After an extensive search of some blue ice and a moraine, John grabs a view from atop a nunatak. In the distant center of the image (faintly, if at all visible at this resolution), James can be seen searching the lower portion of the nunatak.

Team B recovered its first meteorite today! After not much to be found on a quick scouting trip yesterday, it felt good to get one flagged today. It is a tough area for hunting meteorites. There are lots of terrestrial rocks littering the blue ice and there is quite a bit of new snow – not seen on the satellite images from a year ago.
It is a unique feeling being here, being so removed from society and from the next closest people who aren’t your teammates. The regular background noise of the modern world is gone. The ringing/dinging of phones, clacking of keyboards, and especially the drone of motor vehicle engines, all gone. There are moments when the wind gives pause and there is nothing but absolute silence. Well, and the cold too. At night there are times where not an audible sound can be heard between the breaths of your tent mate. There are also moments where you can hear the snow pelting the tent right by your head/body as the wind rips across the surface mimicking the sound of sleet.
Thankfully, we are quite prepared for the cold climate. In addition to our ECW (extreme cold weather) gear issued by the CDC (Clothing Distribution Center – in Christchurch), the run down during bootcamp where we rookies could see examples of what we should bring to supplement this gear has been invaluable. Everyone handles the cold differently, and finds different things work best for them (John rocks a hoodie and a vest for his outer layer, complemented by an ice-based insulating layer on his facial hair). I’ve found my biggest challenge has been to not have my goggles/glasses fog up but I think I found the perfect combination today . Even with all the travel, all the time to prepare to get here (we left the United States three weeks ago and here at Team B just completed our second full day in the field), and how downright cold it is – especially that burst (and the bright sun) first thing in the morning – everyone is thrilled to be here.
On another note, I’m pleased to announce a new segment we’ll be doing with the Team B blog this season. We’re calling it “Cooking with James”. To the tone of a cooking show, we’ll bring you Chef James Day and take you through, step by step, the intricacies of fine dining, in a tent, in the remote deep field of Antarctica. Stay tuned!
Posted by Scott at Mt. Wisting on 2017-12-17 at 18:45 local.