photos from 'ice burg and hut fun'

loving

the 

ice burg

speechless.

the ship broke free of this anchor and drifted out to sea before the sea ice refroze- long winter!

penguins that were being used in biological research, left in the stables.

provisions left in the stables

the stables, built on the southern edge of the hut

the dark room chemicals

the dark room from the outside

a penguin on Scott's table

scientific instruments from the turn of last century

more science

the kitchen

everything beautifully preserved

bunks with a desk in between 4 beds 

more bunks

a staple even then.

tools inside the door

blades for the sleds

the hut was insulated with hay bails

for my dad

these are amazing! strategically placed by the Kiwi's they keep the annual snow drift from covering the hut!!

the hut

the deltas we transported out on

ice burg and hut fun

Hello,
the following entry was from 11/1/10,  currently the south pole has been experiencing difficulties with our satellite that allows for larger data transfers.  So, all the photos i have to post with the following entry will hopefully be up soon. cross your fingers for our satellite!
but for now, i wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving, today we will have our big meal and celebrate with 2 days off. the second week of November brought us "death claw 2010" which was a serious storm that produced white out conditions and kept all flights from coming in for 8 days.  since we only have 4 months to accomplish 12 months of work, 8 days is quite substantial.  there was a rope line, which is a rope tied in between flags that we could hold on to so we could navigate between summer camp and the station, it was an epic storm.  we have had some hurdles to the start of this season, but it has only brought us all closer together.  I am enjoying getting to know the 45 others i will be spending the winter with, we are ready for February so we can relax from the summer maddness and enjoy the aurora and the splendor of this amazing place.  currently the station population is 250 and growing.  I would love any mail you would like to send down, my address here is:

Karen Grace Clark, RPSC  Winter-over
South Pole Station
PSC 468 BOX 400
APO AP 96598

the last mail from the states can be sent by mid- January, otherwise it won't make it in.  I hope this finds you all well and enjoying a beautiful time with friends and family.  Take care and be well,
karengrace


Greetings!

i'm still in mcmurdo. we were due to leave 1.5 weeks ago and have had many transports to the ice runway, and even took off on saturday. we returned quickly due to a rupture of a gasket in the hydraulic line of one of the props. we had to shut down the corresponding engine on the other wing and make a speedy return! the positive aspect of this unfortunate event is that i was able to go on in this trip!! i waited in line on thursday for an hour to sign up for the trip... i had a feeling that we might not make it to pole.... we got back into town around 4:30 and mustered for the trip at 6... perfection!! we were gone for almost 7 hours, we took a DELTA, which is a wild balloon tired machine that introduced me to motion sickness for the 1st time in my life. along the way on the ice road (which was in rough shape due to how warm it's been) we found a seal breathing hole... sadly none were present! next we came upon the ice terminus of Mt. Erebus- the southernmost active volcano in the world. finally we came upon the ice burg!!! AMAZING. we were able to walk around the whole burg and snuggle up to it in a few spots...

within the next 2 weeks the it will be off limits because the sea ice will grow too thin and it may be on the move!! once we left there, we went on to the Scott Hut at Cape Evans. last summer i did many hut point tours here at Scott's hut on the base, with the hopes of making it out to Cape Evans or Royds eventually-this was my lucky year!!! we toured around the hut for over an hour then began the long journey home. it was almost 3 hours of extreme bumps, no visibility and no heat and so worth it!!! today we tried to fly twice, it sounds like the weather at pole will not be cooperating for the next few days... i may be here for over a month on this tour... a little daunting as i know my work is stacking up at pole.... oh well, i will have plenty of time to complete it over my next 12 months there!!!! i hope you all enjoy these amazing photos and that this post finds you all having a wonderful post halloween day!!!

take care and be well, karen grace

waiting...

tulip spring in christchurch,nz
beautiful poppies in the botanical gardens in christchurch
happy blossoms
tulips with the arts center in the back ground in christchurchthe curling area constructed in mcmurdo this winter- this was the only olympic sport they could get here on the t.v. this winter!

a proper set-up
a cable reel going to pole- we practiced securing it to a pallet during our pallet building class
the final holes for ice cube are being drilled this summer.
more pallet building practice
Scott base- the NZ (Kiwi) base here, just over the hill- they host 'american night' each thursday- we can go to their bar and gift shop and tour their station.... it's quite nice!
the Scott base view over the sea ice
fyi...
the radio station here.... i am tempted to do a season here just to have the opportunity to play with the 10,000 records they have here!!
receiving shinanigans

receiving in the snow...
more receiving fun.
Greetings from McMurdo station on the Ross ice shelf... on the edge of Antarctica.

i've been here for 20 days. initially, we are here to receive training so that all participants in the USAP are working from the same base of knowledge. secondly, we "physically received" cargo from the 'vessel'-(the ice breaker that makes the annual voyage at the end of the summer here in Feb. to bring the mass of cargo to keep the USAP up and running). we receive it here in mactown instead of trying to do it at pole where it is considerably colder and we have many more tasks on our plates! the cargo was mostly food, in 13 milvans and 3 milvans of 'housing' items. all of the cargo is shipped in milvans which is just another name for the metal containers you see on the large container ships in many ports. we use a 'pickle' aka M4K-which is a small green(hence the name) articulated forklift that is specially designed to remove cargo from milvans. once the cargo is out we open each box/crate and take each item out to insure that it matches what was ordered and write a corresponding stock number on each item. once this is done we put everything back into the milvans and close them up as they await the cargo team here in mactown to place them on air force pallets and load them into the C-130's to make the trip to the final destination of the south pole station. we were very fortunate to have heaps of volunteer help both from polies waiting for flights and various mactown folks who lent a hand. we expected for the tasking to take 7 days, but we finished in 5!!!

now, we wait......

last thursday i was due to depart on a Bassler which is a DC-10. it is the aircraft used to do the 'soft openings' at pole because we need to get equipment operators in to groom the runway so that the C-130's (Hercs) can land and communications specialists in to work in the tower for the flights, etc. it looks now like i will be on the 1st Herc, hopefully within the next few days. this season has had difficult weather and aircraft maladies.... pretty typical for Antarctica! i am hoping to make it into pole before halloween, we'll see! all in all things are going well, we are keeping busy with other departments and more trainings. i hope this finds you all well and enjoying a wonderfull autumn day. take care and be well. karengrace

coudy day in christchurch

greetings from cheech!
just had a lovely NZ b-fast at my favorite BnB and i'm off for ECW gear fittings for the afternoon.
It was an uneventful trip down once I actually got my ticket... that part was a little squirrly!! I was able to see Hank in LA on the way as we had a 6 hour layover there... a walk to the marina and chicken wings... what a send off!! There's an amazing exhibit here now, a sculptor- Ron Mueck.... if you hear his name coming to a museum near you... check it out!! We are due to fly in the morning, but certainly wouldn't mind another day here to acclimate to the time change!!I am on a public computer so photo sharing is not possible now, but soon enough I'll have some up!! i hope this finds you all well and enjoying a lovely day!!
also, here's my mailing address again:

Karen Grace Clark, RPSC
South Pole Station
PSC 468 Box 400
APO AP 96598

I can receive mail until mid January... anything you send after Jan. 1 should have WINTEROVER
written on it.

Cheers!!
Karen Grace

Greetings from Winter Over Training in Denver!

In full bunker gear, holding safety hose for the car fire at

Rocky Mountain Fire Academy

I just finished chasing the hose after it developed a crazy split and soaked us all!!!
Running the maze with 180 pounds of water pressure!
entering the burn building... feeling for fire on the door....
look closely at the red sign, this is the burn building...
the car fire... fully involved!!!
our group

Greetings and salutations!!!

I am writing this from my temporary home here at the Red Lion Hotel in Denver. There have been 30 of us here for almost 2 weeks now, split into 2 sections. The first week my group attended fire fighter training and this week we've had medical trauma training. I preferred the fire training and I actually think I would love to get involved with a volunteer fire fighting company when I return!

I found out only a few hours ago that I am officially going to the Pole! I know it seems quite silly and seriously short notice but I just took the Psychological Evaluation portion of my PQ (Physical Qualification) on last Saturday and found out that I am the right amount of crazy!

I have not yet found out what my "ice" date is, but I am due to have my orientation on this Sunday, here in Denver. There is still much that is unclear, I am just playing it by ear!

All in all things are great and I will update this as I know more, sorry for the long delay in my transmissions, there has just been so much that's been up in the air and I wanted to have more information to share!

Take care and enjoy the splendors of this beautifull autumn!

Cheers, Karen Grace