to break it down next winter, as parts of the process have gone less than smoothly, but we're getting it done and we'll have a lot more buildings and equipment to 'winterize' through the next month.

8.5 months to go.

I'm now stuck at the south pole for real. The last flight was scheduled for this Saturday but the temperatures started dropping towards the plane's -50C limit so they sent everyone out yesterday. Now is the time when the temperature come back up and everyone says "Oops, we could have sent more flights". It's back up to -43C today.

We sort of 'lost' two people, one to a job in McMurdo and one to a woman, so now we are at 54 total and our Utilities Department is slightly short handed.

Closing activities. Staying up late and playing cards or watching movies with summer-overs:

The first plane on the last day. The contrails from the plane exhaust were crazy since it was so cold. You could barely see anything once the wind pushed it around:

Chris played 'Hit the Road Jack' on the saxaphone while everyone was exiting station:

The last of them walking to the runway:

Gettin' Gone:

About half of us leftovers at the runway waving goodbye:

The plane heading to the runway for take off:

One of my favorite things of the weekend came unexpectedly. They have dedicated one of the dorm rooms to house the fruit the last flight brought us. I went to get an apple for dinner and walking into that room was one of the best things that could have happened to me, it smelled so wonderful. I hadn't worried about missing fruit this winter until that moment though:

Summer's Over

So, the South Pole as I knew it is gone. We've got about 160 people left, but it seems so dead on station, probably because the construction crews have gone home so there isn't 'work' being done everytime you turn around. No lines, no people milling around in the halls, the TVs are free, the lounges are deserted. Very strange. Plus all the winterovers are here. Several of them only come for the winter and have been coming for many years. These are the poeple who know the station better than anyone because they've spent the most time here and their owenership for the station radiates the second you strike up a conversation... not in a bad way, but you sort of expect new people to be a bit lost or disoriented and they are already confident in why their here and what they are going to do. In that respect, now I feel like a new person all over again. I need to figure out who my 'go-to' people are, who I really work for, and what my job is going to entail this winter.

I also am way more tired than when I left. I've slept so much since I got here. Friday, when I got back I crashed immediately lunch and slept til late that night. Saturday wasn't a typical day at work since in the afternoon about 8 of us broke down one of the two fueling stations for the airplanes. The fuelies trained us for when we do it by ourselves for the remaining on the 22nd when the last flight leaves.


All of us are feelnig pretty good about breaking it down, but the tricky part is we have to set it all back up from scratch at the end of next October and so we're hoping that if all of us remember 60% of it, then between us all, we'll remember all the details. We worked for 3 solid hours digging out fuel hoses, pumping out leftover fuel and rolling up hoses.

It was pretty fun getting to work with new people and working outside for once, except that it was -46F out and windchill below -60F. It took me two movies under 3 blankets that night to finally warm back up and I slept to 2 on Sunday afternoon. When its that cold you just sort of work as normal without realizing how much your body is being drained. There shouldn't be too much work for us outside this winter, besides moving some cargo and food around that they may need volunteers for, or fixing things outdoors ocasionally, or driving out to the science buildings.

And a Happy Birthday to my brother, Matt, who is somewhere out in the seas of Alaska. Hope you're having a good Valentine's day sharing your time with the fishermen. Seems like eons ago that we were hanging out in England:

"Have a Nice Winter"

So, you might have noticed that I have changed my blog around. I'm now beginning my 3rd USAP season on the Ice: a winter at the South Pole. I never imagined that I would be in this spot this year, and maybe have a twinge of regret somedays, but mostly I am excited to get the summer crew out of here, watch the sun dip in the sky, and get to know my new 'family' for the next 9 months.

One of the funniest things in McMurdo was when people saw me in the halls towards the end of the week and they'd casually spurt out, "Have a nice winter, Laura!" just as you would tell someone to enjoy their day or an upcoming weekend. I have to admit that I've had the same laid-back attitude about it all along, but it wasn't until shortly before I left McMurdo that I began to realize just how unusual and disorienting this experience could be. When I got back off the plane at the Pole I was greeted by 40+ people coming from the station to catch their flight back towards the North and I was the lonely soul walking back into the station, with hardly a dent in my time here. I don't know how to answer the often asked and rarely appreciated question "Are you ready to winter?" I don't know if I am, and won't until I'm actually in the meat of it. I guess I'm ready as I'll ever be.

Rest and Relaxing

I spent the last week in McMurdo for my R&R before I go back to winter at the pole. It was one of my favorite times in Antarctica or just about anywhere for that matter. It was ship offload time so town was quite busy all around the clock and the weather just made a turn for the worst and it was quite cloudy and windy. But this meant that the ship channel had blown out so there was open water in front of town and a few pods of whales were swimming around. I was more concerned with sleeping and hanging out with friends than checking out the hit-or-miss wildlife, but I still got outside a fair amount.

Some of the best things I did were running around Obhill, checking out whales from the top, taking a walk with Andrea, playing basketball and volleyball in the gym again, watching the McMurdo film festival, going to day bar at Southern, going out with a guy with a mustache, hanging out with the riggers on their night shift, sleeping to the afternoon, not working, celebrating birthdays, seeing people leave the Ice, and multiple other things. I think I did everything that I wanted to do and saw all the friends that were important to me. Sad that next year on my way out several them won't be in town again, but it will be great to get to catch up with those who are there.

A friend was admiring that the early explorers really could not have found a better place to locate. McMurdo has mountains and water and rocks and animals and amazing sunsets and no matter how dusty and dirty town can get in the summertime it really is one of the most gorgeous places I'll ever be espeically as the sun gets low.

My plane picking me up at the South pole:

Traveling over the Transantarctics (thought this moutain looked like Winter Park's bear claw):

Andrea on our run around obhill:

View from the Scott Hut Ridge Trail.

Cool rock/snow formations:

The coast guard out on the shipping channel.

Kevin on our cold windy hike:

The American Tern after the milvans had all been unloaded.