26 November 2012 The Dangers of Installing on Blue Ice

We finally received a call that we will fly again. Fortunately, because of the rotation it was my turn to venture out into the field. It just so happened that site 12 is a blue glacial ice site. I was thrilled and excited to see a new piece of Antarctica. When we arrived we circled for a good landing site. The first place was straight ice and no snow. All the other sites were bumpy with snow so the pilots opted for the straight ice spot. After landing we gingerly exited the airplane to find it was as slippery as you would expect. This was a great chance to wear our crampons that we brought. Installing here requires no digging but a lot of rigging to keep the equipment in place. A quick look around the site revealed no crevasses and we began our work.

As the install came to a close one of our team members Yongcheol Park stepped on a small patch of snow and one leg fell in up to his knee. We quickly realized we were surrounded by crevasses! Wait until you see the last one in the video by our site. I was astonished and will never forget what I saw that day. Amongst all the beauty it is easy to forget how dangerous this place can be.

Tomorrow we leave for Mario Zuchelli the Italian base. Connectivity is not that good at the base and our schedule is insanely busy so this might be my last video journal until I return to McMurdo Station on December 10th. I will however continue to take pictures and video and upload what I can.

http://youtu.be/oA6rr7ZgnTo