Field Training

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Life in McMurdo goes on and besides the extreme cold, reminds me a lot of college. Their are a wide variety of activities to do and their is always work to be done. There are plenty of people to meet and all have an interesting story to tell. The mess hall is reminiscent of a freshman cafeteria, except the food is much better. Every meal comes with desert so for those of you with a hyper sweet tooth, this is the place to be. The last couple of days I have been busy with my GPR training (Ground Penetrating Radar). The GPR will be used in combination with a Piston Bully to search for crevices along our traverse route to Coulman High. The Piston Bully, similar to a Snow cat, is equipped with a large boom that extends 15-20ft out in front of the machine. At the end of the boom we attach our GPR antenna. One person drives the Bully while the other watches the radar screen looking for dangerous cracks in the ice. The Radar allows us see to depths of around 100ft below the ice. I have attached pictures from the class while we were training out in the field. We followed a know trail called the castle rock loop, and identified know crevasses in the ice. This was a very interesting experience and is the standard practice for anyone who is trying to reach a location in Antarctica that has not be traveled previously.
Today I spent the morning in an Environmental training class that instructed us on the proper management and disposal of our waist. It is very important to leave no trace in Antarctica, so that future projects can be conducted without concerns of contamination. Everything from our trash, food waste and human waist needs to be packed up and shipped back to the states. We are continuing to get ready for the traverse, taking inventory, familiarizing ourselves with all of our equipment, and getting an overall picture of what is in store for us at the field camp. We are constantly meeting with different people, from different groups, making sure we are al on the same page and moving forward toward similar goals. One thing is for sure, the days are flying by, there is always something to see and do around here.

Be Happy,
Graham

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Photos

GPR Training
Here is a picture from the front seat of the piston bully. You can see the boom out in front of us with the intertube on it. that is where our radar is.