Antarctic Survival Gear: Frisbee, Cards, and Chocolate

Campground for Happy Camper training

I'm officially a Happy Camper.  We had a great time the last 2 days learning the skills required in case of an emergency while out on the sea ice.  For this training, 20 of us (plus 2 instructors) were loaded up on one of the monster trucks and shipped out onto a frozen wasteland (aka the Ross Ice Shelf).  Out here, we practiced the standard winter camping skills of operating a whisper light stove, setting up tents, constructing a snow wall, etc.  We did luck out in the sense that the weather was beautiful (for all you northerners, that means single digit temperatures with little wind).  There is a very simple designation of weather down here.  Condition 3 (Con-3) means that the weather is lovely: wind chill above -75 deg F, winds speed less than 55 mph, and visibility less than 1/4 mile.  When any one of those thresholds is crossed, you have now reached Con-2.  Condition 1 means that either wind chill is less than -100 deg F or wind speed is greater than 63 mph or visibility is less than 100 ft.  Things begin to shut down in Con-2 and no one is allowed outside in Con-1, Most of our time down here (and just about all of Happy Camper training) has been Con-3.  Thus, Happy Camper wasn't much different than some back-country ski trips I've done back in VT.  

Rachel and Tracy enjoying dinner

Stimulating white-out conditions

Just before you start thinking of me skiing down the backside of Mansfield, there are a few differences to remember.  First, you are camping on top of 300 feet of heavily compacted snow/ice.  This means that if you want a nice kitchen or chairs to enjoy dinner, you simply need to dig deeper.  It also makes going to the bathroom interesting.  For our trainings, we were at a predesignated spot where they had drilled a really deep hole and erected an outhouse.  Out in the field though is another story... Second, there is absolutely no topographical relief, particularly when the visibility drops and you can't see the mountains on Ross Island.  This can be very disorienting and we all had good laughs fighting over which way was north.  One thing I have yet to do in VT is flag the route from my tent to the outhouse.  All paths/roads out on the ice are flagged since the weather might become Con-1/white-out very quickly or there might be a crevasse nearby... not things to be taken lightly.  As part of our training, we practiced trying to find a lost person in white-out conditions.  To stimulate this, we all put buckets over our heads and used a rope to stay together.  45 minutes later we had made hardly any progress in our search, which made us realize the importance of all safety measures. 

Frisbee out on the sea ice

Antarctica was mean to my poor frisbee

The night was pretty uneventful.  About half the group dug trenches in the snow and slept in them.  I got side-tracked building ice benches in the kitchen, and alas, didn't have time to make a trench.  Thus, I slept in one of the "Scott" tents.  After nearly 100 years, we have yet to develop a stronger more rugged tent for these conditions than what Scott used on his expeditions.  Those of you who know me, know that I don't go anywhere without my frisbee and a deck of cards, both of which came in useful.  Running on snow/ice in bunny boots bundled up with all your clothes is difficult.  Running while trying to throw and catch a frisbee with mittens is near impossible.  We all had a hilarious time trying and it also warms you up quickly as an added bonus.  However, cold Antarctic temps are not nice to frisbees, making them quite brittle.  Right before training ended, my poor little disc (that has traveled the world with me) decided that enough was enough, exploding into 3 separate pieces as it hit the snow.  We all gathered in a circle to say a little prayer... and then we learned how quickly conditions can change.  In a matter of seconds, a big gust of wind came in and we were in Con-1 (due to lack of visibility).  Holding on to each other, we stumbled into the warming hut where the indoor portion of training had occurred and waited.  The truck driver was likewise caught midway, and in those conditions there is nothing you can do except wait it out.  I broke out the deck of cards, and we all joined in an exciting game of Spoons (we even played one round with TimTams, a chocolate cookie/biscuit).  This delay only lasted about an hour before the visibility cleared and we could return to McMurdo.  This storm has lingered and the region has been Con-1 or Con-2 recently, although solely for visibility as temps are still warm (you can see this on some of the IceKid images).  Still, we learned the important message that weather dictates everything down here.

A Happy Camper (with Mt. Erebus in background)