A view looking NNE toward Erebus (really!) from along the way toward Scott Base. Note the pressure ridges in the fore- and mid-ground, with the road to Willy Field and a bunch of buildings and stored materials on the less-disturbed ice further out.

Tuesday turned into a pretty special ANSMET day, after a whiteout that caused more flight delays. It was hard to see much outside. You couldn’t even see the mountains across the ice, on the mainland.

John during the 2023 Bootcamp. That’s his ” I’m not buying what you’re selling” expression. Brian (in the background) looks only slightly more impressed.

Our team called Johnny and he told us a bit about a dinner with other OAE’s, which we learned was short for Old Antarctic Explorers. It was Christmas in Bellingham, Washington, where he lives. Some of John’s friends started coming down to the Ice in the 70s and 80s, like he did. We also learned there’s an OAE club you can join after you’ve been to the ice before. We’re all excited to become OAE’s in a few weeks time, after we redeploy back to the States, not to mention to be starting (or rekindling) our Antarctic careers and following in John’s and other’s footsteps.

Daniela and Lauren enjoying the hike.

We couldn’t get the video working, so John was “not able to show us [his] smiling face.” But we were all smiles talking to him, and wish him well on his snowshoeing adventure this week as we prep to go to our own frozen wonderland in Davis Ward soon. (Fingers crossed)

Minako cuts the cake for Birthday Boy Jim Karner!

We also celebrated Jim’s birthday with a chocolate cake the Galley staff provided (thank you!!), a game of pool, and other festivities in Southern Exposure, the McMurdo bar where we now eat our meals. And to make room for cake, some of us took a walk almost to Scott Base, were we got a glimpse of the pressure ridges. Overall, a great day.

-From Daniela in McMurdo