Tags
Antarctica, Erubus, fog, fuel tanker, ice pier, icebreaker, line handling, MacTown, McMurdo, Mount Terror Rugby, Oden, Paul Buck, rugby, snow, weather
So it’s been a really weird summer. Weather-wise. On the whole, pretty overcast, cool, and gloomy. I know that sounds weird coming from somebody in Antarctica, of all places – most of you are probably thinking, “Isn’t it ALWAYS cold there? I mean, there isn’t really anything resembling a real ‘summer,’ is there?” Okay, sure, this place isn’t known for its soaring temperatures and sandy beaches. But everything is a matter of perspective, people. And there IS a summer here. I’m sure it’s even more noticeable for people who are here for the winter or WinFly (I’m about to find out…), but even for those of us who show up for Mainbody, you notice a change. You show up in what is the Antarctic equivalent of spring – the sun is still setting, you can still get some freaky storms, but it starts gradually getting warmer as the sun gets closer to being up 24-hours a day. In both of my past two seasons, there has come a point where there’s a pretty reliable stretch of sunny, beautiful days. The wind is relatively mellow, and you find yourself thinking “T-shirt weather.” Even though it may only be 30 or 35 degrees F, it feels warm. It feels summery. You sit on top of Ob Hill in jeans and a T-shirt, shades on, thinking, “THIS is the life.”
That didn’t really happen this year. It’s not like there haven’t been ANY nice days, they’ve just been pretty few and far between. I also can’t say it’s been exceptionally cold – on the contrary, the sea ice has opened up way more this season than it has the last two, so that would require some warm-ish temperatures on average. But I think it’s actually that very same proximity of open water that has made the weather this year so… WEIRD. For one thing, there’s been a ton of fog. I don’t really remember any real fog the last two seasons. But this year, it’s become standard to glance up toward Mt. Erubus mid-shift and notice an ominous fog bank creeping toward station.
Seriously, ominous. I mean, let’s face it – McMurdo is something of a scene from a bad sci-fi story anyway. You’ve got a station that resembles an open mining pit, with ugly brown metal buildings, CATs growling across station all hours of the day, and piles of loose rock everywhere with absolutely nothing green or alive to break the mining-pit monotony. You’ve got one of the most (if not THE most) isolated environments on earth. You’ve got a melting pot of workers ranging from redneck tradespeople to globe-wandering hipsters (sorry if I’m dabbling in stereotypes – I’m not trying to be derogatory, just stating fact), which would make for the perfect pairings of unlikely heroes and comic duos. Now add in the Stephen-King-like creeping mists – huge walls of white unknown surrounding the station on a day that had been looking like it would be sunny and pleasant. Eerie.
The day looks like it'll be nice at first, but then you notice that cloud bank...
...and within 15 minutes, this is what it looks like (same view).
Pushing the supernatural musings aside, sure it makes sense that we’ve got a bunch of fog with open water nearby. And with the extra moisture in the air, maybe we’re getting a little bit of actual humidity (heretofore unknown in my last two seasons), which might make it feel colder than it actually is. It’s just been an odd season compared to the last two.
Fog bank moving in from the direction of Castle Rock/Mt Erubus.
Another effect of all the extra moisture from the nearby open water: precipitation! It’s snowed a couple times each of my last two seasons, but this year there has been exponentially more snow in the few months I’ve been here than in the last two seasons combined. And it hasn’t just been little flurries of tiny, dry flakes (as in seasons past) – there have been snowstorms with huge, wet snow that piles up all over the place. I’ve even had to use windshield wipers in my loader! I’ve never had to use windshield wipers in Antarctica before. Not that I did a ton of driving last season, but my first I did since I was working out at the runway so much. Never needed windshield wipers. Man. It’s weird that that’s weird. 
Of course, the last few days have been mostly sunny, “warm,” and beautiful, but I’ve been too busy to go out and enjoy them. See, it’s ship time. The Swedish icebreaker, Oden, docked last week, and then a couple days ago the USNS Paul Buck – the fuel tanker – came in. As I did last year, I volunteered to be a line handler, which means I have to hang out on the ice pier when the boats approaching rather than go hike Castle Rock on the most beautiful day we’ve had all season. Not that I’m complaining – I love being on the pier when those huge ships come sailing up through a sea of ice. It’s pretty awesome, in the actual sense of the word. But I do hope that there are some more gorgeous days to come when I’m not otherwise occupied.
The Oden clearing away ice from the pier so the fuel tanker can moor.
So enough about the weather. We had the annual USA (McMurdo) vs. NZ (Scott Base) rugby match a couple weeks ago. THAT was one gorgeous day. So yeah, I really can’t complain, since two of the nicest days we’ve had happened to correspond with two important events: IceStock and the rugby match. Of course, both events took place in the middle of the freaking day, so both required me to stay up through the middle of my night. But, again, well worth it. We lost the rugby match, as always… actually, we didn’t score a single point, as always, but it’s still a good time to go out and watch. Rugby is WAY better than American football – not as much stop-and-go. We also had some very eccentric cheerleaders supporting our team – Mount Terror Rugby, being the official name of the USA-McMurdo team – from the top of a Pisten Bully. Good times in MacTown.
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- The Oden clearing away ice from the pier so the fuel tanker can moor.
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- Lining up for the national anthems.
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- Eli made a bunch of “Rugby 101″ printouts, which really came in handy for us ignorant yankees.
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- I obviously didn’t pay attention to “Rugby 101,” so I don’t know what this is actually called, but it’s when they throw the ball in after going out-of-bounds and each team lifts up a player to try to get posession of the ball.
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- Even though we didn’t score a point, we had cheerleaders. What you got NOW, NZ?!
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- Couldn’t have been a more perfect day…
In other news, I am now officially spending the winter here. I got the news a week or so ago. They’ve brought back the R&R option for winterover staff, which means I get to spend a week in New Zealand before settling in for another nine months of 54-hour work weeks. I’ll probably be heading north in a week or so. I plan on renting a car and doing some road-tripping (I miss that sooooo much…) – gonna hit up some hot springs, some sandy beaches, do some swimming, eat some Indian, Thai, and sushi, and just relax. Can’t wait….
That’s all I’ve got for now folks. Until next time, I remain your soon-to-be-certifiably-crazy-due-to-winter-in-Antarctica correspondent,
Ceds
