I went to a science lecture the other night that turned out to be very interesting and informative. One of the problems we face here in Antarctica is getting supplies and people to the South Pole. Unlike most places in the world there are literally no roads that lead to the Pole. Because of that everything must be flown in on LC-130‘s (big planes with skies). The inefficiency of this revolves around the fact that the LC-130 primarily hauls jet fuel in its wings used at the Pole for its power plant. The LC-130 consumes two thirds of the fuel for the round trip and leaves on third at the Pole necessitating hundreds of fights per season. This wears heavily on the airframes because they are carrying such heavy loads of fuel and it minimizes the amount of cargo and people it can carry.

The answer seems to be a traverse (long trek over snow “where no one has gone before”). That really sounds familiar? The problem is vast areas of crevasses and a little thing called the Trans Antarctic Mountains (akin to the American Rockies). Not to be confused with the Colorado Rockies who made a mess of the World Series. The cool thing is that NASA, using their satellites, was able to identify the crevasses and to pick the best place to cross the mountains.

The next trick was to test the theory so over the last 3 years the traverse crews have tried various methods of hauling fuel and supplies over the one thousand mile trip. At the end of last season they completed the first round trip. Twenty five days to the Pole and twenty days back. In the final analysis the best way to haul the fuel was in big bladders on big heavy duty plastic sheets (much like the plastic sheets we slid down hills on as kids). Although it takes more time in one trip they hauled the equivalent of what one hundred LC-130 flights would have hauled. The thought is if they can free up the LC-130’s from being gas haulers they can provide better support to the scientists.

This is all pretty neat for us but not of much interest to anyone else in the world.

Finally, I’m sorry there was no blog yesterday. I was consumed with work related duties all day. Bummer! (Phrase used by kids of the 60’s)

The first big bash of the year is the Halloween party. They close the big gym for a couple of days while the recreation folks dress it up for the soiree. Most of the residents at McMurdo busy themselves with making costumes. The creativity is pretty amazing. Some even make or buy costumes before they arrive on the ice. I offered to work for the woman who was on the schedule so I wasn’t able to attend but I clipped some pictures from our shared drive to post on the blog.

I did have a good time watching people trying to navigate up a steep hill from the gym into a blustery and strong headwind with more than a few beers in them. I thought I might have to call out the rescue squad a couple of times as the revelers teetered on the edge of the road. A misstep would have sent them tumbling about 50 feet down a snow embankment. Happily no one fell and I just had a few good chuckles.

I always find it interesting what people will dress up in and how they behave at costume parties.

Many years ago (a phrase you find yourself using as you get old) I decided to try an aerobics class. I was mainly interested in adding to my aerobics workout without running (because I hate running). I entered the first class with a fair amount of trepidation because at the time the classes were all populated by women, usually in very good shape, and attractive. All things that tend to intimidate men. But I thought, what the heck, and went for it. The instructor came in, put on her funky headset, and away we went. After about five minutes I had worked up a pretty good sweat, was breathing heavily, and thought this is a good workout but I’m getting tired. Then the instructor said, “Okay that concludes the warm-up let’s get to work”. I never went back for another class!

I tell you all this because I’ve been wrestling with the idea of attending a Yoga class. Usually populated by women, I thought, in good shape and attractive. You’d think I’d learn. The idea first penetrated my pea brain last season here at McMurdo but the timing never seemed right. I’ve always tried to avail myself of all the great opportunities here so the idea of going to a yoga class entered my consciousness again when a flyer went up on the recreation board. The classes are held in the chapel following daily Mass so I arrived right at the appointed time for the first class so as not to disturb the parishioners. When I walked in every inch of the floor was covered by an outstretched body. I tiptoed my way to the front of the class like a football player doing the “tire drill”. The room was completely quiet as the yoga students, I surmised, were meditating. I asked the instructor, in my softest voice, what I should do. In her softest voice she told me to get here earlier next time, get out! (She really said it in a nicer way) So I tucked my tail between my legs, retraced my steps back out of the chapel and headed back to the dorm.

Well, yesterday I returned to the chapel, much earlier, found a neoprene mat, unrolled it and sat on the floor (Indian style) and waited. There were about ten people already there and they were making various Gumby-like stretches (remember Gumby from Happy Camper) and some were just sitting in awkward positions with their hands contorted into shapes I’d seen in movies. I was uncomfortable to say the least but I vowed to give the class a chance. The instructor finally arrived and without putting on a funky headset began to direct the class. She did ask if anyone was new to yoga and when I raised my hand she gave me a very “knowing” look and nod. I wish I knew what that meant. Long story short we went through many exercises and stretches. They all had names which she carefully pronounced and I quickly forgot. The best part was the resting position (can’t remember the name for that either) which we assumed after each stretch and exercise. During the class I found myself contorted into shapes I heretofore would never have believed I could have gotten into. My new hero, Gumby, would have been proud. As I left the class an hour and ten minutes later I felt quit good and pleased that I had successfully navigated my way through my first yoga class.

Now, however, it’s tomorrow morning and I am sore in places I didn’t know I had. In fact it’s painful to type this blog to you right now. Whoever heard of sore fingers? A few Advil Liquidgels and I think I’ll be as good as new. At the end of class the instructor announced she would be leaving the ice on Monday so unless there’s a new instructor this could be the end of my yoga career.

Andrill is an ongoing project here in Antarctica. They use an oil drilling rig to get soil core samples to analyze what the earth was like here millions of years ago. There are a number of educators here working with the project and there is a web site you can go to to find information about “Project Iceberg”. The web page includes blogs, photos, postcards and more from educators on the Andrill team. The web site is at www.andrill.org/iceburg. Check it out.

A couple of fun notes: One of the new events this year is a juggling class taught every other Monday. I missed the first one because I was at the Ross Island Yacht Club of Antarctica (RIYCA) meeting. I’m looking forward to improving my juggling skills (if that’s possible) and even brought my own balls (don’t go there).

Last night several of us met at the coffee house for a glass of port and three games of cribbage. I haven’t played cribbage much since I used to play with my grandpa when I was a kid. We had a great time.

Every Sunday afternoon here the good folks at the Crary Lab offer a behind the scenes tour. The Crary Lab is where most of the science is done. Most scientists have officies in the building and each Wednesday night a science lecture is offered on some of the research taking place in Antarctica. Our tour guide showed us many of the artifacts displayed at the Lab.

We were treated to a tour of the Andril lab. Andril scientists are drilling core samples using an drilling rig to reach back as much as 20 million years into the past. They hope to go even further back to look at samples from when the continent wasn’t covered in ice. At the end of the season the core samples are taken to Florida State University where they are archived and available to use by other scientists.

We were shown videos of eruptions in the lava lake in Mt. Erebus and listened to the recorded sounds of many eruptions compressed into a short time frame. It sounded a little like whales talking to each other.

We spent some time in the aquarium. One of the scientists described many of the fish and aquatic life on display there. Many of the fish who live in these below freezing waters here actually have an antifreeze enzyme in their blood that keeps their blood from freezing. Water above freezing is actually too warm for these fish and anything above 5C will kill them.

We ran into a couple of grantees who are here working on remote undersea vehicles (ROV). The showed us how they work and what kind of research they are doing. All in all a Sunday afternoon well spent.