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If someone is looking for a ridiculously insane way to experience Antarctica, I've recently learned that a good way to accomplish this is to go camping.
This is what I did on Saturday night.
The temperature was -25 degrees with a windchill of approximately -50. We left the station around 7:00 p.m. and drove out to our campsite. Once there, we set up camp which included erecting Scott and mountain tents, building snow walls, and building a quinzhee. I chose to eventually sleep in a mountain tent with my friend Jill (aka Pumpkin) and my fellow Portlander, Kate.
The hardest part for me was staying warm. Even people that are hardened by working outside were getting cold too. Staying outside in temps that low for 12 hours with no place to warm up is no easy feat. My actual lowest moment ended up being when I had to use the restroom and the pee tent was getting used to warm up water for hot water bottles to put in your sleeping bag. This meant that I had to brave the cold and go by the pee stick that designated the bathroom area. To actually go, I had to take off my parka, undo my Carhart bibs and drop drawer in the freezing cold. The worst part was that I was holding it so long that once I started going, it felt like an eternity before I was done. It took me a long, long time and some running around camp to warm up, but now I can say I've peed on Antarctica! In the future, a pee can or a funnel are definitely in order.
Overall, I definitely have a new appreciation for the early explorers and the people in expeditions who still brave the cold to venture onto the ice.
Click here for some photots
So, what's the purpose of a snow wall? To divert wind?
ReplyDeleteYes, the snow wall is used to try to keep the wind down on your tent. However, it was pretty windy that night and gusts of wind would still shake the tent a little.
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