Yesterday, Elena and I (and our BFC friend, Bija) were supposed to head into the field. We were all ready and set to go by 0800 and got word that there was a 2 hour weather delay. We waited until 10:00 only to find out that our flight out...
2017 / 2018 Field Season
To follow Juliane’s final post of the season, I wanted to take a moment to bid adieu as well. However, in part 1 of this tandem, she summarized everything perfectly. So, to quote John Scott on New Year’s, I’ll simply say: “Likewise”. Okay, perhaps that’s too short of a...
Our last bit of cargo and the last 4 skidoos have finally arrived and with that our season is over. We are still in McMurdo waiting our turn to leave the continent (whenever it might come, still no flights out of here). The cargo vessel departed this morning and the fuel vessel...
When you enter the BFC (short for Berg Field Center) your eyes need a few seconds to adjust to the windowless, dimly lit container building. But if you are an outdoor lover like me, once your eyes have adjusted to the light, your heart will start racing and your eyes...
In a dimly lit room off in the corner of a building, the hum of servers in the background, code streams across the computer screen like a scene from The Matrix. At least that’s how Hollywood would portray it if Antarctica I.T. Support ever made its way onto the...
After 2 months now without “freshies” (freshies is everything fresh and raw: vegetables like lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, fruit like apples, bananas, oranges, etc.) we are starting to fantasies about them a lot. Every lunch and dinner is met with the hope that maybe today there will be some kind...
Today all of McMurdo was in a frantic mood. The cargo vessel was due to arrive. In preparation, large areas were closed off for cargo container storage overnight, specifically the area between building 155, where the galley is located, and all the dorm buildings. It was...
This day today greeted us with a temperature drop to -11C. Still a lot warmer than what we had experienced in the deep field but without our protective gear we did feel the icy wind cutting into our faces quite a bit. We spent most of the morning with...
Another two days have passed here in McTown with lots of work, some fun, and magical nature. The weather has been tropical -2C and we feel really warm, way too warm. We got Sunday off and so some of our team members went on the big Castle Rock Loop...
With the green fog lifted, that cartoon-like haze of smell we all know you’re imagining surrounding us as we arrived in McMurdo, we’ve been getting things clean (real clean, not field clean) and organized to round out the field season. Gear and even half our skidoos are in the...