The last of my backlogged posts. Yesterday, the first full day spent on the ice, had us BLAST-Pol first-wavers (Elio, Juan, Nick, and myself) head out to LDB, examine our highbay, and start unloading shipping containers.
Unloading required a lot of working outside, or in buildings highly exposed to outside, so we were fortunate that the weather remained quite good. Light winds, clear skies, and a balmy -16C, roughly. Still, I discovered another downside to beards is the accumulation of frozen breath. Also, it only then became truly apparent to me that Antarctica is a desert—it’s seriously dry and there is a lot of sun.
In the evening was the famed Halloween party, and it did not disappoint. McMurdo-goers take their costumes very seriously, and the atmosphere was super fun. Juan brought his camera, so hopefully soon I’ll be able to rebroadcast some of his photos.
- After some more orientation in the morning, a van takes the four of us to LDB
- Scott Base, the New Zealander one, on the way to LDB
- LDB, off in the distance
- Our highbay, the later and greener one
- Inside it’s mostly empty, and a little blurry (due to forgotten exposure settings)
- The mezzanine inside, still mostly empty, still slightly blurry
- Trying to open the door, the backs of Nick, Juan, and Elio glow with exertion (and maybe a bit of flash)
- Our three little shipping containers, the big one is around the corner
- A building I have since guessed is probably the outhouse
- The door was a bit stuck. Nick opened it in super-fast motion
- The view outside the door
- More view outside, a little to the left. Featuring staircases to nowhere
- Big plow maintains the roads
- Flag
- Progress partway through the day. We’ve unpacked a bunch of boxes, which will require further future unpacking
- Nick and BLAST, in the big shipping container
- I spent a while in the container too, but am poorly backlit
- Honeycomb crush pads, packing material taken out of the containers for now
- After carrying all the smaller items by hand, a forklift helps us with the rest
- Mount Erebus seen smoking a bit on this very clear day
- Our fork driver for the day: Alec
- Lifting the Knaack
- Very sophisticated mechanism to keep the crane’s control cord from dangling down into the middle of the room
- Fork and Containers
- Once unloaded, the containers are taken away for storage with the others
- Myself, Elio, and Juan take a break on our doorstep
- The gondola outer frame is lifted into the bay (it was carried out there by hand)
- Juan and the gondola, as the day winds down
- Carrying the inner frame in is the last job of the day
- Both of the highbays
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