Antarctica 2006

Before anyone can leave McMurdo Station, various training classes must be taken. The duration of the trip and distance away from "town" a person or group will be traveling determines which classes must be passed before permission to leave will be granted. Because our team is traveling to the remote Dry Valley region, we must all take a field safety refresher course. This is a shorter version of "Happy Camper School." If you remember from my first journey to Antarctica, "Happy Camper School" is an intensive two day course in which the participants spend the night out on the sea ice and learn survival techniques and how to stay as safe as possible on "The Ice." Since we have all taken this course previously, we only needed to take the refresher course. We were reminded of the signs and symptoms of frostbite and hypothermia, how to light the stoves found in the survival stashes, and we had to set up our tent in less than 10 minutes! It was helpful to review all the safety concerns and to redevelop a plan of action in our minds. The basic rule of thumb: PPPPPP (Proper planning prevents poor poor performance!). Tomorrow morning I have another safety briefing and then the plan is to go diving in McMurdo Sound! Stay tuned!

We simulated a fast approaching storm and everyone had to have their tents up and secure within 10 minutes! This is a wise thing to practice.

(Of course... doing this inside a heated building didn't quite yield the full effect!)