A screencapture from McMurdo Station’s Observation Hill live cam. See it yourself at https://www.usap.gov/videoclipsandmaps/mcmwebcam.cfm

Hi All,  it’s officially been a week since John and Brian left the US for Christchurch and then Antarctica,  so it’s a good time to keep you updated on the team’s progress.  We’ll do this headline-style.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES FOR MOUNTAINEERS.   John and Brian made it to Christchurch on time,  but as of this afternoon were still there.  The big problem was weather,  including a Category 1 storm (the worst of three levels McMurdo recognizes).   That leads to backups,  and late last week John reported to me that there were still about 100 people queued up for southbound flights.    Early this morning (Christchurch-time) the mountaineers were scheduled to fly today,  and as shown by the Ob Hill webcam,  the weather in McMurdo doesn’t seem to be an issue, so our fingers are crossed.

MAIN TEAM READY FOR LAUNCH.    Well,  at least some of them are.   The rest of the crew departs the US very soon, on Sunday Nov 26.   Of course this is officially THE busiest flight day of the year (what were they thinking?)  but we bow low to the will and wisdom of USAP travel. Lots of constructive chatter among the field team members and having gotten to know them,  they’ll be fine- they’re way ahead in the game.  but fingers REALLY crossed for them all to get to Christchurch on time and with all their gear.

SHACKLETON SHORTCOMINGS?  One of our biggest fears for the coming season is that (like last year) logistical issues with supporting flights and fieldwork out of Shackleton Glacier Camp require severe cutbacks.  Throughout the summer we were told this year would be different,  and we’ll buy into that given that every year in Antarctica is a new one in some way.   Unfortunately the same weather that was hindering the southbound flights for our mountaineers also hit Shackleton,  and a few days ago USAP broadcast a short email to all the science groups telling us to expect “…delays in camp arrival or helo support”.   No panic on our parts yet,  because in fact we’re already behind schedule in terms of McMurdo chores-  it would take monumental effort to be ready to deploy to Shackleton on schedule anyway.

That’s the news,  and I hope it is completely out of date by tomorrow.

UPDATE:  Indeed, things change day-by-day.  John and Brian made it successfully to McMurdo late yesterday and  spent the earlier part of today in meetings and getting stuff under control,  and will spend the afternoon figuring out where things stand.   Things are apparently as messed up as suggested earlier-  Shackleton Camp is being built up by carpenters and managers and etc.  but apparently has not seen an LC-130 flight yet,  and only about 25% of USAP’s  LC-130 flights scheduled so far have taken place.  That can all get turned around quickly with good weather and good luck.  So fingers stay crossed.

-rph blogging from cold, sunny Novelty OH