On the Ice!!!

I am on ANTARCTICA!!! And it’s AMAZING!!!! This is actually a dream come true!!! 

But first let me tell you how I got here. My day started at 6:00 AM, when I got ready for a 7:15a shuttle ride over to the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) aircraft hangar. At the hangar, I checked in my 2 orange bags of gear, keeping with me my windpants, Big Red (the red parka), goggles, wind hat, balaclava, wind proof down gloves, and boots for when I actually got off the plane onto the Ice. 

Here, I am, pretty excited.

At the hanger, I watched another training film about the flight down to Antarctica and what to expect, and then I boarded a bus and headed over to the C-17 military aircraft taking us down to the Ice. I’ve never been on a military plane, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I don’t think I could have ever imagined this….

 

It looks almost like a spaceship!

Obviously, it's not quite as plush as a commercial flight. In fact, everyone had to wear ear plugs because it was so loud! The flight itself was almost 6 hours long, so they gave us bagged lunches with two sandwiches inside (in case we boomerang). I slept through most of the flight, waking up towards the end to catch our first glimpse of Antarctica (the Antarctic Peninsula!) and some sea-ice. It was pretty incredible!

Finally, we could feel the plane touching down on the Ice. Everyone was pretty excited! 

 A very big smile.

 Putting on all our gear! Ready to de-board.

 WHOOOHOOOO!!! ANTARCTICA!!!

There was a flurry of picture taking before we were all loaded up on ice trucks and taken up to McMurdo Station. I didn’t know it at the time, but we actually landed on the ice covered Ross Sea!! When I think about, I’m really amazed. The sea ice at this time of year is only a couple meters thick – and then it’s just icy cold waters of the ocean below…..it really is incredible how strong the sea ice is!

Once at McMurdo, we were again hustled into another orientation. We were introduced to the layout of the station, oriented to the science labs, ordered into our housing units, and given a schedule of more mandatory orientations. It looks like I’ll be heading out to Snow School on Dec 3!! I’m really excited! Snow School is a mandatory field orientation to those heading out to the field for research, and it is essentially basic survival training in Antarctica – it’ll be my first real taste of Antarctica! I can’t wait!