Since Richard was not on call this week, we decided to try for a goal we’ve had for a while: sleeping in one of the emergency shelters along the Castle Rock Loop. Technically, you are not supposed to plan on using the shelters for recreational sleeping, but you are allowed to check out with the […]
As the season draws to a close, there are still a few recreational trips being organized. The challenge for participation is that these trips are run by lotto drawing. You enter your name and hope to get chosen. The Room with a View trip has lower odds because it is very popular. Everyone drives snowmobiles […]
Editor’s Note: This post was written under the influence of fatigue and frustration. The events that I discuss below don’t happen often, thankfully, but they sure are annoying when they do. Ok. Happy reading. Some weeks, when I’m in my 57th hour of working and I am seriously doubting whether I will last the next […]
Last Wednesday, a group of friends and I were invited to Scott Base (the New Zealand presence on Ross Island) for dinner. We were picked up by the chef at Scott Base — our Kiwi contact — and driven two miles over Fuels Pass (the ridge at the nose of the peninsula separating the bases) […]
Hi from Antarctica. Many people have been asking for more photos. So, here’s a post that’s full of them! I will try to put more photos up soon and more with each post. But, the Internet down here is unstable at best, so I can’t guarantee anything. Thanks for reading!
Every year, about 20 people get the silly idea in their heads to run a marathon in Antarctica. I mean, why not? Right? What else is there to do on the one day a week you get to sleep in? At least, that’s what was going through my head when the alarm went off at […]
Do you ever wish that everything was free? Free food, free electricity, free clothes, free rent? When you just give McMurdo a glance, that what it looks like. Our lifestyles down here are paid for by the American tax payers — and we do pay taxes on our wages — but all our day-to-day needs […]
My alarm goes off in the dark. My phone blinks 5:25 a.m. (or 3:25 a.m. depending on the day). Our room has no windows, so I get ready by the light of my headlamp so as to not wake Richard. After a trip down the hall to the bathroom, I reluctantly put on my uniform. […]
For the last two-day weekend for the summer season, the base prepped for IceStock. It’s an outdoor music festival at McMurdo that features bands cobbled together from friends on the ice. It began at 4 p.m. Saturday and went until 1 a.m. Sunday, (or until people were done dancing — I’m not sure; I went […]
A valuable piece of history sits on a windy prominence within view of McMurdo. Discovery Hut was built in 1902 during the Discovery Expedition of Robert Falcon Scott. What is now known as Hut Point is only a 10-minute walk from base. On Saturday, it was open for tours. As a lovely Christmas gift from […]