Iceaged members Jennifer, David, Kevin, and Tina

Here is a big rig for my nephews!

Once again, I’m a bit short on time to write. Today we had the day “off”! Jennifer and I slept for 12 hours each….wandered to building 155 where we ate a huge breakfast and then headed to the lab. We needed to help out with organizing lab space, setting up computers, finish taking a training course on driving the trucks around here, and organizing dive gear. We spent a lot of time in the dive locker getting things set up and talking to me and Kevin about diving under the ice (Kevin is also new to diving in Antarctica). We learned how to deal with regulators that freeze up (lucky for us, they freeze open and delivering a steady stream of air) and masks that freeze up. I know a bit more about what to expect and I think I’ll be OK, although nervous for the first dive – which is scheduled for Thursday!

So what have we done since we arrived? Well, we have limited time and it is very expensive for us to be here – so we do not waste time! Once we were off the plane we headed straight to the cafeteria for a briefing and then to our lab where we unpacked boxes and boxes of gear. That took the entire day! We crashed fast after dinner, but we did have a little time to unpack! Jennifer and I celebrated our arrival with a beer. Yes, you can buy beer down here.

The next morning we headed straight to the classroom to begin our survival training – called “happy camper” training because, yes, we were learning how to survive on the ice. The training was great – we spent the morning in the classroom and headed out to the sea ice to set up camp around 11pm. We were outside from that point for 24 hours in temperatures ranging from -20F to 13F. I was surprised at how warm I was most of the time. I lost my feet and hands a few times, but jogging in the heavy jacket back and forth along the ice could bring them back and then they would stick around for hours.

We learned how to set up tents on the ice and tie them down for strong winds, we learned how to build walls from the snow (we used a saw to hack out hunks of snow – very cool), and we learned how to fire up stoves in cold temperatures. The course also stuck buckets on our heads to mimic blizzard conditions and sent us wandering around. There was a lot to pack in for the training! The two instructors left us around 6:30pm and we were on our own for the night. I froze at night, but I did a few things wrong that I can correct for future camping.

Now we are back at McMurdo and I’m still a bit sleepy and recovering from jet lag. My team members seem really really great and I’m excited about all the science we will be doing. We will be working hard – but I think it will be really fun!

View of the happy camp