Random Photos

Here are a couple random photos from down here. First is the Trans Antarctic Mountains...basically the only mountains I will see for a while. The Pole is Flat and White. I'll send pictures of it if you don't believe me. But this post is merely for these photos I wanted to include in the last post but couldn't. Enjoy



This is me outside. It is -85 f. As you can see I don't have any skin really exposed. Frostnip/frostbite is very easy to get. Especially when you have to work outside like many of us do.








This is the "old" Pole Station. It used to house about 30 men, when it was first built. It was intended for limited science and support. There were buildings on the inside as well. At one point it housed around 200 people. Which is quite a lot. It was never heated, but the buildings inside were. It has been decommissioned and is being used for food storage. It is being slowly crushed by the shifting ice. It will be deconstructed this season, rumor has it. The ice moves about 30 ft per year, and the snow drifts are very extreme as well. It is amazing that this structure has survived this long down here. I've been inside it several times, very cool. I shot a small movie clip on the inside. When I have time I'll upload it.

Echo Base or South Pole Station....

Hey everyone! This is the first post from the South Pole, aka the Bottom of the World, aka my home for the next (however) long months. To bring you all up to speed: I was told yesterday at 1000 hours that I would be leaving at 1145 hours to South Pole Station. My flight originally was for Thursday (today), but what happened was that there was they combined all the flights (40 people/3 Flights) and had them all go on an LC-130 rather than a Bazler aka a DC-3. No worries, I did my rushed packing...then I said bye to all my friends at the Fire Department, and hoped on the plane. We flew for 2.5 hours, 800 miles due South to the South Pole Station. South Pole is at about 10,000 ft on average, but does feel higher due to barometric pressure. I think today we hovered around 10,300 ft. Walking, even climbing stairs can make you out of breathe. I consider myself pretty fit, and I've been working out a bunch; so this whole winded thing is very odd to me from walking up 12 stairs! So, as I almost collapsed bringing my stuff from the plane (Mom, Dad I'm kidding...poetic license), a couple polies (slang for people who work down here) helped me with my bags to my room. I'm living in the main station, which was built in 2008. It is very nice, and I am very thankful that I am living in the station. Many people live in jamesways affectionately referred to as "Summer Camp". They aren't far from the main station, but everything (Food, Computer lab...etc) are in here.

Lets see it was -85 bellow freezing today and I worked/walked outside for several hours. I can see why people loose weight down here, your body is working overtime to burn calories to warm itself up. Today, we basically were setting up our ARFF rig that we will be using for the flights. Primarily that will be my job down here, that and fire inspections. Our small group of 3 of us (for now, 3 other join us later) augment the fire brigade down here. We assist them with training and we operate under them in any incidents. This is because we don't respond to fire calls if we are doing flight operations, the Air Force requirements essentially dictate why we are here.

Thus far living and working down here is AWESOME! I love it and I'm glad I'm here all season, the group of people are really cool, and I will have a hard time not to write whole essays on what I'm doing and what I experience down here. The "Dome" which has housed the South Pole Station for many years is being torn down this year. It right now is holding food and other various cargo in it. So I'll grab photos of that for everyone.

The underground tunnels are at a warm -50 degrees, reminds me of a certain movie...I think Greggy Smalls knows what I'm referring to. Matt Bramante if you also are reading this...I'm sure you are enjoying the references. And to all my other nerdy friends...I know you guys are smiling as well.

So my internet time is really limited. I'm hitting a "spare" satelite, so this is an extra 2 hours we get of internet today. Usually we get 10 hours daily...but it changes. I can get phone calls and internet in my room! Which is neat. I'll upload more pics later, but I think this will hold most of you over for now. Stay Safe and enjoy.

Still Waiting...

So, Here I am once again, writing from McMurdo. I should be at South Pole...but thanks to weather, I'm still stuck here. These things happen. So, what else is new? Well the Diamox is still being annoying. Often I'll wake up in the middle of the night with pins and needles on my legs and arms. But, it is one of the known side effects of diamox...and I'd prefer to have these annoying side effects than Elevation Sickness. The weather at the pole has been on and off, and same with McMurdo. We had a really interesting moisture move in the around the station. How do I know it was moisture? When the storm came through we had these snow crystals gather on everything outside. It was really cool. Here is a photo that has been circulating around Station. I forget the name of this type of storm and/or condition...so if you know, post it up and I'll reward you somehow. No Penguins...not yet

What else to say...

So the new guys are on shift working with the firehouse crews. It has been an interesting transition to say the least. Everyone is still trying to prove who is the better firefighter, an annoying but necessary ritual that seems to spring up all the time here. Since I'm going to pole, I've been removed from this whole situation, which gives me an interesting perspective. The fact of the matter is, it doesn't matter what you did back home...because Antarctica isn't like anywhere else in the World. I think it is because, everyone is trying to feel each other out. It is funny how even talking to people who have been with the program for a while, that some things never change. Another thing that hasn't changed is that the new guys don't have proper uniforms. So there was another organized donation drive of sorts with our older group giving up our "extra" uniforms to the newer guys. Some things never change.

Last night I hung out at the firehouse with some of the old crew and played a couple board games. I figured I wouldn't have the opportunity to do it when I'm down at Pole, so I traded in my evening of drinking for hanging out at the firehouse. There was a major party at the Carpenter Shop, but with the recent increase of people make almost every part of the station wicked populated. I heard it was very busy at the party, so I don't mind having the laid back night at the firehouse. So that is about everything that is happening here. I'm in a holding pattern. Rumor has it I'll fly out of here tomorrow, Monday...but we'll see. One of my friends who works as the weather forcaster has told me that Monday isn't looking too good for weather...so I'll keep you all up to date

Last Sunset...and more diamox

So I'm not at the South Pole yet. The weather here and also there has been pretty rough the past couple of days. I attribute this to the season change from Wicked Cold to Cold (Winter to "Summer"). The Polar winds have been pretty harsh, we had a Condition 2 the other day in town and everywhere else had a Condition 1 situation. The visibility was really poor and fast winds were very interesting. I took many photo's but I packed my photo cord and I don't know where it is. I had to bag drag the other day and I may have packed my camera cord by accident. Not to worry I'll post photos wicked soon....and I usually plan things out, so there should be a spare cord either at pole waiting for me, or put in an unsuspecting spot in my backpack. I have been delayed so many times, now that I am pretty much used to it. I wake up, turn on the travel channel and check the flight status, then I usually begin my day. I'm on MKPB004...but MKPB002 has yet to leave McMurdo, so I have a couple flights between me and the bottom of the earth. I am luckily not working anymore at the Firehouse, since technically all my gear is packed to fly down with me. I am still on stand-by status as far as if a serious incident happens down here. I do often still make it to the firehouse every day. Usually to pick up something or to say hi to some people. Besides that, life has been pretty laid back. I went to Scott Base last night and made my 1 purchase of the year there...a patch. Pretty exciting, I know. Besides that, I'm getting another dose of Diamox today. Diamox has been treating me well. It is getting my body used to being at altitude. Diamox is an interesting drug. First of all, it randomly give me pins and needles in my hand and feet...then it also increases my heart rate when I'm at rest. It is basically increasing my red blood cell count.

In other news, I saw the "last sunset" for the Summer Season last night. It was pretty uneventful, compared to the sunsets I saw in Winfly. But it was cool to see the "Challenger" fly around during it. The "Challenger" is an FAA aircraft that is testing all the nav-aids and shooting radar down into the ice to see how thick the ice is. From here on out it will be nothing but sun down here, no darkness or even hint of darkness. I am looking forward to that, which is weird but I guess it is something one can get addicted to. Anyway, I should pick up my diamox and make a couple phone calls before I hit the gym. Talk to all later, take care everyone!

Diamox and much much more

So I've been busy wrapping things up here to go to pole. In theory, I'll be South Pole bound by Tuesday this week, or Wednesday. Tomorrow I have to bag drag, which means I bring all my stuff to get weighed. I have to pack all my gear for a one month supply. Due to the size and lack of cargo space on the Bazler, all of my gear can't come with me down to Pole right away. The rest of my cargo will be shipped down where there is space on the LC-130, this could take up to a month. So I've been packing and repacking for the past couple of days. I also got myself a nice prescription to Diamox. I know all you paramedics out there are looking up what drug this is, but I'll save you the time. It is a high altitude med that acts as a diuretic to make room for more red blood cells. I'll be living at roughly 9,000 ft-11,000 ft for the next 3 months. The elevation change is due to barometric pressure. I'll be starting Diamox tomorrow. I hear it makes your beer (any carbonated beverage) taste funny. So I'll let you all know how that goes. The planes thus far to the South Pole have all been delayed by weather. I'm on the 4th flight, but since they haven't had a successful 1st flight...it is really all up in the air when I'll be going.

I've been keeping busy helping train the new guys down here. We have so many recruits it is getting very confusing to get all their names. We also have a ton of double named guys. I think total on this department we have 4 Robs, 3 Scotts, 3 Johns, 3 Christophers. The two kiwi's we have are easy to pick out, they talk funny. Plus, they usually are the most friendly. Besides that nothing major has been happening. I bartended my last shift, since I'm going to Pole. I can't bartend down there; there is no bar at the South Pole. The bar has been removed due to an incident a couple years ago. However, they still do drink down there. The parties I hear are epic, so I have that to look forward to. I also got a package from some of my female co-workers at Action. They sent me a pink picture frame with their photos in it. It has become a major favorite among all of us down here.

So I hate to cut this entry short...but I'm covering dispatch for the next 4 hours. Our overnight dispatcher hasn't been fully trained yet, he just flew down last week. So I have to focus on dispatching rather than blogging. I'll try to update prior to my flight down South. Take Care all.

Flight Date

So I finally got a "date" for when I am heading due due South. That is right, due due South. Not to be confused with my current location of due South. If the weather behaves itself, and everything else comes together...I will be at the South Pole in 9 days roughly. I will be flying down on a really cool plane. I will be flying down on a Basler BT-67. For those of you who are aviation-ally challenged here is the wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basler_BT-67.

For the quick cliff notes...the Basler is a retrofitted DC-3, a very famous WWII plane. As per wikipedia, "The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing, propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Because of its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II it is generally regarded as one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made..." Historically that is a very cool plane. The company that works down here has a couple of the Baslers, and flys missions all over Antarctica. I have heard rumors on how the flight is, but I won't post them until I experience for myself.

So, what does this mean for me. We'll for starters a Basler is much smaller than a LC-130. So my luggage will have to be minimized in weight. I have been told to pack what I can live on for a month down at the pole, because the rest of our luggage isn't going to be at pole until estimated Nov. 4th. So for the next couple of days I will be packing and seeing what I can bring down and what I will be mailing to myself or having held in cargo until it makes it down. Should be an interesting experience. Besides that, nothing major is happening. I'll talk to you all later. Take care.

Brotherhood

This blog entry is going to be a reflection on the "Brotherhood" of the Fire Service. Today, we had several Kiwi Firefighters come into our station. They are visiting the Scott base and training their fire crews over there for the summer season. It was neat to talk to those guys about the job and how it is different in New Zealand. We shared a pot of coffee and just talked about New Zealand, the fire strike, and how they are preparing the fire crews over at Scott Base. Scott Base's crew is made of all the scientists who when the alarm goes off, get on bunker gear and fight the fire. We are their only backup, so it was nice to meet their training staff. Even though both departments run very differently, we come together to get a job done. That seems to be to be a part of the brotherhood.

Another example of brotherhood happened tonight in the firehouse. Maybe because our group has been hanging out for the past two months, but our shift can read each other pretty well. One of the guys on our crew was having a rough day. Being in Antarctica can sometimes be frustrating because you can have situations that last longer or even spin out of control faster, because you are so far away from it. Why he was having a bad day, I won't get into because I don't find it appropriate to talk about specifics....So one of our guys was having a rough day, so we all as a shift made nachos and then had a fake birthday party for him. It was a surprise fake birthday party. We made a cake, and even put on some freshly delivered strawberries down here on it. It made him smile, and it felt good to cheer him up. I haven't felt this sense of brotherhood in a department in a long time. Last time I felt it was when I was in College. Something happened to me and many got together to help me (Dayton, Jess, Dan, Tower and Lundquist, Thank you). These moments are rare, but they are important. Especially down here, we depend on each other so much. It was good to spend some quality time with these guys. It reminds me why I want to be involved with the fire service. The family quality of it is amazing.

That is about it for this entry. Nothing new to report. No word on when I'm leaving for South Pole yet...when I get some photos I'll upload them up here. These last two entries have been really word heavy, thanks for reading. Take care.