On the Ice at McMurdo Station - Part Deux

So, I'm still here! In McMurdo on my 3rd day now. I was scheduled to leave for the South Pole yesterday (second attempt) and the flight got scrubbed. Flight Ops is prioritizing getting folks off ice from remote field camps and making fuel runs where needed. One plane is down with mechanical issues, which is apparently normal around here. Putting things into perspective, one of my roommates (yes, we have roommates here, 4 to a room for those just transiting through) just got back from a West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) field camp and mentioned that on his deployment out he had to spend a whole month at McMurdo before getting to his field camp. Guess I can't complain...

Last night Flight Ops asked if I would consider flying out to Pole on a Basler (a DC-3 on steroids) and I accepted the offer since that would be like showing up to prom in a '67 Corvette. This morning that flight got scrubbed and now I'm back on the board awaiting the availability of a C-130, the same type plane that I flew in on from NZ.

From the looks of it there are 6 of us going to Pole as most of the team left on the flight that I and others got bumped from. In the meantime I get to relax and enjoy the sights, not to mention the grub. By far the most hard working folks here are those that operate the Galley or Dinning Facility or Chow Hall or whatever else you would like to call it. Most call it the Galley as that name has carried over from the days when the Navy ran the show in Antarctica. They work almost round the clock preparing food for the 1000 on station. Not an easy job. Oh, and there is also a barber on station among other things. Got myself a clip yesterday :)

Next Post? Pole Flight - Leg 5 of 5 (I hope)