Christmas at the Bottom Of The World

Cargo Strap Christmas Tree created by the Materials/Logistics Team

Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years are the only two day weekends we get while we’re on the ice.

Friday night was just your average relaxing Friday night… dodgeball in the gym with 15 co-workers, then watching some movies in the lounge.

Saturday, December 24th

Christmas Caroling to the other stations and field camps.

On Saturday at noon, all US Antarctic stations tuned to our High-Frequency communications frequency to serenading the entire continent with Christmas Carols.  As we gathered around the communications office, we belted out the tunes while one of us held the mic open.  At the end of each song all of the other stations around the continent would cheer to let us know they had heard the song. 

The Dinner Menue

Christmas Dinner - Lobster Thermidor and Beef Wellington

Good Company

Saturday Evening was the formal Christmas Dinner, Beef Wellington, and Lobster Thermidor.  All of the food was fantastic!  It wasn’t home cooking, but it was incredible for being at the South Pole.

Christmas at Grandma's House

Live Christmas Rock Music

After dinner, the festivities commenced with a rock concert/Dance Party at “Grandma’s House” (the gymnasium). No photos were taken at the dance party to protect the careers of the innocent.

Sunday, December 25th

A few hours of sleep, we were off to the races with Sunday’s Festivities.  December 25^th is when the residents of the south pole compete in the “Race Round The World.”  The race is approximately 2 miles and can be done on foot, ski, snowmobile, or just about any other means possible.  My good friends Shelly, Adam, and Doug were already competing with some couches being rigged a snowmobile so they hooked up a tow rope and found some skis so I could join in the fun.

As a special treat, we were invited to the camp of some tourists about a kilometer from the station.  Hannah and Ricky were nice enough to write a song about living in a tent next to a government funded research station.  Hannah has skied from the coast to the pole six times and currently is the camp manager.  Ricky was the camp cook, and I've yet to meet a bad cook on contenent. 

Current Weather:

Temperature

-25.1 °C (-13.2 °F)

Windchill

-35.2 °C (-31.3 °F)

Wind

7.8 kts Grid 106

Barometer

689.6 mb (3,130 m/10,268 ft)

We Pick Things Up Then Put Them Down

I love Cranes!  There, I said it, are you happy now?

Crawler Crane at the South Pole

Crane Operator: "Hey Safety Guy, how old are you?"

Me: "30?"

Crane Operator: "Good, young enough to pick up that 8x8 beam and follow me!"

Today I spend my afternoon attempting to earn the respect of the crane operator.  Little did he realize, I wasn't afraid of a few hours of (cold) hard work and was willing to not question his every move (not a common trait of safety professionals). Not sure if I pulled it off or not, but now he knows I do understand basic rigging and can at least be helpful.

While I'm not in the field all day, spending 3 hours at -40*F helping someone who has avoided you like the plague for the past three weeks certainly breaks the ice.

When he went to the shop to get some more slings I busted out the camera (I didn't want him to see I was enjoying the experience).  While I was taking some pictures of the block and the crane from different angles I noticed a SunDog!

SunDog Behind The Block

The SunDog is caused by ice crystals in the atmosphere.  Behind the block of the crane is the sun and a 22-degree halo is created.  The picture does not do the experience justice.

JNIII

Edit:

1) Forgot to mention, final grades came in today, I have maintained my 4.0 GPA in Grad School!

2) Part of my Amazon Prime order from 12/1 came in today ( Baby Wipes, Nalgene Flask, Cat Crap Anti-Fog Polish, and Trident Chewing Gum).

3) Double Rations for both Tonight and Friday this week due to the Holiday!  (I'll explain how much alcohol we get per day in a later post).

Science Lecture Sunday

Once a week the educated individuals on station like to present their work to us lowly peasants (who only hold Bachelor's Degrees) during the weekly Science Lecture.

NOAA talk on Ozone depletion

This week's talk was on the status of the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica.

NOAA Corps "Tall" Gavin dropping some science on us.

The crowd was that excited.

It's really interesting to learn more about the various science project we support and the role they play in the scientific community.

My Day Job

South Pole Station Center with the Logistics and Vehicle Maintenance Arches buried on the right.

Center in the photo is the South Pole station with the "Arches" to the right.  The arches are buried structures that contain the power plant, materials warehouse, 450,000 gallons of fuel storage, and the vehicle maintenance facility.

Widening the Ice Tunnels.

 One of the never ending projects is widening the Ice Tunnels.  Originally dug in the early 2000's, the tunnels have been slowly shrinking over the last 15 years.  The tunnels are not actually through ice, but rather really packed snow called Firn.  This firn has about 60% of the density of regular ice so the blocks are lighter.  The tunnels range between 30 and 60 feet underground and are designed so that a C-130 could land on top of them without collapsing.  The average temperature is between -50*F and -60*F and there are about 1300' of tunnels on the station that serve to transport water from the rod wells and sewage to the old wells.

The blocks are cut with electric chainsaws, then knocked out with sledgehammers.  The blocks are then loaded into sleds and pulled out with winches .

Hauling out the ice blocks on a sled.

Once the ice blocks are pulled out of the ice tunnels, they end up in the utility corridor. This corridor is where all of the utilities go from the power plant to the main building.  From here the blocks are dragged to the logistics arch, where they are hooked to a snowmobile and dragged outside.

Escape Ladder.

Due to the fact that the Firn is shifting at about 30' per year, we'll need to re-work some of the escape hatches.

Coldest Selfie Ever (-60*F).

Part of the challenge here is that most air monitoring equipment is only rated to -10*F so we have to come up with some pretty creative ways to make sure the tunnels are safe to enter.  The little plastic hose sticking out of my jacket is connected to a four gas meter that is reading the Oxygen, Carbon Monoxide, Hydrogen Sulfide, and Lower Explosive Limit of the atmosphere.  In addition to my body heat keeping the monitor warm,  the sample tube is wrapped in hand warmers to attempt to warm the air coming into the unit. The tunnels are cold and smell like poop, but I can verify that the atmosphere is safe to enter.


JNIII

After Work Adventure

After work today I decided to go for a little adventure off base.  It was a really nice day, it warmed up to about -15*F with just a slight breeze. I went out one of the summer camp building and found a pair of cross country skis and off I went.

First Tracks

There is a loop that is "Set" but as you can see it's really just some old tracks.  We're free to leave the station if we want, we have to radio into communication to let them know where you're headed and what time you'll be back.

The loop is probably about four miles long with a warm up shack about halfway.  I really didn't need to warm up but I did want to see what was inside.

No Hills Here

Inside the Ski Shack

There was no heat in the shack but the back exterior with plexiglass panels acted like a solar panel and warmed the shed up to 60*F.  In the shack, I found a logbook with entries that started in in January of 1996.  It's incredible to think that people were skiing out to this shack when I was 10 years old.

Shelby from 2009 Sums up the South Pole Experience

"The Shack: The once place I smell a fart and appreciate : because I KNOW it was mine"  ~Shelby

Fart jokes aside, the shack is an amazing place to get way from the buzz of the station.  The view is really humbling.  It's an amazing place to relax, I know I'll be headed back out again.

Enjoying Solitude

Around 21:30 I decided that it was time to head back to the station for the night.

The thought of being able to ski for thousands of miles and not have to deal with another person is pretty relaxing (and tempting).

Beard Update

Hope everyone back home is doing well.  I miss you all (but I'm having a great time)!

JNIII

Update

Sorry for the lack of updates, I have two final papers for Grad School due Sunday so that's been taking most of my time.

Some upcoming posts to look forward to:

• -60*F Ice Tunnels
• Thanksgiving Feast
• Bumping into Buzz Aldrin
• Amazon Prime in Antarctica
• Progress Report on the Beard

JNIII

C-17 Airdrop Training Flyover

On the day of my arrival we got to watch a C-17 do some airdrop training. My camera was reading -15*F but it was closer to -25*F.

C-17 South Pole Flyover from Jack Norray on Vimeo.

South Pole

After several flight delays it was finally time to catch our transport to the air strip.  They loaded us in some crazy contraption called a Delta with rusted US NAVY decals on it and off we went.  We had about 45 minutes to kill once we were at the airfield so most of us just stood around.  Geared up with most of our ECW gear I was interested in seeing how warm they were.

Delta 

Once we were in the C-130 the flight only took about 3 ½ hours.  It was not as luxurious as the C-17, but it was still better than most commercial carriers.

Exiting the C-130 at the South Pole

Just like stepping off the first flight, I had no what to expect. There was no one at the door thanking you for being a Diamond club member of your flight alliance or telling you to watch your step.  There was just one member of the flight crew that kept you from walking into the propellers and getting killed.

C-130 at the South Pole

One of the concerns about going form sea level to 9,300 feet is Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS).  The symptoms commonly include, headache, shortness of breath, lack of energy and /or appetite, and inability to sleep.  I didn’t have many problems; I did experience slight feeling of decreased balance but I wouldn’t call it being dizzy.  Within the first 24 hours I was back to my regular self. 

Enterance to Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station

We only get to take two showers a week, at two minutes each.  As a guy who enjoys multiple showers a day, this just wasn’t going to work.  It turns out the environment here is so dry, you never sweat.  It’s so dry that each of the rooms have clothes lines in them.  They say that out of the washer a tee shirt will dry in an hour and a half and jeans will dry overnight.   There are two benefits to this, first you save power by not having to run a dryer and secondly, it adds moisture to the air in your room.  I’ve also found that hanging the hydration bladder from my pack on my bedpost makes water easy to find in the middle of the night when your mouth dries out.

Room Layout

Staying Hydrated

My room is about 60 square foot with a dresser, desk and twin bed.  It doesn’t have any windows but I’m ok with that.  With 24 hours of sunlight a day sleeping in the dark is nice.

Today's Temp -31*F

Today's Station Population: 132

Made it to the Ice

Finally, after a night without earthquakes or weather delays our shuttle picks us up a 04:45. By 08:00 we were strapped into the back of a C-17 ready to continue our trip South.

Loading into the C-17.

I will say it was the most enjoyable flight I’ve ever been on.  The fact that my shoulders were not crammed between a window and some dude my size and the fact I could stretch my legs made up for the fact the seats had no padding and you had to wear ear plugs.

Still better accommodations than a SouthWest Flight.

The flight was about five hours and we could move freely about as we desired.  There were only three or four little windows to look out but it wasn’t that bad.  After about four hours I got up to take a peak and this is what I saw.

First view of Antarctica

Pegasus Ice Field

Walking from the C-17 to ‘Ivan’ the Terra Bus.

'Ivan' the Terra Bus is still better than the X2

 The view from inside Ivan

Climbing the hill from Scott Base (NZ)

McMurdo Station

McMurdo Station.  Just to the right of the sign is a brown rectangle in the ice.  That is the Ice Pier that was built last winter.  By building up the ice, eventually it’ll break free and be used as a pier for the ships that come in later in the season.  I’ve heard that the pier can last 2-3 years, a few years back the conditions were good and they had one last over six years.

The National Science Foundation Chalet

After going through a quick Arrival Brief we met up with employees from our work groups.  My flight to South Pole has been rescheduled 4 times in one day and it looks like it won’t be happening until tomorrow morning.  Once my bags were checked in Christchurch I only had access to them for a few hours so I’ve been living out of my backpack and snow boots.  

Looking over the Ross Sea

A few quick Notes on McMurdo:

• Today it warmed up to 12*F.
• They have free soft serve ice cream 24 hours a day.
• It feels similar working in the lodge at a ski resort, just without the tourists.
• The store is well stocked with everything from souvenirs, to beer & liquor.
• Did I mention unrestricted access to soft serve ice cream!?!

Aftershock Follow Up

ProTip: When being asked to evacuate your hotel, always grab a beer from the fridge on your way out.  You never know how long it might be until you can re-enter.

Aftershocks

Only two minutes after my previous post, my 7th-floor hotel room started swaying.  I can see two tower cranes from my window, of course, that's the first place I went.  As I was standing there watching the block swing from the crane I realized I was doing the Kiwi equivalent to standing on your porch during a Tornado in Oklahoma.

6.6 Aftershock

I felt that one.

Just got a knock on the door, we have to evacuate.

That one time I slept through a Magnitude 7.5 Earthquake

At 03:11 last night the phone rings in my hotel and somehow I wake up and answer it.  It's USAP Travel,  calling to let me know my flight has been delayed 24 hours due to weather. There were a million questions racing through my head, but I was excited to get to sleep in so I took it at face value and went back to sleep.  I can sleep through anything, so I thought it was weird that I heard the phone ring. 

I woke up around 06:00 as the sun started to come up. As I'm laying in bed,  praying that that call wasn't a dream, my boss sends me a gchat.

"You ok?" is a message you never want to receive from your supervisor,  especially one you haven't met yet and while you're more than 6000 miles from home.

A quick Google search confirmed that there was an earthquake at 12:02 that registered at 7.5, and I slept through it.

New Zealand Earthquake Report

I will say that it has been refreshing to have the locals ask me about something other than Trump. 

Gearing up for my Ice Flight

Clothing Distribution Center

Today was our orientation at the USAP Clothing Distribution Center (CDC).  After going over the remaining steps in the process and reviewing the itinerary for tomorrow,  we were issued our Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear. 

 

ECW Gear 

Tomorrow we leave the hotel at 04:45 to be back at the CDC by 05:30.  We'll get a few minutes to do some final packing before we start the process of weigh-in and baggage screening.

 Trying on our ECW Gear and Packing

Our luggage is broken into three categories: Carry-on,  Checked,  and "Boomerang."  The flight is 5-7 hours but there is a chance that when we get there we might not be able to land,  so like a boomerang, we head back to where we started.  If that's the case, when we get back to Christchurch we get our "boomerang" bag back with a few days clothes so we can survive in a hotel until conditions improve.  We can check about 70 lbs of gear in addition to our ECW for a total of 85 lbs.  We can carry on as much weight as we want but we are restricted to the size of about a medium backpack. 

 Bags are almost ready

During the flight, we have to wear our Parka, Carhartt cold weather overalls, and bunny boots.  All of the gear I was issued seemed to be in new or like new condition so I was pretty happy.  In addition to my red parka, I was issued the same Carhartt jacket I brought from Denver so I'll be storing mine here until I get back. 

Big Red Parka

USAP Terminal

I was also given some medication to help prevent altitude sickness when I transfer to the South Pole, which is at about 10,000 ft. 

The sun was out in Christchurch today, beautiful day to check out the local parks. 

Flights 5-7 of 9

I made it from Denver to Christchurch. Other than flying through the jet wash of another plane mid-air on the approach to LAX, all three flights were uneventful. It was weird falling asleep on Thursday night and waking up Saturday Morning. The Garmin Vibe doesn't do so great in low light, so the pictures look a lot more depressing than they are.

The Terminal at Denver

The Interior of my Boeing 787-800 from LA to Auckland.  The overhead lights were blue all night and after it was time to wake up they slowly went from blue to orange to simulate the sunrise.

View from the approach to New Zealand

Riding in my first Right-Hand Drive, they also drive on the wrong side of the road.  I won't have a rental here, so I didn't think it was going to be a big deal.  Then I realized that when I crossed the street as a pedestrian, I instinctively looked to my left first but the cars were coming from my right.

In 2011 Christchurch was struck by a massive earthquake that leveled most of the city.  There used to be a mall here.  It's now what they call Re:Start, an outdoor shopping mall made from shipping containers. All of the little shops were nice (and they had food and beer).

Re:Start

Lunch at Re:Start, When in Rome

Christchurch Cathedral after the 2011 Earthquake

The city is still rebuilding from the 2011 Earth Quake.  There is construction everywhere.

A few quick notes after being in New Zealand for a few hours:

• Customs in New Zealand was more concerned with people bringing in invasive species than they were with the actual security to get on a plane.
• Mountain Dew is hard to find, and the calories are measured in kilojoules.
• Taxes are included in the price so if the tag says $8 you only have to pay $8.
• Everyone here wants to talk to me about Trump, all I want to talk about is where to find a beer.
• I saw a Toyota Helix in diesel with a standard transmission.
• My hotel room requires my key card to be inserted into a slot to turn the power on to my room, so they don't have people using electricity if they're not in their room.