View of the mountains across the Beardmore Glacier from our camp on Mt. Kyffin.
What a gift to be in Antarctica this Christmas! It is something that I'll never forget. With all the glaciers and snow around, there was no question that we'd have a white Christmas. View of the…
1950s era Navy smoke canisters.
People tend to think of Antarctica as a vast, untouched wilderness. Most of it is. However, scientists have been coming to Antarctica for years and conducting a wide variety of experiements and…
Maurice Conway, our mountaineer
Maurice (pronounced "Morris") Conway is the mountaineer for our team. Any scientific research expedition that ventures into the "Deep Field" (any area beyond McMurdo and associated hub-fieldcamps -…
ohn is instructing Perry on how to record information from the digital barometer
Fieldwork for exposure dating is very rigorous. The first day we ventured into the field, I thought I had woken up to find myself enrolled in Antarctic bootcamp. Over a span of about nine hours,…
Preparing our sling load
Our scheduled helicopter flight to Cloudmaker Peak was right on time. We met with the pilot and helicopter (helo) technician at 12:45 to discuss cargo priorities and load the helicopter. The first…
Well, we're here! We left McMurdo yesterday around 10 a.m for CTAM (Central TransAntarctic Mountain) camp on a C-130 Hercules. This is another military transport airplane that is much smaller than…
Well, the bags are all checked in and I've got my Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear all laid out for tomorrow's flight into the field. We meet at 8:15 am for transport out to Pegasus Airfield for our…
Lynette Barna with Mt. Erebus in the background.
Lynette has been my roommate for about a week here in McMurdo. She has a fascinating job that has allowed her to travel to many exciting places. A special thank you to Lynette for agreeing to write…
Lesley standing on Observation Hill, McMurdo, Antarctica
Right on the southern edge of McMurdo there is a hill called Observation Hill, or Ob Hill to the residents. It stands roughly 750 feet above McMurdo Sound. It's a great place to get away from the…
McMurdo's Own Santarctica!
Christmas time. It brings to mind images of Christmas trees, stockings, Santa, and presents. Depending on where you live, it might also make you think of snow. Even though most of us are thousands…
Lesley standing next to the pressure ridge.
Lesley standing next to the pressure ridge. This past weekend I was fortunate to catch a tour out to the pressure ridges by Scott Base, the New Zealand research station. People can only explore…
Dead seals in Scott's Discovery Hut, Ross Island, Antarctica.
The Scott Expedition. The mention of it brings to mind a brutally cold, disappointing, and fatal attempt to be the first to reach the geographic South Pole. Robert Falcon Scott set out in 1910 on…