Moore's Bay on New Year's Eve day

This view is almost always the start of a great day.


This view is definitely the start of a great day.
On New Year's Eve, I was lucky enough to end the year in style. I went into the field with a grantee to fix a computer. The other folks in his group had already gone home and he wanted a computer guy around just in case anything went awry.


Our pilot took us directly over the Pegasus crash site.
I was pretty stressed about this trip into the field. Earlier in the week, the grantee had come to us to try and help him gain remote access to his linux computer in the field. He could ping (basically say hello and get a hello back) the machine, but he couldn't SSH to it. Every other service that would let him talk to his computer was turned off to make it use less battery. The easy solution to the problem, just like most computer problems, was to restart it. Expecting that to work, the grantee requested just forty-five minutes on the ground. This was great if the restart worked, but if it didn't, we probably wouldn't have the time to fix it.


I was amazed to see colors in the melt pools on Black Island.


A sliding glacier on Black Island.
As a shop, we wanted to head out with a full backup of the hard drive just in case it had been corrupted. We wanted to take spare parts. We wanted a spare battery. We wanted a lot of stuff that the grantee just didn't give us enough time for with less than an hour on the ground. All of this, stressed me out. I was going out to work on a system that I had never seen and didn't have time to get acquainted with. I wasn't sure it the trip into the field would be enjoyable at all. On the way out, I'd stress about if we would get it all done. While there, I'd get to stress about getting it done. On the way back, I was worried that I would stress because we didn't get it done. Yes, I do let the little things bother me too much.


The southwest side of Minna Bluff.


The black dot is where we were going.
New Year's Eve morning, we finally flew. It was a gorgeous day. It was so warm, we didn't wear our Big Reds while flying. Every time that I am in the field, I am boggled by our lack of perspective. Ten thousand foot mountains don't look that big. Flying at one thousand feet seems like three hundred. Nothing looks as far away as it really is. Flying at 110 mph, I would have guessed we were crossing the ice shelf at 60mph. The natural beauty and my amazement at our lack of perspective overwhelmed my stress enough that I was able to enjoy the flight out over Pegasus airfield, past Black Island, over Minna Bluff, and into Moore's Bay, which is a section of the Ross Ice Shelf.


Our flight route to Moore's Bay, S78'44.3 E165'02.45

Opening the box where all the communications equipment is stored.


Thorsten begins to uncover the box where the computer is stored.
At Moore's Bay, we had more beautiful weather with warm temperatures and almost no wind. Everything seemed to be going great. We split up to do our individual work. I grabbed a network connection to the computer to confirm we could ping it. Thorsten cut a live wire and spliced it to reset the computer. He insisted it was only 12V or 5v, but electricity scares me. I keep my distance from it and was glad he took that job. I'm not cutting any live wires.


The entire research site.


Our pilot takes a break while we do our work.
As soon as the computer was reset, we were able to use SSH to get back in. We turned on telnet so we'd have a second way to get in later if SSH broke again. Then, we reconnected everything and were getting ready to go. We just had a final test to see if someone in town could reach the computer. One short iridium phone call later, we found out we were not done yet.


Thorsten turns off the computer.


Paul wakes up from his cat nap.
Town couldn't reach the computer even though we could. The wireless link was down which isn't that much of a surprise because it is being broadcast over such a long distance (I think the longest we have ever done). We had to log in to the hardware and reset everything. After about ten resets, we got it to stay up. Things still weren't working. At this point, we were over our allotted time on the ground. I was starting to get stressed. After a few wrong turns, we figured out that an automated script on the computer had changed the gateway to an iridium link when the wireless went down. After entering a few quick commands, everything was working and we were on our way.


Mason Spur.

On our way out, the pilot let us know that we really had unlimited time. While they did have other flights to get to, they didn't want to have to make a follow up flight because nothing else is near by. They didn't tell us because they didn't want us to dilly dally. Yeah for stressing over nothing, just like usual.

On the way back, I was allowed to ride shotgun in the helicopter for the first time. The view is always amazing, but it felt like watching an iMax compared to a TV screen. I was left smiling for days. While a little stressful and tiring, the trip went well. Like most things, I'll conveniently forget the bad and remember the good. It was a beautiful day in the field and I was happy to get out. It was a brilliant way to whisk away a bad year.


The back (southern) side of Mt. Discovery

Home

I've been very fortunate to get out of town twice this year (first to the Dry Valleys and more recently to Moore's Bay). However, there is a large contingent of base that doesn't always get those opportunities. Those chances to go into the field are exceptions, not the rule. Because of that, I wanted to put a little perspective on how 'small' life is down here, especially if you don't get into the field.

In the next picture, you see everything that I will walk on or touch for four months, except when I go to the field.


My entire home for four months, EVERYTHING (click to zoom in, right click to open in a new window).
Erebus - Mt. Erebus, the active volcano we share an island with. Southern most in the world.
Cape Evans - Where Scott's Hut is.
IR - The now closed Ice Runway that I used to ski to.
Pegasus - Our runway and the last place I'll see before I leave.
McMurdo - Where I live.
CR - Castle Rock that I can hike to.
Scott Base - Where I run sometimes or visit friends.
RWAV - Room with a View, where I'll be guiding tours later this month.
LDB - Where they launch Long Distance Balloons.
SKI - places where I ski, either a 1.3 to IR or 5 mile to LDB road.

At McMurdo, my life is much smaller this season. My first season, I moved through every building working on computers. This year, I live in just one. I sleep in another. I eat in another. That's it. I don't venture around too much. When there are errands, I make it happen, but I don't see those other buildings on a regular basis.


My daily life (click to zoom in, right click to open in a new window).
Erebus - Mt. Erebus, the active volcano we share an island with. Southern most in the world.
CR - Castle Rock, the farthest we can hike.
QS - Quick Skiing when it was open. This was about 150 yard from my dorm.
F - Food, where I eat every day
H - B-209 where I lived during my winter
H - B-155 where I lived my first season
H - Hotel California where I live this season
W - B-120 PC shop where I worked my first season
W - B-1 Crary Lab Information Technology where I work now

Room With a View

The room.


The view (click to enlarge).
This year, I'm super fortunate to be a trip leader for Room With a View trips. These trips are morale or boondoggle trips. In theory, anyone can go, but usually they are for people whose jobs don't get them out of town. For some, this will be one of the more memorable events of their season.


A Haglund to get to the snowmobiles.
Room With a View trips leave after lunch and start with an hour of prep. After getting everything ready, we'll pile into a Haglund and ride over to the Scott Base transition where we transfer to snowmobiles.


Snowmobiling up.
After we get over there, we just hop on snowmobiles and snow machine nine miles up the peninsula to the base of Mt. Erebus. It takes about an hour to get up there, depending on the quality of the snow and number of stops for pictures. I think this is the biggest treat about the trip. You aren't working. You are riding snow machines and you are simply out of town and outside in Antarctica. On the way up, you get to see old features from new vantage points, like Castle Rock.


The Dellbridge Islands on the right, the wiggly part on the left is the Erebus Ice Tongue.
One of the coolest things that I got to see was the Erebus Ice Tongue. It is hard to see in this picture, but if you look closely at the left third, you can see a wiggle heading out to the sea ice. This is where the Erebus glacier hits the sea ice and extends out faster than the normal glacier moves. All in all, it is just a great way to spend an afternoon. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to start leading trips because the weather has canceled all of the trips so far.


My favorite part of the view.

South Pole Traverse

South Pole Traverse map.
Currently, we deliver almost all of our supplies and people to the South Pole via LC-130 Hercules flown the New York Air National Guard. We also use the Hercs to deliver fuel by filling them up all the way and unloading all the fuel except what they need to get back to McMurdo. It takes 200-250 flights. The hope is that one day the traverse will be so refined that they can go up twice a year and deliver most of the fuel (hopefully, 200,000 gallons) and cargo that way. Currently, they have eight towing tractors that can each carry about 60,000 lbs. With that capacity, one successful traverse can offset 36 flights.


Pisten Bully with ground radar to find crevasses (photo by Pablo).
The traverse doesn't take the shortest route to the pole as the crow flies. They try to cross as much of the smooth ice of the Ross Ice Shelf as they can before they have to cross the Transantarctic mountains onto the polar plateau. Their smoother route is about 1,030 miles long. While this might not seem like much, they have to cross crevasse fields and snow swamps that make moving difficult. For the operators, imagine driving 5-10 mph for days at a time. It redefines enjoying the scenery on a road trip. That is slower than bike touring with even less to look at.


Part of the fleet.The first vehicle is pulling fuel bladders.

On January 4, 1958, Sir Edmund Hillary, the first to summit Everest, was the first to drive to the South Pole. It took him 81 days and 23 gallons of fuel. I believe our traverse made it in 46 days this year on December 16th. They'll get back a lot quicker because they'll be lighter and going downhill instead of climbing the 10,000 feet to the pole.

"Never Better"

My ultimate cleat.
I made a miraculous discovery on my cleats today.

Grass.

I don't mean marijuana. I mean good old fashioned, lay in and get itchy, grass. One of the first people I showed it to did not understand why I was excited. They have only been here a few weeks. However, everyone who I showed it to, who arrived with me at mainbody or earlier at Winfly, was immediately taken with it. None of us have seen any non-food plant life since we left Christchurch. To see something that is quickly becoming just a memory is exciting. One person even asked if they could touch it.

Now that they closed the greenhouse, there is no virtually no living plant life here, just a few algae and mosses. However, those are rare and hard to even see. They just don't compare to plants. I can't find the words to explain it. Try to imagine what deprivation it would take to make something so common place be exciting again. If people find common pests, like slugs and spiders, in the galley while prepping the fresh fruits and vegetables, they sometimes take them home as pets! One of my friends received pressed and dried leaves for Christmas. She was lit up for a week.

The feeling loosely reminds me of a brilliant man down here who lived in the Eastern Bloc under Soviet control. I don't know his full story, but I've heard it alluded to that he was in a mining work camp for a decade. Ask him how he is and he will always answer 'Never better.'


Mt. Discovery in October.

B-63

Going. (All photos by J. Heil)
Last year, B-63 building was condemned. This year, they are tearing it down. With it, we have lost our bowling alley, weight gym, kiln, craft room, and climbing cave. They were able to relocate the weight gym last year. The craft room finally found a new home this year. The bowling alley is in storage in hopes that we'll use it again one day. The climbing cave is probably gone for good which is a bummer because you could go in solo, but at least we still have a climbing wall. The kiln is still looking for a new home.


Going.
I wish that I had an extra camera to set up for a time lapse of the deconstruction of this building. It is definitely a piece of history disappearing. I believe the bowling alley was the last one with a manually operated pin setting machine or maybe it was just the last of a type of manual pin setter. I know we have a few other condemned buildings that are also coming down. I'm curious how different this place will look in ten years as more buildings go up, come down, and a new contractor takes over.


(almost) gone.

First Critters!

A Weddell seal outside of the SCINI open house.
In early December, the SCINI group, held an open house down by the transition to let us drive their remotely operated underwater robot. Just past their hut, a seal was basking in the afternoon sun. While I had seen other seals this season, this is the first one I was able to get close to. It did what they always do when they are out of the water, lay there. Sometimes, they'll wiggle or roll, but when they are sunbathing, they usually don't move and really aren't that exciting. Out of the water, I like to think of them as sea slugs. In the water, they are a completely different creature.


"We're late! We're late! For a very important date! No time to say hello, goodbye! We're late, we're late, we're late!".
The other encounter that I was excited about, other than my skua attack, was my first penguin sighting of the year. At the end of our work day, my coworker saw some dots on the sea ice runway. He thought they might have been people, but a quick look in the telescope showed otherwise. I grabbed my hiking gear and headed out to see them.

Unfortunately, we didn't get too close. They might not have been curious about us because they were late for a very important date. A few hours later, a friend saw them still on the Pegasus road heading towards our runway. Maybe they had a plane to catch. All I really know is that whenever Adelie penguins walk, they look like they are in a hurry.


This is the penguin experience we all want when penguins are curious enough to come to us (photo by C. Linder).

Last day of the year

Yesterday, I went to Room With a View up the peninsula. Today, the last day of the year, I'm heading out to Moore's Bay. It might be a stressful trip, but it is the last day of the year. I'm super excited about the possibilities. Good bye 2009. Hello, 2010!


Moore's Bay is dead center at the bottom of the map.

More info to come. Ross Island is an hour northeast of that spot. The Dry Valleys are 30 minutes north.

Ob Hill Up Hill

The Ob Hill Up Hill course.

Every year, people climb Observation Hill. Some people make it a personal goal to climb it every day to stay in shape and to remind themselves just how beautiful this place is. It really only takes 30-45 minutes to go up and down if you are moving well. However, that just isn't fast enough for some of us. Once a year in December, we race up it.


On the road up, I was in 9th place (back of this picture, leader not shown).
The Ob Hill Up Hill race is always the least attended race and that is probably a good thing. The footing is loose. There isn't much room to pass. You are allowed to go off the trail, but then you are climbing up very loose scree. I hadn't been training because I had hurt myself so I, once again, didn't think I'd do well. For those of you who have been reading this blog long enough, that means I am likely to do have done well. Whenever I think I am going to do well is when I do badly. Anyway, I got to the base of trail in ninth place, even lower than I expected.


Two-fifths up, I move into 5th.
During my first Ob Hill race, people went out to fast and I was able to pick them off. I also had to walk because I went too fast in some sections. My goal this time was to not walk at all and just finish as well as I could.

When I got to the trail part of the race this year, I didn't think I'd stay in 9th because a lot of people went out pretty fast. By the halfway point, I was able to move up to third by cutting switch backs. Shortly after, second bonked and I was able to pass him. I didn't think I'd catch first, but they started to walk and I closed in. At the top, they chose the longer route which allowed me to close quickly. Unfortunately, I didn't quite get it done. I took second and was happy with it. I didn't walk and beat my past time by 40 seconds.

2009 Ob Hill Results
Whit M. 7:07
Brody 7:11 (2007 finish, 7:51, 3rd place)
Corey C. 8:08

I was also excited because my dorm did really well. For the men, HoCal placed 1st, 2nd, and 4th. For the women, we finished 2nd. I think we could dominate dorm Olympics.


You can only see my head in 2nd here.

Christmas update

The Royal Society mountain range.
It's been a while. I haven't been posting because I've been a little down and super busy.

I was busy because a number of grantees were ending their seasons and I was trying to spend as much time with my roommate, Meg, before she left town. She is finally back in the states with her dog Warren, boy Jaime, twin Mo, and family (maybe in that order). She is starting nursing school in January. I am now rooming with her high school classmate, Brooks, who is proving to be just as brilliant.


My last big run (photo compliments of Shuttle Jo, the oldest man on Ice, who turns 81 this year).
As for being down, I was missing my friends and I haven't been getting outside nearly as much as I should. I hurt myself by running twenty miles after taking some time off to be sick. After almost a month, I was finally able to run thirty minutes without pain yesterday. I'm pretty stoked about being able to run again, especially since I just got my team's training guide for WUCC.

For those of you who I haven't told, most everyone, I'll be playing in Prague in July with the mixed Christchurch, NZ team that I won NZ nationals with in December 2008. I'm really excited and honored to play with them. It should be a treat. They helped me remember why I love ultimate and kept me from retiring for a couple more years.


Attack Skua right outside my dorm!
Other things that have happened since Thanksgiving:

• Lots of smoothie mornings
• One skua attacked Meg and me five times on our way home from the galley. We, and our dinner, survived.
  
• Meg's going away party disguised as the Antarctic premier of her boyfriend's first ski movie
• I lost a great roommate.
• I got a new great roommate. We rearranged the room.
• I missed friends back home.
  
• I made new friends and connections here. I might have lost an old friend.
• I waved the 'Just say No to Grey Matter' flag to avoid wasting my time.
  
• I smiled.
  
• I started to make plans for when I leave the Ice (NZ until April, Australia/Hawaii through May 1st, Prague in July).
• I received fabulous gifts from home, including a grey hoodie I'm wearing all the time and video and ancestor info about my dog, Sabah!
• I rediscovered how much I enjoy crosswords.
• The Ob Hill Up Hill
  
• I skied with Becky who I haven't seen since I went to the field.
• A huge content update of the En Sabah Nur, my college ultimate team, website.
• I ate the last of my ice cream from my ice cream cake!

Ice cream cake on my birthday!

Thanksgiving

I'm sick of talking about the past. I realize that giving a little distance can let you reflect, but today I really want to rave about the beautiful weather, or the race we just ran, or how talented some of the women I saw perform last night were, or how great the fresh blueberries I had today were, or the crazy skua attack that Meg, I, and our dinner's survived. So good. So brilliant. Instead, I'm two weeks behind on the the blog so you are getting Thanksgiving goodness.

Thanksgiving. What is it? It is different for every one and every location. Down here, it means a holiday that the NSF can move to Saturday to accommodate work schedules and allow us to have our first two day weekend in three months. It means a brilliant meal made by an amazing galley staff who doesn't get the day off when we do. It means the annual turkey trot. It even means being thankful for how lucky we are to be here, to be surrounded by amazing friends, to have lots of loved ones back home, to have health, and to even have some happiness. I think most people are just thankful for the chance to truly unwind with two full days of goodness.


Running socks (photo by D. Story).
My Thanksgiving started after one of my worst night's of sleep down here. I had been unable to sleep, due to coughing, sniffling, and a headache, until almost 4am. I woke up at 9:15 (which was HUGE for me to sleep in that long) and saw a couple of my friends dressed for running. I was confused because they don't run much, but then I realized they were heading out to the Turkey Trot. I hustled my gear together to make it over to the 10am race in time.


The start of the Turkey Trot.
Since I wasn't feeling so hot, I planned to just run the race and not race it. It was a cold and windy day so I definitely wasn't motivated to run anywhere too fast. At the last minute, they changed the race course from the ice road out to the ice runway to the road to Scott Base. Someone had fallen and broken their wrist the week before so they didn't want to risk any more injuries. This change helped me quite a bit because it meant the first half of the race would be uphill which is my preferred run.


The hill up the Scott Base road.
We started late, but it was alright because we all just huddled inside to stay warm. Once we finally got moving, I just stayed leeward of someone running my speed and let them pull me up the hill. When they faded, I found someone else. I feel bad for the guys who tried to lead the first third of the race. They all faded away. I think the top finishers all stayed leeward of other runners as long as they could. The man who won it stayed leeward of me until we were out front. Anyway, while I didn't plan to race and was just running, I soon found myself near the front and my stubborn side took over. I didn't push it, but I definitely didn't ease off the way I had planned.


The downhill portion of the race with a great view.
The results of my decision not to ease off had me tied for first at the top of the hill. When we started back down, the other runner pulled away. I was able to catch back up for a short while, but he had a great stride and just pulled away again. He tuckered me out and there wasn't anyone too close behind me so I did finally ease off and did my best to enjoy the rest of the run through an agonizing cramp and an inundation of mucas. For my efforts, I got second place overall, first in my division, a Leatherman Micra knife, and an nauseating headache (maybe a migraine).

Turkey Trot results
Simon Trotter 19:27
William Brotman 19:59
Nathan Murphy 20:10


Marika finishing her first 5k!
I think the best part of my race was after the finish. I turned back up the hill to find Marika. She was running her first 5k and she isn't a runner. I found her and ran to the finish with her, nagging her all the way she would assure you. She pulled in just under 30 minutes which is running at a pace of 6 miles an hour. I'm posting this to have a permanent record and to reminder her that she did run faster than she ever trained even thought she felt like she was walking up the hill. When she was done, she went out for another 2 miles of running. She is a rockstar and is planning to run her first, and avowed only, half marathon in January.


The dinner tables.
Thanksgiving dinner is usually a special time with friends and food. I can't really put words to our dinner. I don't think I could put words to any family dinner I've attended over the years. There is just an inner warmth that emanates from spending time with those we love and with those who know us best. Two things I can convey is that the galley staff is amazing and they are amazing. There were around a 1,000 people on base and the galley only holds 350. That means they have to have three sittings, 3pm, 5pm, and 7pm, to get everyone fed and fed well. The rest of this post is just pictures of the concoctions they came up with. However, even these pictures doesn't do justice to the week of preparation that the staff put into making it happen.


Alaskan king crab legs!

Candy coated apples, bread, apple butter, and . . .


Yummy!


What Thanksgiving would be complete without pumpkin pie?


Truffles? Chocolatey goodness? Yes, sir.


Moose or mousse or YUM!!


Chocolate covered strawberries with real flowers.


Chocolate(?) skuas!


Veggies!


Something yummy.

Making it all happen.

Hmm, hmm, good?


Feeding 1000 a day and doing it well


The deliverers of goodness, these guys are the most loved on base for the tastes and most hated on base for the extra pounds.