Ahhhh! Again I slack at the blogging. I apologize! Things have been quite busy here since Thanksgiving – the Pole is definitely in the full swing of the summer season!
Things have been good at work – all of our instruments have been running well (knock on wood!), we are starting to receive cargo, and we’re also starting to ship out cargo. Life is good. Andy left two weeks ago to spend the holidays at home. Patrick has replaced him, but leaves next week. Its been really nice having friends rotate through – not only is it great to see various people, but its also wonderful to pick their brains for useful information. Over the last few weeks we have also an increase in visitors. There have been several people who have come out to see what we do at ARO from the station. Additionally, we have had several groups of distinguished visitors (DV’s) on station. The US Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa came out to ARO for a tour. The National Science Board also paid a visit to the Pole, but unfortunately they weren’t able to make it out to see us; instead we brought a mini presentation and clean air samples to them. Most recently, we had an Air Force C-17 pilot and load master check out ARO. More on them later…
The weather has been BEAUTIFUL, so we have gotten a lot of work done outside. Andy and I raised all of the 2-meter meteorology instruments on our tower. After several years the snow accumulates, burying buildings, towers, and instruments. Every so often the instruments must be raised to maintain the 2-meter distance off the snow. Yesterday Patrick and I raised our albedo rack. This is a T-shaped stand stuck in the snow that holds 3 solar instruments which look at the albedo, or reflectivity, of the snow. It was easy to raise our instruments on the tower – that only required wrenches. The albedo rack was a little more fun. Patrick and I (ok mostly Patrick) dug a huge 8-foot hole in the snow in order to expose the bottom of the rack post. It was quite the job. Once we were at the bottom, we were lucky to have Marco and Joselyn assist us in lifting the entire rack. We shoveled and packed snow under the post until it was at the correct height. Then we filled it all back in. This whole project took from about 10:00am to 3:00pm (including a lunch break). We were blessed with sun and little wind, so working outside was easy. During the shoveling I stripped down to liner gloves, a hat, and no jacket. I never thought I would be so hot outside at the South Pole in -20 degree weather! After all that shoveling yesterday, I’m a little sore!
On this past Monday the Air Force was supposed to conduct two air drops: a winter and a summer drop. The main differences between the summer and winter drops are the air drop locations, how the packages are dropped, and out of which hatch they are dropped. In the summer, we send packages grid South of the station, but in the winter we would direct a plane to send the package over the skiway. The summer drops are routine because the C-17 is able to open its rear cargo bay hatch and send out the packages by gravity on their sliding mechanisms. This procedure is well-practiced and is fairly easy for the crew. The winter is a little more complicated. The hydraulics don’t work well in the temperatures we are talking about here in the dead of winter (-100F), so the cargo bay hatch cannot be opened. Instead, cargo is physically pushed out of the paratroop door (the door on the side of the plane parachutists jump out) on the side. There is no gravity assistance, and its COLD! To matters more interesting, a winter air drop is done in the darkness. This is not a problem for the C-17 crew – they are used to this stuff! It’s a little more difficult for us, the crew who has to pick up the crashed cargo. Last week we had several meetings to discuss how we would run a winter air drop, how we would set up, and how we would recover the cargo. In preparation for this week’s drop, the air drop crew learned how to light the burn barrels that will illuminate the winter drop zone. We also planted flags at the surveyed locations which indicate where our burn barrels would be located. It was a lovely boondoggle in a pisten bully out about 2 miles away from the station.
Well, Monday rolled around and the air drop was scheduled for 1800 (6:00pm). During the day the drop was put on delay, then mechanical delay, then indefinite mechanical delay before being cancelled all together. Today was their next opportunity, but it turns out the C-17 needs a part shipped in from the US
The ERT team (emergency response team) is in full prep mode this week. On Friday we are scheduled to have our annual mass casualty drill. I can’t speak too much about the prospective incident, but I know it will involve a mock plane and several people down. It is going to be a real test of the system we have set up. I’m nervous for the event, but I’m also pretty excited for it. We’ve put in a lot of hours hashing out how we would handle several serious injuries at once, including initial response and transportation, so I’m looking forward to see how everyone handles it.
Other than work and emergencies, I’ve continued to have a lot of fun down here. The weekend after Thanksgiving there was an Open Mic night at Summercamp. It seems half the station crammed into the Summercamp lounge to see our fellow Polies show off their musical talents. And a talented group we are (myself not included!). I was completely blown away by my co-workers, friends, and peers! I was very much inspired to continue my goal of learning at least a little of the guitar this winter. We had extremely talented guitarists, a keyboard player, a banjo player, and a few other types of instruments. There were soloists and groups that performed. It was wonderful. The music ranged from folk to bluegrass, to classic rock, soft rock, you name it. I had a moment of “Whoa. Here I am. In a tent. Its -40 degrees outside. I’m listening to awesome music with my friends. I’m at the South Pole!” I have those moments every so often where I have to take a step back, assess my situation, and remind myself I’m at the bottom of the world!
I’ve also kept up with my swing and salsa dancing. We’ve been learning more and more advanced moves, but we are also gaining attendance during class. I think a lot of people think dance lessons would be silly or stupid – but that’s until they try it. I was able to convince several friends to attend a class, and now they are hooked. Or at least they are having fun and don’t feel so silly. It was awesome the other night at the Carp Shop party – a rock song was playing (I forget, but something on the hard side of rock), and my buddy and I were able to salsa dance to it – and I think we looked pretty good! I was impressed with our ability to make the salsa fit into that situation and not completely screw it up. Dancing is definitely a good skill to have.
Tonight is ARO movie night and we are showing a modern New Zealand New Zealand
That’s about all that is currently going on around here. We’re free from the Christmas buzz at the South Pole. There are no radio or tv commercials, no ridiculous holiday displays at stores, and so far no real Christmas music. I hope you’re all enjoying it back home!
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