November 22, 2007, Thursday McMurdo Station, Antarctica 8:00pm High: +23F wind chill: +12 F Low:  +12F    wind chill –4F Winds: S 12-20 knts; gusts to 35knts Station Pressure: 28.880” Present Conditions: Low pressure system moving on shore; 2-4 in of blowing snow expected through the night; Storm expected to continue through tomorrow. Sunset: February 20, 2008

    This post is coming a couple days late as we have had a very busy week of training and I am trying to resolve the last of this constant drainage and congestion with the help of some sleep causing antihistamines.  The good thing is I think they are working.   

    Happy Camper School:

    On Tuesday and Wednesday I participated in the required extreme weather training also known as Happy Camper School.  Class began at the Science Support Center from 9-11am. Our instructors were veteran mountain and severe weather guides from Alaska as well as other extreme environments. We then moved out to the ice in a Delta.  This is a 20-passenger bus like truck that is about 8-10 feet off the ground.  We went to the warming hut out past Scott Base (Kiwi Base) and on to the ice-shelf.  The instructors stay in the warming hut and we went there for further instructions on how to build a camp stove, how to stay warm and what to expect.  

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    Karen explaining how to build a camp stove 

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    Hauling our supplies out to our ice camp 

    Most of our instruction was hands-on at the campsite.  The campsite was a big open space of flat snow and ice at the foot of the mountains.  Our first tasks included building a snow wall to block winds from the tent areas, construct a quinzy, mountain tents and Scott tents, and set up a kitchen area for cooking dinner and breakfast.   I decided the best thing for me to work on was anything that involved construction and shoveling snow.  No reason to waste all the muscle strength I have developed over the last 9 months and I knew that it was also the best way to get warm and work out at the same time.  The camp included 4 mountain tents, 2 quinzy snow huts, 2 Scott tents, and 2 other snow trench/caves that a couple of guys wanted to sleep in. 

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    Enlarge the picture and you can see the Ice Camp.  The Scott Tents look like teepees, ours was the one on the left.  The outhouse was sufficiently away from the camp.  Note the snow wall that I helped to build!  

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    Bob "the shuttle guy" finished digging through the quinzy for the girls that were staying over night in the snow cave.  

    After constructing all of the tents, digging out the quinzy, and digging out the area to be used as the kitchen, one of the galley workers who was attending decided that she was going to tend to the kitchen duties which only included making sure there was a sufficient supply of boiling water.  Hot chocolate, tea, and dinner only needed water.  Water for boiling came from the snow that we dug out of the quinzy.  Quinn (the chef designee) did a great job making sure that we had plenty of water.  Dinner was in a bag that required 2 cups of boiling water and 10 minutes to cook itself.  

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    Turkey dinner in a bag- just add water!

    It wasn’t bad however, those of you who know me I am sure you are laughing to yourself imagining that I would even think of eating it.  I had a few spoonfuls, but Adam (another galley employee for Raytheon) was really hungry and eagerly volunteered to have my bag of yummy vitals as well.  I had cheese and crackers and hot chocolate and that was just delightful!  

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    Cup of Hot Chocolate before bed, on the vestibule of our Scott Tent.

    Around 10pm after another cup of hot chocolate, April and I decided it was time to go to bed as we were hoping that would be warmer then we were outside in the wind that had developed and was making it pretty cold.  Please keep in mind that the temperatures never were above 22F the entire time we were out.  YES! It was cold, I was cold, and I could not get warm.  I went for a walk, I went to the outhouse (it was warmer in there), I drank more water, ate more crackers, put on a 3rd pair of socks, a fleece jacket and tried to snuggle up with my warm water bottle so I could at least get a couple of hours of sleep.  Then the sun moved into the western side of the sky and was reflecting off of the ice like a mirror.

    Happy Camper School

    April only thought this was going to keep her warm enough!  

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    Evening on the Ross Ice Shelf 

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    Mt. Erebus, smoking over us all night long 

     Our training was not finished, it was just moving into the next phase as the day was beginning.  In the morning it took us 1.5 hours to break down the tents and the kitchen area and have everything packed and sorted for the arrival of our instructors and back to the warming hut.   Danny (one of the instructors) made the best grilled ham and cheese sandwich I have had in a long time.   While at the warming hut we learned about VHF and HF radio communication and practiced calling several stations in Antarctica.    We also practiced what to do in Condition 1, (white out conditions), and how to set up a search and rescue of someone missing in the bad weather.  My group had 6 current and former Navy and Air Force personnel so they immediately set up a plan of operation and successfully carried it out, rescuing the missing man in the outhouse.  

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    Simulated search and rescue in Condition 1 situation. 

    We successfully finished Happy Camper school back at the support center with a video on the Antarctic preservation areas in the Dry Valley’s and how to manage flying in a helicopter.  Off to the showers and to change into something we had not been wearing for the last 2 days.  

    And Yes! I would do it again! It was an awesome experience!!!

    Be sure to look at all of the rest of the pictures from Happy Camper School in the Photo Gallery!!

     Off to Thanksgiving Dinner!

    Cheers,

    Ann 

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