WAIS Divide is a remote field camp operated by the United States Antarctic Program (USAP). At its height, it housed about 80 people, and right now, there are about 45. Within the next couple of years, they expect to remove and close this camp.
For the next week or so, WAIS Divide will be our home and research site. Over the past couple of days, I have started to get familiar with the sights and sounds of WAIS.
Here is a short photo tour of the camp and its facilities.
Town
The "town" of WAIS Divide consists of a row of tents, each with a different purpose, that are used by the camp as a whole. All of the tents in town are Jamesways, which are semi-permanent hoop-house structures that became popular with the military during the Korean War.
There are five main tents in town that I need to know.
From left to right: Medical, Rec, The Galley, Comms, and Blue Velvet.
Medical
I've never had to enter this tent, but it's a good one to know about!
The Medical tent has a basic set of provisions for responding to and treating minor illnesses or injuries, and is staffed by Craig, our camp medic. Anything major requires evacuation to McMurdo or, in rare cases, out of the continent.
Craig was the first one to meet us when we arrived, and talked to us about our health and safety at camp. Obviously the biggest threat to our health is the extreme climate, for which we were all given basic training at McMurdo on avoiding frostbite and other cold-related injuries. The most common injuries here are sprains and cuts from slipping and falling on the ice, and the most common illness here is "The Crud," which is the name given to cold, cough, and general flu-like symptoms.
Let's hope I won't need to use this tent during my stay at WAIS!
Rec
Rec tent
Rec, or the recreation tent, is a multi-purpose tent, and probably my favorite one in town. Rec has two computers, a projector to watch movies on, a stock of books and games, some musical instruments, exercise bikes, and recreational equipment like skis.
A member of the camp staff catches up on his favorite shows while getting some exercise.
At the back of the rec tent is the 'Wash Mod,' or the little addition that houses two sinks, two shower stalls, and the washer-dryer for camp. The 'Wash Mod' is equipped with its own snow melter, so each time we shower or do our laundry, we are expected to shovel bucketfuls of snow into the melter, to replace the water we use.
The wash mod has two shower stalls and three sinks. People at camp usually shower around once a week.
In back of the Wash Mod (and the Galley), there is a pile of snow, two large containers, and special red-handled shovels. All of these are designated for use only to melt snow into water... for drinking, cooking, bathing, and laundry.
You empty full barrels of snow into the steel melter (in front), which transfers the water into the large white drum (in back), from where our showers, sinks, and laundry are supplied. Three barrels gets you a five-minute shower.
Also in the Wash Mod is the satellite phone that we can use to make calls home!
The Galley
The largest and most frequently used place at camp is called "The Galley." It is a long Jamesway tent that houses the camp kitchen and dining hall. There are three full-time kitchen staff here: Francis, the head chef; Chris, the sous-chef; and Kyle, the dining assistant. In addition, we have a "House Mouse" system, where each of us take turns volunteering with clean-up, dishes, and other kitchen duties.
The dining hall has about 10 tables, one serving table, and shelves on the side for coffee, tea, and snacks.
The Owaisis is our kitchen/restaurant... an unexpected little miracle in the middle of the desert of Antarctica.
Kyle and Francis, hard at work, preparing for another delicious meal.
Comms
The Communication tent, or "Comms" for short, is the administrative headquarters of camp. Here is where the Camp Manager and her team are based, and from where any of the communications between camp and the outside world is managed.
Comms tent
Anne and Heather are hard at work inside the Comms tent. Comms controls the internet, satellite phones, HF and VHF radios, weather forecasting, and all communications with the airplanes that come in and out of WAIS.
Blue Velvet Tent
Big Blue is the nickname for the Velvet Ice Team's "office" tent. We have desks, all of our equipment, and a cot to nap on, for those who work late shifts collecting data for our project.
We mostly use this tent to check email and process data, after it is collected, since there is no internet availability outside of 'town' at WAIS.
Tent Village
The next section of town is Tent Village, where all of our personal sleeping tents are housed. There are 48 tent plots, numbered from A1 to F8, along with an outhouse and pee flag (more on this in another post!).
Most of us do not spend much time here, except to sleep at night, since our sleep tents are not heated.
View from 'town' of Tent Village. There are 3 types of tents used here, but Arctic Ovens are by far the most common.
My own (Ant)arctic Oven!
More to Come!
Stay tuned for a post about the Arch and science tents, which are a separate part of camp, where all the magic happens :)
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