Steen V. Mogensen
email: mogensen@bellsouth.net
Expedition log
Pictures:
Gallery 01, 05-Nov
Gallery 02, 09-Nov
Gallery 03, 17-Nov
Gallery 04, 2-Dec
Related Links:
Antarctic Sun
(News letter for United States Antarctic program)
United States Antarctic Program
It is now beginning of December and the summer season is really here.
Kelly Proffitt riding across the sea ice in blowing snow.
I have now been on the ice for almost a week and it is good to be back.
Researchers walking back behind Big Razorback island to retag a seal.
There are many seals here this year and many pups too. It seems the fact that B15, the iceberg that blocked McMurdo Sound for a couple of years, now has drifted further North, have had the positive effect that the seals are coming back to the colonies. The last sensus, done this past Sunday, showed 908 seals in total, 425 of which are pups. Last year the total number of pups for the entire season was only 269.
After many hours in the air and several days waiting around, I finally arrived in camp last night.
Had a great time yesterday where I rented a motorcycle and toured the mountains.
Gaining altitude while working my way up to Arthur's Pass in the Southern Alps.
I rented the bike from http://www.motorcyclesnewzealand.co.nz and can highly recommend these guys. Mike Hyde went out of his way to set me up with all I needed.
It adds to the experience that they drive on the wrong side of the road down here. Well .. at least they don't drive on the right side! The bike even had a little sticker on the tank saying "Keep Left!" which is probably a good thing to remember!
Getting there is a struggle in itself! In this case, it is also a trip halfway around the globe taking me from a warm Georgia to a cold Antarctica.
The cargo and passenger area of the C130 transport plane as we make our way back from McMurdo to Christchurch in December 2005. The orange cargo nets you see serves as the seating area where people sit knee-to-knee for parts of the flight. When conditions are good, the pilot will let us move around and people find more comfortable spots on the floor or on top of the cargo.
(Picture from last season)
First segment was from Atlanta to Dallas, then on to Los Angeles and then the long 12+ hour flight to Auckland / New Zealand. The last leg to Christchurch on the South island is only about 1 hour.
I am going to stay in Christchurch a few days to get my "Extreme Cold Weather" (ECW) gear at a facility known as the CDC. All gear is already prepared for me there, based on my measurements etc but since a good fit is very important, I will have to try everything on and probably exchange a few things. Once on the ice, there are only limited supplies of equipment and changing anything at that time is a hassle at best.
The last flight leg of the journey is with a military transport plane from Christchurch to McMurdo where we will land on the ice runway. This flight might be in a reasonably comfortable C17 jet with good seats, or it might be in a noisy C130 with cargo nets for seating.
The final few miles to get to camp will be on snow machine or in the Pisten Bulley, the tracked vehicle but I will have a day or two in "Mac Town" first.
One more week
I have my tickets and am ready to go. Another week and I will be heading to New Zealand!
I have not heard much from the ice but the seals would have started to show up in numbers by now. There are a lot of things around camp to get organized in the beginning, and it takes a little while to get into a daily routine. As all the different science groups share the same support resources, some things takes a little while. The camp has a phone now, which can be used for dial-up too, but there is still no high speed Internet connection.
Camp at Big Razorback Island. (Picture from last season)
The huts got pulled out to Big Razorback island a few days ago and the team has moved in. Life on the ice is starting.
I finally heard this evening that they have arrived at McMurdo Base and are now in the process of getting through the mandatory safety trainings and orientations. Kelly Proffitt and Mark Johnston, both having been on the ice several summer seasons, do not need to take the basic classes. They get a refresher course on the safety issues and are now more concerned with getting the equipment ready to set up camp.
Some of the equipment, such as the huts, snow machines and other primary equipment, is stored in McMurdo during the winter. All this equipment is maintained by the "Winter Over" Science Support personnel before the team arrives, and is now being placed in a waiting area on the sea ice in front of McMurdo in what is known as the "Transition Zone". Over the next few days, Kelly and Mark will move some of the standard equipment from storage into the kitchen and equipment huts and hopefully next week the huts will be pulled out to the camp site at Big Razorback island.
Waiting for the weather to clear
I have not heard anything today so they might have gotten approved for flight and are on the way to the Ice right now.
Summer is coming to Antarctica and with summer the activity level on the few isolated bases and camps around the continent suddenly increases and everything comes back to life.
For months, everything has been cut back to survival mode and the only people there, were those who stayed through the cold dark winter and kept it all going. The sun is returning to Ross Island and so is "B009", the science team from Montana State University I was with last season at the camp at Big Razorback Island.
The first part of the team left the US on September 30th. First stop is Christchurch, New Zealand, where the Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear is issued. This is basically all the clothing that will keep you protected against the elements while on the ice. The thick red parka, "Big Red", the white arctic boots "Bunny Boots" and all the different pairs of underwear, head wear and gloves. All of this gear is issued here because you have to wear it for the last leg of the trip, the military transport flight from Christchurch to McMurdo station.
I am not with the team yet but will join them in a few weeks.
Weather is also what is keeping them all in Christchurch right now. The 6 hour flight to McMurdo has been canceled 2 days in a row because of weather conditions. This is not unusual and the team has actually been lucky in that the flights have been canceled before takeoff. It happens sometimes that the flight gets all the way down there, just to have to abort the landing, turn around and go back to New Zealand. If you were up at 4:30 that morning, that's a really bad way to spend the day.
Copyright © Steen V. Mogensen 2007