Southbound

I'm beginning my 13th season on the Ice and my 11th journey south. Every season's flight is very different, and this year is no exception. I would have preferred to fly on the C-17, but instead I arrived on the A-319 Airbus. It's funny though how a little experience helps one have a better flight. I lined up where I needed to after the safety briefing in Christchurch and got a good seat on the bus to the plane, which in turn, got me
a great seat on the flight.

 
About 3.5 hours into the flight, we started to fly over the Transantarctic Mountains, which form the spine of the Antarctic continent. I never tire of this view of the mountains and glaciers. There is a Qantas flight that makes a similar route to ours on New Years Eve and that costs approximately $10,000 per person. Yes, I get paid to make this flight!


Once we start veering toward Ross Island (where McMurdo is located) we start flying over McMurdo Sound. There are lots of icebergs this season. Although they look smallish, each of these is probably about
the size of a city block.


I've seen this view many times, being on the ramp, (this would be called the tarmac at regular airports) but I don't get to see it often from inside a plane. It doesn't look that much different from last year, although I believe the Ice Runway is a bit closer to Scott Base this year.


This is the typical shot of folks leaving the plane after arriving from the Ice. I was contacted by a representative from the NSF (National Science Foundation) for a photo just like this for one of their early season documents. I submitted it, so I hope it gets used.

Allan Hills

Rather surprisingly, I found myself today on a
Twin Otter plane headed for Allan Hills. The
folks there had mistakenly sent the battery for
their phone back on an earlier plane and it
needed to be returned to them. Allan Hills is
a tiny...and I mean really tiny...field camp
50 minutes away by airplane on the far end of
the Trans Antarctic Mountains in Victoria Land.
It is on the far side of the mountains I look
at every day and even past that. In other words,
not in the neighborhood. There are only five
people there at any one time. This is also where
the famous "Mars Meteorite" was found about 15
years ago that shows that life might once have
existed on Mars.


The trip out was truly awesome. We made it to the
Ice edge north of McMurdo and followed the coast
for some time before heading inland.


Along the way were several large icebergs that
had broken off of the ice sheet.


We flew over one of the large glaciers I've been
looking at through my bedroom window for years
and up close, it's truly huge!


We landed at Allan Hills on an ice sheet after
flying for 50 minutes and was surrounded by
complete wilderness. The Twin Otter we flew
in was very comfortable and the touchdown
was smooth.


It was very flat and white...similar to the
South Pole...except there were small hills in
the distance (actually mountain tops covered
deeply with glacial ice) that are the "Allan
Hills". To mark the skiway, black trash bags
filled with snow were used.


The two scientists we spoke with were really
pleasant and made us feel at home on their
skiway. They were also very grateful to get
their battery back!


After spending about 10 minutes on the "ground",
we left with a takeoff almost as smooth as the
landing. We passed some huge mountains on the
way that had the look and feeling of being very
very old. I'd be interested to find out just
how old this particular mountain was as we were
flying low enough to have it appear just outside
our window and we got a really good view.


We saw more glaciers on the way back, each different
in it's own way.


This glacier was really interesting as it looks like
it has a sort of catch basin pool at the base.
Almost as if it has existed since warmer, wetter
times.


Although we didn't stop in the Dry Valleys, we got
to fly past several of them, including this one.
A place that precipitation hasn't fallen in
centuries. Someday I may get to visit here as
well. However, for today, I was really grateful
I got the chance to visit someplace few humans
have been. A place unique and desolate, yet
oddly beautiful at the same time. Definitely
a red letter day!

A Good Day

There haven't been a lot of good days lately, so
when one does come along, it's certainly worth
noting. I got up this morning and received a
call from our friend Deb, that lives in Vermont.
She was my first boss on the Ice and she's having
her 60th birthday party in March and wanted to
invite Lynn (it's an all-girls party). She
can't go since we'll be in NZ, but it was nice
to hear her voice. Next, I talked to my Mom back
in Indiana. Although it's been a miserably bad
winter weather-wise, it was 50 degrees Fahrenheit
when I talked to her. Always fun to talk to Mom!
Then I talked to Lynn for a while. Less than 2
weeks til I'm in Christchurch! Yay! For someone
who doesn't like to talk on the phone...I sure
did a lot of it. After helping Kaska with the
first big transport of the season...about a 100
people leaving...I started walking down the hill
toward home. I hear this rumbling coming up the
road and it's my friend Tony driving in a Pisten
Bully. It's a small enclosed snow-cat sort of
vehicle. He's the head of the MEC which is
responsible for all of the equipment that the
scientists use while they're here. He had to
go to Castle Rock to move some snow around so
he asked if I wanted to hop in and go. Sure,
I said and off we went.


I had never been to Castle Rock during the day.
Only last winter I went there in a Tucker
(another track-type vehicle), so it was a treat
of sorts...kind of a mini-boondoggle. I'm way
to lazy to walk the 7 mile Castle Rock Loop so
getting a ride there is definitely the best
option. The first half mile though was hellish
since most of the snow in that part of the trail
had melted and big ruts formed the trail.
Picture a ski mogul run without the snow.
However, soon we were on the path and were
climbing to the top of the trail. The view from
Castle Rock is pretty amazing. Even if it was
a cloudy day, you can easily see for a hundred
miles. Tony even drove around where we could
see open water just north of Cape Evans and
All of the islands in the area. The view
looking the other way is just as amazing as
you can see the Trans-Antarctic Mountains and
the cluster of buildings that makes up Williams
Field. The way down is really steep and I'm
glad that I was in a vehicle and not walking it.
We saw the Kiwi A-Frame from above...which I've
also never seen in the daylight and got a good
view of the Kiwi Ski Hill.
When I got home, I was just in time for "John
Simonson Appreciation Day". John is a longtime
ATO cargo guy and several folks in the department
felt he has never gotten the recognition he
deserves. Lots of Sushi made by Sam and Molly,
BBQ Scallops wrapped in bacon by Hooch and a
good time had by all. A great wrap up to a good
day!

To The Pole

Today I was chosen to be a tour guide. Not just any tour guide, but
a tour guide to the South Pole! Leading 9 people, we hopped on a
LC-130 and off for a three hour trip to the bottom of the planet. As
far south as one can go. When I got there I got my obligatory "hero
shot", getting a good photo of me with the Geographical South Pole.
The candy-striped shot I stood with last time is Ceremonial Pole.
Although the Geographic Pole never moves (it's actually the station
that moves on the ice sheet) it is actually about 50 yards further
away than the last time I was here two years ago.


The nine people I was responsible for were chosen by the Chalet and I
was chosen as a guide because I had been to the Pole and knew it's
layout. I was very honored but had mixed emotions since it was such
a long travel day for a half hour on the ground. Imagine going to New
York or Paris on a three hour flight...then getting to spend a half hour
there. I also knew we were really busy at work and felt kind of guilty for
taking the time to go. However, I quickly got over that feeling!. We had
a set route we were supposed to follow and although we were cautioned
that we might only get to go to the Poles, I told the group that if they
hustled, they could go inside as well and go to the Post Office and get
their passports stamped. Everyone hustled, behaved themselves and
we got done just as the plane was making its last minute preparations for
take off.


The station's exterior had changed quite a bit since I was last here in
2007. All of the exterior siding is now installed. Previously it was still
in the plywood covering stage and looked like a big series of cargo
containers. I am however amazed at how much snow has piled up
around the station in the short time since it has been completed.
It's easily a 15 foot drop off from the edge of the snow to the door
at the bottom of the beer can (the cylindrical stairway at the end of
of the building). It's not that the building is sinking...it's that the
snow is rising. They've built in a lifting mechanism for the entire
building but apparently they haven't implemented it yet. Otherwise,
it's an impressive building that definitely stands out in a desolate,
empty place.


As I stated earlier, we got back to the plane in the nick of time. The herc
is definitely a unique plane. Although I wouldn't want to ride in one all
the time, they are effective in a number of different climates and locales.
The particular plane is called the "Pride of Scotia" and is operated by the
New York Air National Guard. As you can see, it's operated with skis
as it's primary landing gear instead of wheels. They can use wheels when
landing back in Christchurch but for the entire year on the Ice, they
remain unused, shuttling back and forth from Williams Field to the
South Pole on skis only.


Something new and fun for me was getting the chance to ride in the
cockpit. When I was getting back on the plane, one of the crew
members asked if I wanted to ride up front for takeoff. So I
strapped in and in a matter of moments, we were off! It was
hard to see anything because the Polar Plateau really is a big
empty area of nothing! Flat, white surface for nothing but hundreds
of miles in all directions. It was fun though to enjoy the sensation
of takeoff!


By the time I moved back to the cargo/passenger area, we were
starting to fly over the Trans Antarctic Mountains. This is a long
spine of mountains that runs across the continent and separates
East Antarctica from West Antarctica. I can't describe how beautiful
the scenery was from the air. I saw this great glacier ( and several
others just as impressive). It boggles the mind that most of these
areas have never seen a single human footprint and many geological
locations are simply unnamed. As beautiful as all of this is, it is
totally hostile to human life for long and I did a quick shudder
when I thought what it would be like to be stranded there. It gives
new meaning to the phrase "Not fit for man nor beast".


One of the favorite things I saw when flying back was this series of
six mountain tops. They look like islands, but what they really are
are the tops of mountains that have been almost completely
covered by ice and snow. Rather like islands, but islands in a sea
b of ice. I pictured this was what much of northern North
America looked like during the last Ice Age.

So after another three hour flight, we were back at Williams Field and
"home". I had a great time and was honored to be chosen to lead
others to have the same "first time" experience I had two years ago.
Someday, I would love to spend an extended period at the Pole. Maybe
a night. A summer? Maybe. A winter? Probably not. Whatever the
length of time, someday I plan to go back in some capacity. Maybe
Maybe more trips like this will be in my future.