Happy Camper School

From 20091102-HappyCamper

First order of business for a grantee deploying to McMurdo is Snowcraft I AKA Happy Camper School. Happy Camper School teaches you how to survive the night (or day since it's never night here) should you unexpectedly find yourself stranded off station on your own with limited supplies. You are required to take this course before you're allowed to leave town in any kind of vehicle (think helicopters). For most people this is a lot of fun.

From 20091102-HappyCamper

There's a brief one hour lecture in town before you're whisked away in the "Delta" transport vehicle. Happy Camper School takes place a few miles out of town just passed Scott base. Despite being out in the cold you're never really that far away from help should you need it.

From 20091102-HappyCamper

You learn a variety of skills throughout the course, but most important is setting up shelter. The more obvious options are mountaineering tents and Scott tents (named for the Antarctic explorer), but some of the more interesting choices are quincy huts and snow trenches. Igloos are also an option, though we only got as far as building wind walls from snow blocks. I slept in one of the Scott tents (tall pointy and yellow).

From 20091102-HappyCamper

We were fortunate. The coldest temperature we saw that night was 7F. A cold night for sure, but nothing compared to what the antarctic can throw at you. Many folks spend Happy Camper School shivering at well below zero. If things become unbearable, you always have the option of sneaking off to the warming hut for safety. This is, of course, highly discouraged. We spent most of the night drinking hot chocolate and laughing. When it came time for bed, the cold was nothing a nalgene full of hot water tucked down in your sleeping bag couldn't take care of. I slept like a baby.

From 20091102-HappyCamper

The next morning we went back into the instruction hut around 8AM to go over things like radio basics and risk management.

Though I was pretty comfortable throughout the experience, I must admit I was pretty happy to see the Delta on it's way back to pick us up. Antarctica is not a place you want to sleep outdoors in the cold if you can help it.

Hello from McMurdo

From 20091029-IceFlight

We're here!

I've arrived in McMurdo safe & sound. We made it in one shot - no boomerang flights this time. For those that do not know, when you fly to McMurdo from Christchurch, sometimes the C-17 turns around midflight if the weather at the landing strip doesn't look good. A five hour flight one way turns into an eight or ten hour flight only to bring you back right where you started. When you pack your bags you have one set aside just in case this happens. If it does, it's called a boomerang and you have to start the whole process over first thing the next day.

Despite our good fortune it was still a long flight in the noisiest machine I've ever heard.

From 20091029-IceFlight

Lucky for us it's been blue skies and sunny since the day we landed (24-7). Hopefully we'll see weather like this for the rest of the season.

ECW (Emergency Cold Weather)

Well here I am in Christchurch, New Zealand. Today we were issued our ECW gear for Antarctica. Looks like it's about 15F right now where we're headed, but that could swing quite a ways in either direction throughout the season. It's extremely important during this opportunity to make sure all your gear fits, the zippers and everything work properly, and that you've got everything you think you'll need that they're willing to give you.



I was in Colorado last week, Chile the week before that, at sea the week before that, and Palmer Station, Antarctica the week before that.

Tomorrow I go to McMurdo Station. The world seems a small place these days.

Torres Del Paine

Torres Del Paine! One of the most spectacular national parks in the world. If you go, budget 4-5 days for a trek along "the W" to get the full experience. You can see the route of the W in green in this map. Later in the season you can turn the hike into a full loop if you add on another 5 days or so, but we just did the W itself starting at Glacier Grey and making our way east toward the Torres.

Actually that's not entirely true, here's the breakdown of what we did:

Day 1
Rode a 2 1/2 hour bus from Port Natales into the park. We got off at the catamaran at Lago Pehoe and took a quick run up to the mirador (viewpoint) to see a nice waterfall with a great view of the park.

	The catamaran then dropped us off at Rifugio Grande Paine, which is actually the lower left vertex of the W.
From 20091011-TorresDelPaine

We then hiked north and west up to the Grey Glacier and camped outside Rifugio Grey. The day was cold and very very windy, so hot food and cold beers were a welcome comfort that evening.


Day 2
We got up at Glacier Grey, packed up, and backtracked our route from the day before.

It had snowed overnight and was still dropping a few flakes as we made our way. Another cold and windy day.
From 20091011-TorresDelPaine

Once back at the rifugio where the catamaran had left us we turned left (north) up toward the center of the W. We stopped to camp that night at Campamento Italiano which is just south of Valle De Frances - the central leg of the W.


Day 3

	Another cold night, and we were ready for the best part of the trip - Valle De Frances.
From 20091011-TorresDelPaine

Our friends at the hostel in Port Natales assured us today would have the best views. That statement was made with the assumption that you could actually see through the clouds. Unfortunately the last two days hadn't afforded much clear skies, and today was only just starting to clear up.

We could see the Cuernos on our right (east), but the Grande Paine we could only see the base of. The peaks were all in the clouds.
From 20091011-TorresDelPaine

After trekking for a few hours up the valley through snow we decided a short day would do us all some good so we headed back down to break camp.

	From our campground we just had a short hop along the shore of Lago Nordenskjol over to Rifugio Cuernos. This rifugio was in a beautiful location and the weather finally broke that afternoon.
From 20091011-TorresDelPaine

But I was too tired to take any more pictures...


Day 4
I woke up refreshed and ready to hit the trail again.

The sky was blue and the sun was shining overhead. No windbreaker today, we'd be hiking in t-shirts in 60-degree bluebird. From here, we needed to skirt the base of the Cuernos and climb our way up in to the valley that leads up to the Torres - our last destination along the route.
From 20091011-TorresDelPaine

Tonight we'd be staying near Rifugio Chilenos, or possibly at the campground above if we can find the strength (we camped at the rifugio).

	My friends were a bit worn out from the last 4 days, but somewhere I had found my pace and made good time over to the rifugio that morning. When my friends arrived, I ditched most of my weight and hoofed it on up to catch a view of the Torres while the weather was still holding.
From 20091011-TorresDelPaine

This officially completed the W for me besides the hike out. We had initially planned to do this the next morning, but it was too nice to pass up the opportunity.


Day 5

Let's go! Too tired for anything more, me and one of my comrades headed down to catch a bus back out to Port Natales.
From 20091011-TorresDelPaine

Our other partner decided to add a day to the trip and go spend some time at the Torres.

	Not sure where he camped that night, but he wasn't on the bus when it left.
From 20091011-TorresDelPaine

A nice quiet day in the sun with just a quick descent to cold beer and a ride into town.

All in all, we had a very typical trip to Torres Del Paine national park. The weather never stays the same for more than 10 hours and we certainly saw all the forms. Most importantly it was a welcome break between Palmer Station and the final journey back to the real world.

The thing I missed most while at Palmer for the austral winter was all the time I would've spent on the trails in Colorado. This trip filled the gap nicely.

Tour of the LMG

If you're curious what the inside of the Lawrence M. Gould is like, check out this slideshow :

LMG0909N

Hey everyone! I've made it home to Boulder safe and sound, and I have some pictures to share. First, let me show you the cruise North from Palmer - a long awaited departure from our home for the last 6 months.

From 20091001-LMG0909N

Like all northbound cruises, this one began with the infamous pier jump.



All of our friends being left behind jump off the pier as we make our way out.

From 20091001-LMG0909N

We were supposed to land at Hugo to do some maintenance on a science instrument installed there, but the wind was too high and the ice was too thick. Sorry Bjorn.

From 20091001-LMG0909N

From 20091001-LMG0909N

With our mission to Hugo Island canceled, we finally made the dreaded crossing of the Drake Passage.


Two days and many seasick hours later, we finally arrived to calm waters by Tierra Del Fuego.

From 20091001-LMG0909N

And like that we're standing on the dock in Punta Arenas, right where we left off 6 months ago. The cruise in and out of Palmer provides a very interesting buffer between this piece of the ice and the rest of the world.

Almost as if none of it ever happened...

Back in PA

I'm back! We made it across the Drake safe and sound. It was a rocky voyage, but no worse than usual I'm told. No luck with landing at Hugo Island. The ice, and the wind, and the swells were just too much. Someone else will try again on the next cruise.

One more night in Punta Arenas, then we leave for the Torres Del Paine tomorrow. Been looking forward to hitting the trail for a long time now.