Well it all depends on the weather. I wouldn’t count on having time in Cheech on your way down. Do your siteseeing at the end of the season. Murphy’s law says if you planned on shopping there for last minute items then your flight will be on time. On the other hand it’s not unheard of to be delayed for a week.
The routine will be ,day one arrive in cheech and possibly get your ecw gear. Day two fly to the ice leaving at 6am or so.
Sometimes you get an extra day. day two get gear and day 3 fly. That’s a little nicer because you have time to explore.
If the weather is bad and if you’r e lucky they’ll let you know before you go to the antarctic center at four in the morning, but again don’t count on it. You may get there, dress and wait around half the day until they cancel the flight.
A more likely scenario are boomerang flights. Basically the weather is iffy but there is a chance you can get in. The flight launches and goes out to the PSR-point of safe return. Here is where they make the decision on whether to proceed. If you are on a jet the psr is basically just before Ross Island. A five hour flight out and another five hours back only to repeat it the next day. Not likely but it’s also not uncommon to have up to 4 or 5 boomerang flights before you can get in.
Still it’s another free night in cheech so enjoy.
Chris Post if you still read these. Tell them about your boomerang experiences.
mike