Bill's 2022 Antarctic Adventure

  12-1-2022 Update on the demolition of dorm 203. It looked like this project was going to take years. I watched one day as the workers removed aluminum siding. It took 2 guys 15 minutes to remove one piece of siding. They were being very cautious. This morning they brought in a huge track hoe that could reach the top of the dorm. It had a scoop that looked like a tyrannosaurus Rex head and it went after the building like a starving dinosaur. The pictures are the result after a couple of hours of gobbling. All the remnants are loaded into shipping containers and returned to the USA for recycling. The long game is to build a huge dome over the town so most habitable spaces can be accessed without ever going outside. This is the biggest facelift ever undertaken here but, in the end, it reduces the footprint of McMurdo. I’m also sending along a picture of my work area in town. My work time is split equally between the Center and the Control Tower. I like the Tower much more. The view ...

  11-30-2020   Did you just say, “shorts weather”? Well, it is here today. If this wasn’t a workday, I’d have been on a long hike on a path called “arrival heights”. It’s so named because of its high elevation and spectacular view of ships coming and going to McMurdo. No ships yet though, still too much ice but the ice breaker is on the way and the Orcas are getting antsy. Update on the tooth, all good, and I’m very happy. I am feeling very energized today and happy in general. Days like these are great!

  OUCH!! I was brushing my teeth this morning, normal so far, and then a piece of a tooth broke off, definitely not normal. The good news is no pain ensued but there was definitely a sharp edge that the back of my tongue was rubbing on. I called the medical clinic, and they got me right in. The dentist (an emergency room dental PA) said I’d broken off about a quarter of a lower wisdom tooth. My options were to let him rebuild the tooth or fly to Christchurch for treatment in a dental clinic. After some discussion I was convinced that having it repaired here was my best option, so I gave Mike the go-ahead. It was tricky because of its location, and I had to assist a couple of times getting my cheek out of the way. We even called in a flight nurse (who was from Eden Prairie, Minnesota) to work the suction and keep my tongue out of the way. I know, I know cut to the chase already! The procedure was a success and I’m confident I won’t need to leave the Ice before my time is due. Mike d...

  1-28-2020 Herbie came to visit Sunday. Both of our airports experienced weather condition 1 on Sunday. For condition 1 to exist you must have winds greater than 55 knots, or wind chill colder than -100 F or visibility less than 100 feet. I’m happy to report of the 3 we did not have -100 degrees! We did however have the other two. The most amazing part of it all is that we had very benign conditions in town. It’s a reminder to all of us here how quickly the weather can change and how arbitrary it can be where and when it hits. Ross Sound Artifacts At lunch today I had the pleasure of listening to an NSF (National Science Foundation) representative. In a former life he was one of our C-130 pilots. He was telling me that both Williams Field and Phoenix Field, our two airports, had to be moved last year because the snow had gotten “dirty”. Dirty snow attracts more heat and causes the runway surfaces to become unstable for use. Ah, the things you must deal with in Antarctica! I’m real...

  11-27-2020 Maple Syrup…One of the things you won’t find in Antarctica are trees or for that matter plants of any kind so bear with me on this blog entry. One of my work companions and fellow Minnesotan, Chris, harvests hundreds of gallons of maple sap every year. Forgive my ignorance but I thought you just drilled a hole in a Maple tree, stuck in a wooden faucet and drained out maple syrup. Oh, I can hear you chuckling now!  The topic came up at the dinner table tonight when I told Chris I always had a Belgian waffle every Sunday morning at brunch. He said he loved waffles but couldn’t stand the syrup they provided here. He then talked me through how he taps maple trees and the process involved in the making of real maple syrup. Then we talked about you tube do-it-yourself videos and we suggested he produce a you tube video describing the process of syrup manufacture. He just smiled. ( he does a lot of that!) On another unrelated subject I watched an interesting show on the ...

  11-26-2022                                                        Family, friends and Thanksgiving Dinner. It’s                          Saturday after Thanksgiving here but it’s the day of the   “Great Thanksgiving Meal”. This event has been going on for longer than I have been here. It’s the reason some people come here, and it never fails to impress. It’s the same comfort food you eat with your family and friends with a twist, we are all working in Antarctica.  My family at home are always taking pictures of meals they like so I’m including a picture of my meal today. I didn’t go to breakfast or lunch today. I needed to save up room and I used all the room I saved.  We are within a few days of the half-way point here and some ...

  11-25-2022   Imagine leaving St. Louis in the early 1800’s on your way west in a covered wagon. The arduous trek took months through territories infrequently traveled with danger at every turn. Such is the life of the “traverse” crew in Antarctica. Essentially, they form a wagon train of sleds loaded with fuel, supplies and every variety of goods necessary for life at the South Pole. In the past the only real way to get anything to the Pole was by air. The distance and the terrain seemed to rule out any other means of transportation.  Even now, after several years, the traverse is still dangerous. The first traverse of the year has scouts, like the wagon train had, who go ahead looking for the best trail across the tundra. Instead of horses they use snowmobiles. They are a hardy and adventurous group. The possibility of being gobbled up by a crevasse is a daily concern. They literally plant flags along the route they scout for the vehicles behind to follow. They camp ev...