My eldest son, John, is about to embark on a six month gig at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Among those in the know, this is referred to as being "on the ice." I set this blog up so I could send out occasional updates to friends and family on his life down under. I'll put up the odd fact or two I run across about McMurdo and/or Antarctica, too.
While there, he'll be part of the support crew, working in food service (he's worked in catering for several years while a student). He's a writer, so my guess is he'll also be gathering experiences for some future Epic Novel.
His first stop is Denver, where he has a couple of days of training. From there, after a brief layover in Los Angeles, he'll fly to New Zealand. The final leg of his journey, from Christchurch, NZ, to McMurdo, Antarctica, will be aboard a military transport plane.
McMurdo Station, on Ross Island (on the southwest corner of Ross Sea), is the operational hub and logistics center for the United States Antarctic Program, which in turn is part of the National Science Foundation. McMurdo is the largest installation on the continent and is the gateway to all other US bases.
During the active (summer) season, around 1,200 people are based there. They are just entering the spring season down there; average highs for September are -5 F, and average lows are -20 F. December is the warmest time of the year - average highs are around 30 F, with lows down to 21 F.
Curious about the weather? Check the McMurdo webcam.
Today was the first day McMurdo had a sunrise since April. The sun was visible for 45 minutes before setting. Around mid-October the sun will cease to set until late February. He'll be there until March of 2012.
It should be a great adventure!
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