sunshine

me at the ceremonial pole
south pole christmas tree
south pole area regional transit

enlarge this photo for full effect-this is 4 sleds, 3 have been shoveled, the last one is on the far right
ancient styrofoam

good morning!

i hope you all had a wonderful holiday with friends and family! 

above is the photo of what i did on your xmas day! my co-worker alex and i spent the day in the ice tunnels with a sled and cargo straps.  our mission was to collect all of the styrofoam insulation that you see above, it was at the very end of the tunnel, which is over a mile long round trip! it took us 8 trips and most of the day as these pieces are about 4.5 feet tall and 1.5 feet wide, it was quite a cold day in the -65 degree tunnels, but a great workout!  this type of insulation is no longer needed because the water and waste pipes in the tunnels are now using different pipes with new insulation.  above this is the sled photo, (these sleds are extremely slippery), we spent yesterday with the traverse shoveling off fuel sleds so they could be converted to waste sleds.  this sled carried in 8 bladders each filled with 3,000 gallons of fuel for the station.  when the hercs (C-130's) bring us fuel it's usually about 1,500 gallons per trip.  i think the fuel storage facilities can accommodate 45,000 gallons, which is necessary for winter operations. these sleds will now be loaded up with tri-walls, which are the triple layer cardboard boxes all of our waste is stored and transported in.  the traverse encountered a set back on their way in from mactown...they had to cross a convergence of 2 glaciers- one moves 3 ft a day and the other 6 ft a day. they had to build special bridges to get here, and i assume the same must be done on the return voyage.  the christmas tree is made from old iron and steel scraps, it's quite an amazing sculpture! the SPART is a total farce, many jokesters here!  the top is my 'hero' shot, well, actually a true hero shot is taken in the nude, but that won't be happening! the winds have been so calm and the temps in the negative single digits, outdoor work is such a pleasure, it's not warm enough to have any skin exposed for long, but cumbersome jackets are no longer necessary! i hope it remains this warm for awhile, it seems like it should, but flights stop in mid-feb. due to temperatures, so i suppose this is just a fleeting summer time of joy! i am glad that many are enjoying this blog, it's really fun for me to do, and guess what sorts of things that may be of interest to you, then i realize...almost everything!!! please continue to have a safe and happy holiday time as 2008 comes to a close!! take care, karen grace  

happy holiday!

big crane moving big

scaffolding for the

siding carps


the Norwegian traverse

on it's way out of town

travis kissing my trout

santa hat-

merry fishmas!

alex and me- my fellow GA 

that i spend most days with
dance party in the dish pit!

greetings on this x-mas morning for you all! i am getting ready for work, but did enjoy a very mellow x-mas yesterday! my fellow GA's and i went carolling on the 24th and then had brunch then the remainder of the station began their holiday.  we enjoyed another lovely candlelight dinner that evening, and then i washed dishes for a few hours.  i was in the pit (dish) with a man from germany, a woman from belgium, and another man from amsterdam.  we spent the whole time having a splendid dance party, everyone who came by to drop dishes was quite amused, i had loads of fun! then the festivities moved out to summer camp, all in all it was a wonderful celebration! the weather the past few days has been horrible, i do hope that it has cleared up and the winds have died down for work today, the winds were 20+ knots, making it nearly impossible to accomplish much of anything outdoors except for fighting the wind!  i hope this message finds you all enjoying a peaceful day with friends and family! miss you all! all my love from the bottom of the world!  karen grace

summer solstice

greetings from the 1st day of summer! 

the winds have died down and the sky is a majestic blue, and my mind makes the far off clouds on the horizon into mountains-i am blessed to be at the bottom of the world! someone just took off on their skis pulled by a huge kite, off into the wild blue yonder... i am driving the shuttle again today, seems to be my new monday gig, we have 2 days of work then we get weds and thurs off for x-mas then work fri and sat then sun off.  we are having another fancy meal weds, i will be washing dishes this time instead of wine stewarding, got to switch it up! i have loved getting all the holiday cards and photo updates, hi to jessica- so great to be back in touch with you!!! the station has been at 300+ for the past few days, this is about 50 people over capacity, but they found somewhere to put everyone!  we have 3 extra groups in right now, the Norwegian traverse, who is crossing the continent and doing various studies, one in particular of of the "recovery" lakes, about 4 under ice fresh water lakes in the middle of the continent.  the next is the mactown traverse, they hauled in supplies and fuel for us.  and then there's AGAP, they are on a stop over here to acclimate to 10,000 ft before going to their research station at 14,000 feet, they are studying the recently discovered mountain range that is under the ice north (hahaha) from here.  last week we cleaned up and repackaged 3.5 tons of flour that was airdropped, it was really physically demanding as we literally handled all that flour in 50 lb increments all day long, but probably the most unique project that i may have while i'm here!! i hope you all are well and enjoying the spirit of the holiday times!!! take care, karen grace   

i'll get more photos up soon!

sunday mornin

Skiers coming in from the

continent

Sledding funtimes
Mark (kiwi) Devon and me
Jesus ice... this ice is over 

2000 years old and we were doing 

shots through it!

Me and the ray gun,,,really it's 

just a weather antenna!

greetings! 

i am about to go to bed but can write as the satellite gets 4 mins earlier daily!  we had the FEMC BBQ tonight... essentially the construction crew- it was a blast! it was the 1st open flame i've seen since i've been here.... i forget about the things i've taken for granted! it was another week spent in the trenches... in essence we are digging trenches for electrical and fiber optic cables all over the station for science! i will write more soon, but it is late here and my bed is calling me! hope you're all having a lovely day! karen grace

* yes, the ice cube cable does look like a stained glass window...falls into the 'human made'  category! bev...ice cube is an ongoing experiment here, i've written about it previously...let me know if you have any other questions.... kg

stuck

cross-section of 

ice cube cable
spoolhenge
greetings!

i am sitting in the shuttle van in between passengers writing this...amazing!! some hellos... to my little brother KARL who is graduating from UCF today, Hermann- Brian's dad, Beth Leo-i'm lacking the luna, Beth Santos- of course i remember you! and my Aunt Ellen- concerning your exposure question, as i walk i try to keep all skin covered, but as i'm doing strenuous physical labor outside my ski goggles fog then ice over and they come off, then my balaclava(head and face cover) gets icey and sticks to my face and then it comes off.  essentially the worst part is getting really sweaty and then really cold, that is why the saying down here is that cotton is a killer! in regards to breathing the cold, you get used to it, the 1st week it's the combo of the altitude and cold air that seem to burn, but by the time the air reaches my lungs it's sufficiently warm.

well, i just got the shuttle stuck for the second time in the last 2 days...must be karmic retribution for putting the photo up of my pal getting stuck!  the van has been popping out of 4 wheel drive, which is impossible to drive without it in this environment! there's a storm blowing in, the flights from mactown have been cancelled and we are getting lots of blowing snow, it's wild how fast the drifts can completely cover everything!  that's why i'm here!! well, i better go and get back to driving and not getting stuck! hope you're all having a great day!  karengrace

settling in

stuck shuttle van

legs in the trench
brian inside BICEP housing
me and my pick-axe manually trenching
Pete Mason and me 

at BICEP party

greetings!

i think i have finally settled in to the pole.  it was a long week of work, i spent several days either in a trench, digging a trench, or hand filling a trench...  it was an exhausting week.  i wish i could get up early during the week to write more here, but i barely manage to make it to work on time...i have found sleep to be my most precious commodity here!  last night we had a station viewing of 'the big lebowski', such a great cult classic movie!  i dressed up in a robe and mustache, since a beard was impossible.  it was a grand end to a long week.  my pal leith also was the 1st to get the shuttle van stuck yesterday, all the remaining day shift GA's drive the shuttle van during the week, and we were warned that getting stuck is inevitable, but of course, no one wants to be the 1st!  one of the science experiments, BICEP closed this week.  it is a telescope that measures CMBR, (cosmic microwave background radiation) essentially, the  beginnings of the universe.  the scientists involved in this research are grand folks and they threw a great party this past week after they'd dismantled the instrument so we could all come over and see it!  i volunteered to drive the shuttle van over that evening so that everyone could have a chance to experience some science, the reason we're all here! Pete Mason is the oldest person to ever be on the pole and is the lead scientist of this experiment.  i have great photos to upload, but the system is to slow at the moment... beth was asking about the full moon and it's effects on the nutters here, i am sure it has some effect, but we don't see the night sky while we're here so it is difficult to assess weather it's full moon madness or just another wacky day! tonight i am going to the lecture where the Norwegian traverse will be discussed.  i was out at the edge of the base when they pulled in last week, it was an amazing sight, like seeing the calistoga wagons of Antarctica! they do this annually, it is a scientific trip, but also quite fun!!  we are also due to receive the south pole traverse in the next few days, they are bringing us fuel and supplies, they only move 5mph, so this is a very long journey for them!  the satellite that provides our internet is about to pass out of view, so i must close, but i will endeavor to write more very soon and get some photos up!!! hope you all are well!! take care, karen grace    

happy camper

greetings!

happy camper is the name for the outdoor survival school offered through the bases.  a fellow named danny flew in from mac town to teach this session.  we had a class on friday night about hypothermia and frostbite prevention and treatment and stove use in this climate and altitude. the 13 of us then gathered at 7:30 after the awesome C-17 air drop of sugar and packages to ride in the 'piston bully' out to our site which was a few miles from base.  the base was still slightly visible from our site and we had radios and a sat-com telephone in case we needed anything because the vehicles returned to base as they are integral in emergency situations there.  danny had already been out and set up the latrine and a scott tent as well as bringing all the supplies.

we set-up 1 more scott tent and 3 mountain tents, which are just 4 season tents.  the fun was building structures out of snow that would aid in survival in this environment like a 'quensie', which is a structure that is formed when you place a large amount of stuff (bags of sleeping bags) in a pile and cover it with snow, tamp it down and repeat until the structure is at least 18" thick, then you let it set for and hour.  after it has set (the snow molecules strengthen incredibly once disturbed and rearranged) we dug out the bags through a small hole and then began to carve out the inside for a sleeping shelter.  at this point hydration was necessary and my fellow ga lauren and i began the snow melting process for food and drink (this was around 12:30) time was not an element on this trip as you could barely notice the sun moving around the crown of the horizon.  others who wanted to sleep inside of snow caves began their mission of their big digs, we also cut out snow blocks which are necessary for wind protection and wht one would build an igloo out of.  our tools consisted of saws and shovels and lots of human calories!  we sat around and ate our heat and eat meals and told off color jokes, missing a campfire and figured out where we were going to sleep for the night, which was almost over!  i opted to sleep in a scott tent, i slept alone in this amazing structure that is the same style that capt. scott used in his traverse to the south pole, i have always been fascinated by this structure and it's place in the history of this continent.  it is still a very warm (the new 4 season tents were perhaps the warmest) structure in tis environment.  it was about -27 degrees and the wind was blowing at a pretty constant 10 knots for a wind chill of around -45 while we were out.  when i finally settled into my fleece liner, 2 sleeping bags on top of 2 mats inside my snow floored tent it was 5am.  we were due up at 7:30 to break down the camp as our rides were returning at 9:30.  before i knew it i heard "wake up - it's 8:40!" we had all overslept! we managed to get the camp pretty much broken down by the time the piston bullies pulled up.  we then rode home, i ride in the passenger seat with the station manager dave, who was one of the engineers who has been building the new station for the last 10 years, we swapped stories and once back at station we pulled all the bags out and set everything up in a dnf (do not freeze) building to dry off and set off for brunch!  then we returned and packed it all back up and our adventure was over.  we had such an eclectic group of people, 6 men/6 women...it just worked out that way, and we were all jokers, we laughed the whole time we were out there! it was  one of the coldest and funnest 16 hours of my life!  i then came home and showered and watched a movie and napped the rest of the day, and now it is time to get dressed to go to work!  i hope you all had a lovely weekend ! take care, grace