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Snow Craft I Class - aka "Happy Camper" is a required course for anyone who is going out into the field away from McMurdo, and for those whose jobs may take them away from town. Our group numbered 20 at the beginning; however, we lost one member due to illness on the first day. We began our class at

My travels to meet the Oden began at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Saturday, December 4. My afternoon flight to Dallas/Ft. Worth was uneventful and when I arrived I had a leisurely dinner before heading to the gate for my 9:10 pm flight to Santiago, Chile. We were due to arrive in

The past few days have passed in a flurry of pre-trip activities and preparations. My lessons at school this week focused on Antarctica and my expedition as well. My students learned the location of Antarctica, latitude and longitude, the difference between the Arctic and Antarctica, and completed

After three extra days of waiting, I'm finally HERE! Wow! None of the reading, looking at pictures on the internet, or talking with people who've been here could actually convey the impact of coming to a place like this. Antarctica is truly another world. We had a flawless check-in at the CDC and

This entry is dedicated to the Marine Mammal Observers (MMOs) from our cruise: Justin, Sarah, & Kwasi! I'm currently on another PolarTREC journey, this time to California in anticipation of a core sample workshop at the United States Geological Survey offices in Menlo Park, California. We took

We are nearing completion on the installation of the IceTop tanks. Let's review the steps necessary to complete this year's IceTop goals: - Prepare tanks for fill. James Roth serviced and double-checked all the freeze control units, their pumps and their electronics. Tom Gaisser, Chris Elliott

The last few days have presented the worst weather I've seen at the South Pole so far. It hasn't been too cold (-28 C) but it has been windy (25 knots!) with windchill in the -40s C. Brrr!!! http://

That's -29 Celsius. Even from inside the ice was impressive.

The rest of our research team arrived two days ago. Our tents are set-up and everyone is beginning to settle into the rhythm of camp. Now we can begin to prepare for the drill season. We are all excited to be here and are ready to get to work! One of the largest tasks is cleaning both the science

I know I haven't been very good at journaling recently, but since I've arrived here in McMurdo, there has been a whirlwind of activity. We arrived on the afternoon of December 6th and were rushed into town orientation. In addition to the required NSF/McMurdo arrival talk, we had dorm check in, linen

The official name of this training is helicopter underwater egress training - but helo dunker training describes it perfectly! What is it and why was I required to take this course? We found out this summer that the Oden had been approved to carry a helicopter onboard which the science teams would