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ANTARCTICA

Snow School

Photos © 2002 Seth White

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For anyone who comes to McMurdo that is expected to go out in the field at some time, snow survival school (aka happy camper school) is required. This is a 1.5 day class where you are taught the basics of how to survive if you should unexpectedly find yourself out in the wilds. This is a definite possibility, as you can get dropped off in a helo for a day-long job, have weather blow in, and be stuck there for a week. Or, your vehicle can break down and weather could possibly prevent a seach-and-rescue effort, etc etc. So it goes like this. They have a brief lecture in one of the field safety training classrooms. Then, they show you what's contained in a survival bag (you never go into the field without one of these bags) and how to use it....the tents, stoves, etc. Then, you head out to a spot on the Ross Ice Shelf just north of Scott Base where you build various shelters and stay the night. The next day, you have more lectures and exercises, and then you head back. This is the finished campsite, with Mount Erebus looming in the background.

A heavily crevassed area along the hill next to the campsite. Don't go trudging around this hillside unless you have a deathwish. Two people died near here a few years ago when they tried to take a short cut along the Castle Rock Loop.
People with beards are subject to significant ice buildup in the field...
This contraption is a Nodwell. It transported us to and from the snow survival school at an excruciatingly slow pace. We literally could have walked faster. Looking at it from outside, I kept expecting Jawas to run out and harass me. But it did the job, I suppose.
A plane taking off from the ice runway, with White Island in the background. We had reasonably good weather during my class. My officemate was not so lucky - a storm blew through and Condition 1 was called for the site (Weather Condition 3 is normal weather, and Condition 1 is severe). The instructors were grumbling a bit during my class since the weather was OK. They like it when things get bad.... I have actually been pretty lucky, as every time I've been off station this year, the weather has been great.
The snow school site was located a few miles from Scott Base. Sleeping out on the ice, the warm confines of the Scott Base bar looked very appealing.
They had us build various types of structures and tents. The most basic of these was a snow trench, dug down into the ice shelf. Not a pleasant place to sleep for the night, but it'll get you through a tough situation. The guy who slept here bailed in the middle of the night. Too cold....
The luxurious snow trench, sans cover.
I didn't sleep here, but the photo op was irresistable.
The lap of luxury.
We cut out snow blocks to make a wall to protect the tents from the prevailing winds. This was a primo camp when we were done.
This is me with my digs for the night. Yes, the marvelous SNOW MOUND! At least I had it all to myself.
Me again, at the Happy Camper Hilton.
Me with the unavoidable Mount Erebus.
Looking up at T-site from the snow school camp.
Ditto, only rotated.
This was a strange experience. The idea was to train us how to find someone who has gotten lost in a whiteout condition. It happens here, and you cannot see ANYTHING. You have no visibility, no depth perception, you can't hear anything, and you have no sense of direction....this is no joke. So they give you a little bit of training you for it. They put buckets over our heads and had us try to locate and rescue a person who was planted outside our hut. This person was told not to move well and he could not talk, since he was suffering from severe hypothermia. So we had to formulate a plan to go get him and bring him back, without risking ourselves. The buckets did a great job of rendering us senseless. But we did eventually get the victim back to safety, and prevented him from getting bored waiting for us out there!