Steward Exalted (Part 1): Flying Alone and Going Snow Blind

"A great many people, and more all the time, live their entire lives without ever once sleeping out under the stars."

-Alan S. Kesselheim

Thanksgiving has passed along with numerous events of live music, dancing, laughing, and general merriment. Work has continued to challenge all of us on station and has waned spirits. At this point, my work ethic has begun to suffer and I have become less enthusiastic about being in Antarctica washing dishes and scrubbing toilets. There has been a number of disagreements with community members and coworkers alike which has led to a clear "I don't give two shits" attitude. The holidays will play their role in the saddening of spirits along with the complacency of doing monotonous, seldom appreciated work. Such attitudes will typically go repressed and unacknowledged but somehow I got lucky, once again, and deemed worthy of a trip! Most of my compatriots were able to attend the Happy Camper course, luckily, but most everyone was in the same, if not, more deserving boat of special trips. I appreciate the opportunity for further exploration but there was strange favoritism for me.

West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS Divide):

WAIS (WD) is about 900 miles away from McMurdo Station (RI).

Antarctica is divided into an east and west ice sheet but it isn't down the middle like most would assume. The Transantarctic Mountains mark the dividing line between east and west; the east being far bigger than the west but the west having more snowfall. WAIS Divide is located on the western side (duh) in an area where the winds essentially split into two directions. Since the western side gets more snow we have this phenomenon where snow will accumulate throughout the year and the wind will push it down into a thin layer of ice. This allows our scientists to not only be able to count backward into the past by counting layers but to also take readings of each layer, giving them access to gasses trapped in the ice. By testing the gasses, scientist are able to gain information about the atmosphere from, oh say, 18,000 years ago. Pretty wild, right? But that's science. Mysterious, beautiful science. The drill-site known as the Arch is placed just above where the snow drifts in opposite directions because snow will pack downward and not laterally. Once you begin to move away from the divide, the packed snow begins to shift, losing consistency of layers. The science done here is so awesome!

While in McMurdo, I had dunked my hands into a few celebratory soups for the holidays; from hot chocolate and games on Christmas to a dance performance on New Year's. So when I was approached about going to WAIS Divide (a place I hadn't heard of at this point) I was a little hesitant. After getting a little information and thinking about it for a few minutes I sent out the email that agreed to be at a field camp for the holidays. 

There were flight manifest forms around station that had me as the only passenger on the flight and I thought, "Surely there will be someone else."

Wrong.

It was just lil' ol' Tom and the flight crew. It was awesome. I stretched out across multiple seats, walked all over the place, checked out the cockpit, and got my first taste of snow blindness. 

The atmosphere around Antarctica is thin. It's so thin we have to wear sunscreen and sunglasses at all times to protect our skin and eyes from serious damage. The sun is intense but it gains intensity when it bounces off the ice and into our faces. Long exposure to the sun will result in sunburned eyes. 

That's right, sunburns on your eyes! 

Well, while walking around the aircraft I found a small window near the back and glanced out of it without sunglasses on (because they were back at my seat). It kind of hurt but the scene outside was breathtaking. There were thick clouds and ice in areas all around and I watched as the line between them became blurry. After a few minutes I couldn't tell if I was looking at snow or cloud, which was earth or sky. Once I got my fill I looked away, back into the LC-130 and noticed that I couldn't see anything. 

A moment of panic set in and I knew I was blind.

I began thinking about how my life would be from now on. I just got a real, disabling injury. Everything was going to be harder from here on out. I would be removed from Antarctica and left to figure out how the blind make a living. 

I stood there for a few minutes before I decided it was about time to call for help when my sight began to return! 

Oh happy days! 

I stood there for another minute or two and I could see people on the far end of the plane and decided to return to my seat and keep it cool. On my way back I looked at the window from a safe 20 feet away and it hurt my eyes intensely. So I put on my UV protective goggles for the rest of the day and didn't tell anyone for a few weeks.

Another sign stolen from the interweb

Upon disembarking the aircraft my image of what Antarctica was expected to look like finally came into fruition. A plane parked next to a long line of small buildings, evenly spaced, surrounded by miles of white ground and blue sky. The light wind was rattling the fabric sides of the buildings and lifting small streaks of snow slightly off the ground while pushing them around my feet. While marching in wonderment from the plane I was intercepted by the two ladies in charge of camp, Kaija and Beth. I received a warm welcome and a tour from Beth while Kaija dealt with aircraft off-load. 

Being the facilities coordinator, Beth showed me the buildings one by one. The first building is the communications office where you can find three tiny desks, an iridium phone, and some radios. A short walk away is the Galley or Where-Tom-will-Spend-Most-Of-His-Time-Tent. There are two rows of tables perpendicular to the wall reaching to the back kitchen area. The tabled area has a dome-tent over it causing small amounts of snow-drift at the base of the wall. The kitchen is a small, square building that is sealed on three sides with an open front to allow easy access from kitchen to dining area. Here I met the kitchen manager, Michelle, who lined out what my first day would look like. 

Next door is the medical building which might house 4 people at once if they are all standing up with their arms to their sides. 

The next building in line is the second most important building, the wash module/hang out room. The first half of the building is a lounge with a television, DVDs, two computers, various books, 8lb weights duct taped together for the beefcake squad, and couches. The second half is the bathing area which has a few sinks, a couple of showers, and a place to store your toothbrush etc. Each shower head has a little button to cut the water off to maximize water efficiency. Rinse, lather entire body and pretend to be the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, rinse, boom 2-5 minutes of water usage.

The final building is a Jamesway, a heated building where people can claim a cot and hope no one else snores. Beth asked if I wanted to stay in the Jamesway and I all but said, "Hell no." So we decided to set up a tent in which I would reside. 

Itty bitty tiny WAIS Divide camp

Sleeping on the ground in Antarctica seems crazy (and it is) but something about it really brought joy to my heart. Maybe it was the transition from being alive to LIVING. We set down two triwalls which are triple layered cardboard boxes and put the tent on top of that. On the inside I had two foam pads, a sleeping bag, and a sleeping bag liner. Even with all of that there were nights where I had to sleep fully clothed with a warm water bottle. But there were also times where I woke up sweating and had to open both doors of my tent to vent some air. 

Afterwards, I went to the galley and helped out with the dinner shift and met most everyone at WAIS, including a few people I knew from McMurdo. Now all I had to do was get a good night's rest and be ready for tomorrow's adventures!