After getting the first good night’s sleep since making it to the ice, we awoke to the coldest temperatures yet, snow and wind. There was a light dusting of snow on station and plenty of wind. What a great time to start work outside! We began the day by unpacking the large hot water drill that we will be using in the field to drill the holes for our explosives, yes, explosives. I know you all want to hear about what we’re going to blow up, so make sure you stick around for later in the week. Friday and Saturday we’re going to take a closer look at the research we’re conducting once we make it to the WAIS field camp.
Drill
Robin explaining some of the drill upgrades from last season.
After unpacking the drill and learning about a few of the new features upgraded from last year, Huw, Paul, Leo and Luke all headed to their ice refresher course. They have all be here before so they don’t get to attend ‘Happy Camper’, snow school! While they were getting reacquainted with life in the field, Knut traveled with us on a couple local hikes that take you off station for a while. The first part of the hike took us up nearly 230 meters above the main station. I think the view speaks for itself.
Scott Memorial Cross on top of Observation Hill
The second part of the hike took us around to the other side of the island to New Zealand’s Scott Base. We were not allowed to get any closer to the base than the sign without permission. We tried yelling to a friend we had met in New Zealand during travel but she didn’t hear us. The base was about a ½ mile away. Both hikes added up to nearly 5 km round trip and were actually quite a workout. I think the calories are starting to add up now!
Scott Base
Brandon at the Scott Base entrance.
(*NOTE - For more information on our location and the hikes we completed today, make sure to check out the Google Earth files attached to this journal)
OK, now for the team. We have been hard at work down here so all we can provide right now are minimal details. Hopefully we’ll have a chance for some interviews to allow for a more in-depth ‘get to know you’ session with the rest of the team down here. We are here with five doctoral students from Penn State University. All of use, with the exception of Gumby and me I guess, are between the ages of 24 and 30. Let me tell you, this makes for some pretty interesting and humorous dinner conversations! So, that’s about all we can tell you of the team right now.
We have met lots of amazing people down here and will hopefully have some guest speakers here to tell you a little bit about the projects they are working on as well.
Mactown aerial from the top of Observation Hill.
P.S. We once again let Brandon have a shot in the lime-light with the photos from the hikes today. You’ll probably see us again in a couple days after a cold 48 hours in the field. We will be enjoying Happy Camper school for the next two days along with Knut and Brandon. This means you might not hear from us for two days or so. We promise good stories and biographies on the team, when we return! Our first night sleeping on the ice and not in cozy heated dorms. Wish us luck!