On the ice.. 2 Weeks Later..

[will]

Well i am rounding the bend for week number 2 here in Antarctica..
We still do not have all 6 winter flights in. Weather has been the voodoo of
Antarctic air travel since Adm. Byrd flying over the south pole in the
1940's
Normally it only takes 8 days to get 6 flights in for winter, i was on
flight number 1, here we are almost 14 days later and we still have 1 flight
to go.

For the first time in months we have gone to weather condition 1 here in
town, this means wind chills sustained at -100F for more than 1 min. We also
got our dose of high winds and skin burning blowing snow.. as you can
imagine it makes walking outside difficult if not impossible. you need to be
properly dressed incase you get lost in the white-out, this means wearing
your big red parka, fleece jacket, fleece hat, fleece neck gaiter, snow
goggles, silk long underwear..(Thanks Becca!) fleece pants, wind pants and
wool socks and insulated boots..

Of course you can dress a little light if your just going to jet to the
galley for a meal or to the gym for a workout… but buyer beware the
weather is in charge here, we all are it's victim and it shows no mercy..

I had to work out at Pegasus Airfield the other day, we had a flight come in
with 96 passengers and some fresh food..leafy greens and fruit.
One of the guys who works on the aircraft snapped this picture of my
firetruck with a great view of Mt Discovery in the back. Pegasus is a 10
mile trip outside of town on the permanent ice shelf between Black island
and Mina Bluff on White island..

Also on that same day i had the joy of seeing the sun for the first time in
almost 10 days, how eerie it was to see the large orange orb of the sun
sneak from behind Mt Erebus, the largest peak and only active volcano on
Ross Island where McMurdo is situated. The sun quickly traveled in a right
to left sliding motion only a few degrees above the horizon, disappearing 4
hours later…

With the showing of the sun, we also see fab sunsets.. the pics speak for
them selves.. The mountain range in the back is the Royal Society Mountain
Range, some 40 miles across the ice shelf from McMurdo..

From 77 South Parallel..

Chris

Christopher Post
________________________________
United States Antarctic Program
McMurdo Station Antarctica
Lehigh County Emergency Management
Allentown, PA
________________________________
E-Mail : n3sig@arrl.net
Amateur Radio: N3SIG / ZL5CP
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