Happy Camper School
Less than 24 hours after landing on “the Ice”, we had to “really, experience” the ice.
Our rooms were still not quite situated, our personal stuff was barely unpacked, and we were missing one crate of stuff, including our “pee bottles”, sunscreen, and lotion – things that we would really miss on our upcoming Ice adventure. Some of us were still jetlagged from two intense days of traveling, others had side-effects from the previous day’s flu shot, and we were all excited, anxious, and curious about being in Antarctica.
Bob, Stacy, and DJ all got out of this “Happy Camper School” as they’d taken it within the last five years or had found a way that their experience could grant their pardon. John made it for the first indoor lecture, but then his side-effects got the better of him and he had to retreat to the warmth and comfort of his bed, a place the rest of us would only dream of that upcoming night. That left Jennifer, Julie, David, Kevin, Paul, and me with a group of 14 others including 2 wilderness teachers to go out and survive one night on the harshest continent.
It started fairly calm, indoors, with a lecture about the danger of being on the ice and ways to mitigate or survive them. Then we saw the pictures of the effects of frostbite. Wow, we woke up! This was real and those pictures of black thumbs and toes could really be what ours would look like that very day or night.
Steps to Risk Management: Identify goal, risks and alternatives, assign leader and tasks, execute and evaluate plan.
With that we were off to see how we would survive. With a hectic last run to our dorms to pick up even more clothes, I now had something like 7 layers of pants, 5 layers of tops, 5 different hats, and 8 pairs of gloves stashed with my ECW gear to keep away that frostbite. Would it suffice?
After a mysterious half hour drive in the back of a Delta truck, we were out on the ice shelf, away from the warmth and luxuries of McMurdo.
Tina, Julie, and Jennifer heading out to the huts for Happy Camper School
Our instructors, mountain rescue guides Bryan and Mattie, started our schooling in a gentle manner. Still in a hut with a roof and four walls protecting us from the cold, we reviewed setting up stoves.
Sitting in a hut and loading up on breakfast bars and frozen hummus sandwiches while we listen to our teachers.
I was happy to see that that at least was something that I knew how to do. They were using a stove I had once had and I could actually help the others figure out how to assemble and light it. The only obstacle was assembling it with either bulky gloves or freezing fingers.
Assembling and lighting a stove on the Ice
Then we went outside to our designated spot on the ice. Though we could see the green houses of Scott Base in the distance, they would do us no good as they were too far to walk to. In all other directions were the beautiful colors of the snow and ice. Distances were hard to judge as there was nothing to scale it to. Though the sun wasn’t shining and the sky was overcast, there was no wind and it was actually relatively warm – maybe only -12F.
Supplies for surviving on the ice: shovels, saws, sleds, tents, and sleeping bags and pads
Our first lesson was how to put up Scott Tents, which are big tents without floor so if a wind comes up it would take the tent and leave the people. Though they are big, they aren’t that hard to put up if you have a big group. We also set up regular mountaineering tents which again was pretty easy for me with my experience camping.
Putting up a Scott tent
A T trench cut into the snow helps to bury the bamboo stakes to hold down the Scott Tent
How many people could we fit inside these two tents?
Then we got to the fun part – making ice blocks. Julie, Kevin and I all agreed that this was the most fun! Using a regular saw we could easily slice into the snow, almost like a knife into butter. The sound was this eerie Styrofoam creaking. We literally cut blocks into snow. The first was hard to pull out but after that it was mostly just slicing and lifting. 
Using a saw to cut snow blocks - what fun!
Our group of 19 happy campers quickly teamed up to cut the snow bricks, load them onto a sled, pull them to the appropriate place, and stack them together to create a 5-foot tall wall. In a couple of hours we had 2 Scott tents in place, 6 mountaineering tents, probably 30 feet of snow wall, and a kitchen with a wind wall, a snow counter, and a spot for 3 big pots. We then brought out our stoves and melted water – one pot with mostly ice, one with warm water, and one with hot water. We doubled up with stoves, two to one pot, to speed up the process but we still spent the next 5 hours melting snow for our dinner and our hot chocolate and tea.
Oh no! How can I drink out water out of this?
Our last lesson of the day, before our instructors would leave us on our own, involved making snow trenches as shelters to sleep in. About 2-feet wide, 7 or 8 feet long and 4 or 5 feet deep, they were rectangular “graves” in the ice which we could sleep in.
Paul made snow blocks faster than Tina, Julie, and Kevin!
Sleeping like that, literally in the ice, sounded appropriate to me, so I proceeded to spend a good part of the next five hours making my snow trench. I first cut the hole with a saw and scooped out the snow with a shovel. Next I widened the bottom to give me extra space to move, and then I cut bricks to use as a roof. My door was one brick and my bag of extra clothes.
The beginning of my trench. Flags mark the do not walk zone.
Using a saw to cut into the snow. Then comes the shovel to lift it out.
Who is that and where is she? It's Tina in her trench!
While about 7 of us were hard at work making individual trenches, others kindly melted water, went for walks, and did their best to stay warm on the ice. I think those of us making trenches were actually warmer. We even took our Big Reds off!
Yummy - instant risotto and veggies
Slowly the tent sleepers disappeared in their tents to try to sleep. Us trench diggers finished covering our roofs with more snow as insulation and then we had the task of putting 2 pads and our sleeping bags in our Ice caves. Exhausted, but happy to have my own home-made home, I crawled in and covered the way out with my last brick. Goodbye world!
Tina's view at night from the inside of the trench
Sadly sleep did not come that easy. I was too excited to be there, sleeping in my little home-made ice cave. At first I was also too exhausted to change out of my clothes, but after I finally twisted around to change my socks, I realized I also needed to change my other clothes. This was more difficult than it seemed as my cave was just big enough for me and it was so dark in my cave that I had no idea what clothes I was grabbing. I learned another lesson in preparation. Grab your night clothes before you’re too tired or smushed in a cave hole. Finally dressed in clean long johns and fuzzy sweaters and pants, I drifted off to sleep.Two hours later I awoke with very real fears of frostbitten toes. My toes were cold! What to do? I had been keeping my hands warm by stuffing them in my armpits but my yoga had not prepared me to put my toes there as well.
Chemical hand warmer packets to the rescue! Another 20 minutes of searching and I found them but how did these particular ones “warm up”. How does a person read in a cave tent with no light. Camera to the rescue this time. I took a picture of the directions and soon my toes were fighting for prime real estate with the hand warmers. I had an extra packet and spent the rest of the night enjoying a few patches of warmth. It actually wasn’t that cold as I was cuddled up in my sleeping bag with extra clothes surrounding me for extra insulation. The neatest part of the night was probably hearing the crunching of my fellow campers on and in the ice surrounding me. I kept thinking someone was coming for help as I’d volunteered to be the camp leader and thus had the one radio in case of emergency.
Sunset at Happy Camper School
Happy Camper School in the morning - Where would you want to sleep?
Somehow I, and everyone else made it through the night. By 7am everyone was up and about, making more hot water, taking down the tents, and filling in our beloved underground cave homes. At 8:30 our instructors came to pick everyone and everything up and they were just in time. We had been told that the weather changes rapidly in Antarctica and, appropriate for Happy Camper School, we got to experience that. As we were walking back to the hut, the wind picked up and the visibility evaporated. We went from Condition 3, which is winds less than 48 knots, wind chills warmer than -75 F, and visibility greater than 1/4 mile, to Condition 2, wind speeds of 48 to 55 knots sustained for one minute, wind chills of -75 to -100 F sustained for one minute, or visibility of less than 1/4 mile sustained for one minute. Though it wasn’t quite as cold or windy, the visibility definitely met the criteria.
Leaving our campsite as conditions deteriorate
Appropriately enough, our next Happy Camper lesson was the famous “put the bucket on your head” and find the lost team member exercise. Though we had a great rescue plan, we did what all other team did – wander around in circles. Lesson learned – in whiteout conditions you will not be found! Thus, do NOT get lost.
Where is Kevin?
With the weather alternating between condition 2 and 3, worries of being brought back to camp arose. Could the shuttle make it to pick us up? Would we get to eat real food for dinner? Would we have a warm bed to sleep in or would we need to reassemble and return to our trenches and tents?Worries aside, and more lessons to go. We had another lesson of how to use the VHF (Very High Frequency) radios and HF (High Frequency) radios. VHF radios are like walkie-talkies and we can use them for up to 100 miles with the help of special relayers on the surrounding mountains. HF radios are the big boxes that they used in Vietnam and which we can use to talk to people all over the world. Kevin enjoyed trying to call South Pole though he was sad that they did not answer.
Who will answer the HF radio at South Pole?
With all our experience, we were now ready for one more exercise that involved a scenario of a hypothetical burned car on the ice with only one Survival Bag left for a group of 9 people. What would we do? The survival bag had a stove so we assembled it and started making water. The survival bag also had a mountaineering tent so up went the tent. With all our ice block skills, we also built a wind wall and, if we’d had enough time, would have build a few ice trenches. With that, we passed! We could survive the harshest continent.
Can you see us leaving Happy Camper School?
Proud, weary, hungry, and yes, still cold, we rejoiced that a bus was going to come to pick us up. Battling the winds, hunched over with our bags, we walked to our designated “pick-up” spot and waited for the ride to the comforts of McMurdo. Thirty minutes later, with a little delay due to a mechanical with the shuttle, we were sitting in two vans headed back home, to McMurdo and our group.
Are the happy campers practicing their penguin skills? Yes - while waiting for vans to bring them back to McMurdo!