McMurdo Firsts

Hello from McMurdo Station!

The flights from Columbus to New Zealand went incredibly smooth. There were no delays -- we even made it in early on the trans-Pacific flight.

The flight to the continent was on a US Air Force-run C17 and took right at five hours. We arrived in McMurdo on November 10 at a balmy 5^oF/-15^oC.

The next day I went into Happy Camper Academy... AKA Snow School where we learned about protocol for field camps and how to handle emergencies. These included building snow shelters and using the emergency gear provided to all people headed out on helicopters. One of the scenarios involved a simulated search and rescue mission for a person going missing during Condition 1 weather -- basically a white out. We "created" the white out by putting five-gallon buckets on our heads. It was incredibly difficult, but we found the "patient" and got him back in to safety.

More later! Despite the fact that it is 23:00 here, the sun is still high in the sky. Well, lower to the horizon, as it is our "twilight" but still bright as day... it definitely takes getting used to!