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October 25, 2004
Snowboarding South of 60
Dear diary,
Just kidding, but writing these entries for the world to read is an entirely new concept for me, so I apologize if I ramble at times.
Karen and I had an another amazing day this past Sunday.
Here in lovely McMurdo, our work week is 7:30am-5:30 pm, Monday - Saturday. We all work 54 hour weeks, which, considering the long hours I used to keep at my last job, is a very welcome break. I do, however, find myself getting prematurely excited for the weekend on Friday still, but unfortunately, Saturday is just another work day around here. Which takes us to Sunday. Ah, Sunday. Brunch is the best meal of the week here with a choice of omelets, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles, French toast, muffins, cereal, biscuits and gravy, potatoes, fruit, etc. The only thing not spectacular is the coffee. Now, I've never been a big fan of coffee, however, because of the mad scramble to sell my Jeep, quit my job, move out of my apartment, pack a bag for Antarctica and the travel afterwards, say good bye to friends, and get on a plane, I guess I didn't leave time for sleeping and in the process formed a rather impressive addiction to coffee. Having brought that addiction with me, I would say my ONLY disappointment is the Folgers we are forced to drink here. Folgers? Is that even made from a distant species of the coffee bean? What I wouldn't give for some good ol fashion Starbucks. I digress...back to this past Sunday.
 Sunday was spectacular. The station permits everyone to take hikes on 1 of about 7 different routes outside of town. One such hike is a 7 mile loop that goes north out towards Mt. Erebus to a large rock outcropping called Castle Rock. From Castle Rock the trail then shoots south down a hill to the Ross Ice Shelf and loops back around past Scott Base (Kiwi station) and up to McMurdo. The big hill below Castle Rock is an ideal skiing/snowboarding hill ('ideal' meaning it's a hill that you can ski down that won't end up dropping you off a cliff of ice). So Sunday morn after a world class buffet (world class if you are talking about the world South of 60° latitude), Bill, Curtis and I snagged our skis and snowboards, accompanied by Karen and Liz on foot and we set out for Castle Rock. The skies were a vivid blue, not a single cloud, and the temperature was a balmy 0°F with wind chill knocking it down to probably -15°F. Perfect weather for a Sunday afternoon hike. All the trails off base are very well marked with red flags and we are urged to stay within 10 feet of those flags while hiking, lest we find ourselves sucking on icicles for nourishment at the bottom of a 1000 foot crevasse, asking ourselves why we thought we were any different than the many others who have been hurt or died testing the 'Not safe beyond red flags' theory. Safety is a HUGE deal down here for obvious reasons, and everyone takes it seriously. To go on these fabulous hikes, you have to check in with the dispatcher at the firehouse (Karen is a dispatcher) before you leave and again when you return so they know you are back safely. If you don't check back in within 5 minutes of the time you said you would return, the beginnings of a very large search and rescue contingency is set into motion. Phone calls are made, helicopters start warming up, and the SAR (search and rescue) team is paged. I can't imagine the amount of deep doo someone gets in if they simply forget to check back in.
 Along the route to Castle Rock are a couple small emergency shelters that are strategically placed if someone is ever caught in an unexpected storm. Not a threat on this glorious day, but nice to know they're there. Castle Rock is 2 1/2 miles from MacTown with a magnificent view all the way of Mt. Erebus and the never ceasing plume of steam billowing from its snowy dome. Once we reached Castle Rock, it was time to do what we came for - snowboard in Antarctica. Granted the conditions were not exactly Steamboat-esque, but that wasn't one of our concerns. Actually, we had no concerns (except, of course, staying by the red flags - see: 'crevasse' above). A 10 minute snowboard ride later, it was official: I had snowboarded south of 60. The hill evens out at the Ross Sea and then it is about a 4 1/2 mile hike to McMurdo on the frozen Sound along the Ross Island coastline, the whole time following the pressure ridges. Not much more to be said except it was another spectacular day in Antarctica for Karen and I this past Sunday.
Comments: Snowboarding South of 60
I'm enjoying the site Mark. Nice work. I'm still waiting for the royalties for the phote (hee hee).
Bill
WOW! What a dream come ture. It sure looks like a lot of fun. We've been enjoying the pictures.
Susan
Is this the Chinese downhill? Keep the stories and the amazing pictures coming. Happy B-day Karen!
The stories are soooooooo great and so are the pictures...Just think, 3 years ago you were traveling into Hurricane Michele in Grand Cayman!...enjoy the cold weather and be safe. Love Jen
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