Frozen Dream 2006

On this weekend two years ago nine friends from Taylor University and I headed into the coldest weather we could imagine for a four day snow camping trip. With our heads down to block the wind and blowing snow, the other guys dissapeared across frozen Lake Superior in front of me. We were in Pictured Rocks National Seashore in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and we did not know exactly what would come of the trip. I will never forget the last night of the trip as the wind and snow finally died down and we trekked across the lake in the silence guided only by the moonlight. After four days together we all said it was a surreal time of community as we fought off the elments together. We called that trip the Frozen Dream, and from that trip a tradition began. Last year on this weekend my brother, J.R., and I headed to Hoosier pass at over 12,000 feet with camping gear and snowshoes to continue the tradition. In spite of some altitude sickness and J.R.'s toes getting a bit too cold, a two day brother trip was successful. Last night two friends and I took on the challenge of the third annual Frozen Dream on Ross Island Antarctica. What an amazing time! The snow was falling in huge flakes as we left the station, and the wind had not yet begun to blow very hard. We were the only tracks on the trail and excited to get to our spot. We got to the spot, an old snow cave at the base of Castle Rock. We dug the drifts out of the cave and expanded it so that all three of us could fit. After a while of taking in the views and building stuff out of snow we hunkered down for the night. I woke up only once as I got dumped on by a huge batch of snow in the face from a hole in the roof. When we woke up in the morning the cave was covered with more fresh snow and the wind was blowing hard. There are few finer feelings than waking up warm in a bad snow storm, and there are no trips quite like the annual Frozen Dream. Camping and exploring in the outdoors are thins that I love very much, and I am incredibly lucky to have the chance to come do some of those things here in this frozen land. If camping in the snow sounds like a crazy enough adventure for you then give me a call next winter and let's plan the 4th annual Frozen Dream!

The Polar Plunge

So there I was, already freezing cold, standing in my shorts and running shoes next to a hole in the ice, a harness belt around my waist with everyone yelling 1-2-3! Without thinking I let loose into a cannonball that soaked those at the ice edge. The water was shocking, and it was the saltiest water I had ever tasted. My plan was to try to play it cool- yeah right! Involuntarily the body seizes and all available air is immediately pushed through the mouth and nose. I waited about ten seconds for a guy to snap this picture, nine seconds too long. The water beneath the ice is 28 degrees (salt water freezes at 27), so it froze immediately in my beard as I climbed up the ladder. My coat was waiting there to greet me along with others cheering. Everyone who is stupid enough to jump in the water hollars a little because they can feel your pain. As I was walking the path back to the overlook my shoes froze.

The tradition of the Polar Plunge is carried on each year by the Kiwis (New Zealanders at the nearby base). I suppose lawsuits and safety warnings aren't as common in New Zealand as in the states. I had looked forward to this day since I first heard about the plunge. There were about fifty people stupid enough to plunge on Sunday, and after I got feeling back in the toes I was glad I was one of them.

Leave your comments

Hey guys, I just wanted to say hello to anyone and everyone who is reading this. I have no idea who all is tuning in, and I know that I have not talked to some of you in a long while. There is a "comments" hypertext at the bottom of each posting and I changed it so ANYONE is allowed to post comments now. I would love to hear your serious, insightful, ridiculous, or stupid comments and reconnect with those I haven't talked to in a while. Also, my email is AlanBriggsis@gmail.com and feel free to email any time. Internet access is limited here and satellite internet is usually not fast, but I will try to get back to you. I am planning to leave the ice March 3, but I will continue to post about my trip to New Zealand and the Hawaiian Islands and about Colorado when I return. Stay tuned...

Precious Cargo

As most of you know my job here is to handle, chain, move, strap, lift, drive, load, and unload any and all cargo leaving the station. Much of my job involves handling delicate science equiptment. The other day a co-worker and I unloaded ice samples from a plane that came from a field camp where they were drilled from about 900 feet below the surface. It is some of the oldest ice in the world, and I later had a chance to drink a coke with some ice that had been drilled from about three hundred feet below the surface. We sometimes unload small planes that fly from remote field camps, but much of our cargo is sent to and received from the south pole. Much of this season in McMurdo cargo has been focused on sending large amounts of steel to build the new station at the South Pole. The Scott-Amundsen South Pole Station dome, named for the first two explorers to reach the pole, was finished in the 70's, and no longer fits the needs of the science program. In the extreme cold it just does not insulate from the storms, and it will be torn down at the end of this season. In this picture you can see a typical shipment of steel that we have built and chained down at the runway, 12 tons of it. We build them on these orange sleds, and when it is time to load a plane we push them to the back of a C-130 Air Force jet with a track loader. The steel sits on large metal pallets and they sit on rollers that can be pushed in by a few of us (on a perfect day) or bumped in with a forklift. It has been exciting to be part of transporting supplies for the building that will keep the south pole station running for the next 30, 50, or 100 years. Plus it's just cool to move huge stuff in big machines. It's like playing with life-size Tonka trucks!

Extreme sledding!

So my buddy and I are both on night shift, and things get a little quiet around here when everyone else in MacTown is sleeping. We decided tonight was the night we would finally make our run at extreme sledding. Following with the tradition here, many people "borrow" dinner trays and head out for the hike to Castle Rock, sliding the slope a few times until they are too cold or have gotten an ankle injury. Kevin and I had bigger plans. We heard that there were a few trekking sleds stashed in a storage shed that were calling our names. So we hitched a ride out to the shed, picked up the sleds, and hiked about four miles up the start. The ride was over three miles, and it would take us all the way down to the sea ice. With Kevin in the front steering and me in the back...well, just chilling, we hit terminal velocity. For three miles we were cracking up as we bombed down the slope trying to control the speed. When we picked up so much speed that we couldn't steer we bailed. We hit several spots that sent us fully airborne with unexpected bumps, meanwhile almost losing control fully. It was one of my best times here on the ice! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time or feared for my life so much. After hiking the bottom of the run a few more times and perfecting our form we called it a night. Stay tuned, because next week I might be blogging about starting an Antarctic bobsled team.

Bowling at the bottom of the world

I have never pictured myself as the bowling league type... bright bowling shirt with "Big Al" embroidered under the left shoulder, a wrist guard, my own bowling shoes, and a sizeable gut to fit the part. Yeah, all that mixed with stale alley smoke don't exactly excite me, but as soon as I heard there was a bowling league down here I said two things. First of all, "Ha ha, I'm not falling for that one." And second, "I'm in!" A couple buddies that live in my dorm had scouted a few guys that might fit into a "non bowler" overly-serious attitude but would be decent bowlers. I apparently fit into that group. So me, Barry (an Aussie), Al (a Kiwi), and Matt decided that we would win the fun game each week, and we tore it up in that bracket. Much to our surprise we also tore it up in the total pinfall column. Out of 30 teams we got into the top eight and lost by eight pins to the number one seed. What a blast! As you can see, the alley is two lanes. There are only a few pairs of shoes, you score your own game, it is in an old metal shack not much wider than the lanes, and two pinsetters work for tips scrambling to keep up with your desired pace. I think it's crazy that of all places I joined a bowling league it was here in Antarctica. It was one of my favorite activities of every week.

More marathon pics

Hey guys, thought you might enjoy seeing more pics of the marathon course and all the runners and skiers in action.

The best and worst neighbors

While both of these cute animals might look harmless, only one will disrupt your day. Both the Weddell seals and Skua gulls are sighted every day in MacTown, but one will make even the bravest antarctic sole scurry of for cover and be the laughing stock of the town. Believe it or not, the skua is the biggest predator here in MacTown. They are huge, their beaks are made for tearing, and they are greedy. Each day they hide outside the galley and wait for unsuspecting victims to walk back to their dorm with food. They swoop down and go for the food and sometimes the person too. I have had two unfortunate attacks. Both times I was looking for the skua and was blindsided. The first time I was carrying my gloves in one hand, and he swooped in and stole one of them. He then took it to a nearby roof and stared at me. I had a cold left hand the rest of the day at work. The next incident occurred last week, and a ham and cheese sandwich was my loss... along with my dignity. Seals on the other hand lay around on the ice and play happily in the water pools not posing a threat to anyone. Before the strict Antarctic Treaty was signed explorers were known to play a game where they would run full speed at the seal and plunge into it. The winner was the guy who flew the furthest distance back off the blubber trampoline. I'm serious! Early explorers also killed and ate seals as their easiest kill and most abundant source of food. They discovered that the blubber was flammable and they used it to light their stoves that would keep them warm and melt water from the ice. Without seals the explorers would not have survived the Antarctic cold. Moral of the story: Best neighbor= seal Worst neighbor= skua New phrase: The verb skua. To SKUA something is to steal something with reckless intent

All is well, and it is done!

All is done, and how good it feels! After six weeks of training I finished the McMurdo Marathon yesterday in 3 hours and 50 minutes, which was good enough to take second place. It was my first marathon, and the furthest I had run was 17 miles, so I didn't know what to expect at the end of the race. The day began with a ride in a snow Cat out to the furthest runway. The sky were perfectly blue, not a cloud to be a seen and a very warm day. It was about 26 degress with a cold breeze blowing into our faces, but once the run began everyone seemed to warm up. The whole marathon was run on the Ross ice shelf with amazing views of all the biggest peaks and rock formations around McMurdo. At mile two my breath had settled into the beard and there were crystals hanging around my mouth. The first eight miles were into the wind and the snow was very soft. With each step I would sink down a little and after a few miles that got frustrating. At the eight mile mark I got to the other runway and took a turn with the wind now at my side. The road was much harder here, but it was very slick so I had to be careful of footing with each step. The next 18 miles were kind of a blur. Occasionally I would snap out of the zone and think to myself, "What am I doing? A marathon in Antarctica?" The mind took over, and I had to convince myself that I could sustain this pace until the finish. Later I realized that I had hardly looked around or thought about anything except the snow trail in front of me for about an hour. The snacks I had brought were giving the muscles just enough juice not to cramp. I feared the legs cramping and locking up more than anything, so I did not stop at the rest stations. I snapped out of it big time when I was a mile from the finish, and the body felt as good as it had for the last ten miles or so. Anyone who has run a marathon knows that there are not many things sweeter than crossing the finish line. So as of right now I have no plans for inflicting pain on myself in this way again, but I am very glad I trained for it and did it. I am walking like a old man and eating and sleeping a lot. Now that it's done, back to work tonight.

Polarmoron.com

Well, the time has arrived to see how stupid I really am (please, no comment). I have been training for about six weeks to run the only official Antarctic marathon. 26.2 miles on the Ross ice shelf on a flagged trail route, it should be interesting. It will be a huge challenge, but much of the grewling part is done. Many miles and a few frozen beards later I am ready to take this thing on. Tomorrow morning me and twelve others will be transported to the starting line to take on the challenge. The weather will be the determining factor. If the weather turns bad and it is really windy it could be very dangerous on the ice shelf. My goal- to finish. Stay tuned for an update... if I even have enough energy to write tomorrow.

The big wigs have arrived!

For the last few days we've been making this little village look as nice as we can. We were informed last week that some senators, representatives, and their aids would be coming to check the place out. As I arrived at work tonight the craziness began. Me and two others were told to go around to a few different locations and deliver their bags to them. As we went to a few small huts and a couple of the dorms they were waiting for their stuff. I met some representatives and a few senators, looking smooth with nice collared shirts and antarctic pants, jacket, and boots to clash a little bit. They were very helpful and mingled more than I thought they might. I carried John McCain's bag over to his hut, but did not see him. They will be eating normal meals with us, will take some sightseeing trips, and will take a trip to the pole. If this trip goes well, the National Science Foundation hopes they were support the Antarctica program (USAP) in the coming years. Pretty cool stuff going around here these days. There is never a dull moment in MacTown...and if there is....maybe you're just a dull person.

Free pics...for only $19.95 plus shipping

So I'm not sure what order these will show up in but I have included pictures of... -my view out the window on the way to my work at the runway -my buddy on our snowboarding adventure -me next to some pressure ridges -me next to a pisten bully at sea ice training -me getting excited about a condition one storm -the frozen cracked ocean on the way down -the most remote bathroom in the world (and coolest) -and the inside of the C-17 Air Force jet I flew down in Enjoy! Thought you guys might enjoy seeing some more pictures from my daily life here. I will try to keep posting these every once in a while. Feel free to leave comments about your favorites, and I can even send some of these to you guys.