Received 14th October 2003
Hi Folks,
Not much to report from McMurdo Station, Antarctica.
Cold and windy, planes can't come down from Christchurch, NZ, so many workers
are stranded there.
Temperatures have been about -10F to -20F with wind chills
to -60F or so. We actually had a Condition 1 in town the other day.
Unusual! Must stay where you are, not go even from one building to the
next. Condition 1 usually only occurs away from Mactown, at the
airfields of up in the hills.
My job is going very well. I love driving shuttles!!
I took some carpenters out about 10 miles onto the Ross Ice Shelf the other
day in a Delta, the big orange vehicle with 5' tires. The passenger
section and engine section are articulated from the driver section. The
driver, me, sits forward of the front tires! The are building a shelter
for the LDB, Long Duration Balloon, project. The scientists send up a
balloon probably in December or January to 120,000 feet, the edge of outer
space. It circles counter-clockwise Antarctica collecting data to be
analyzed later at Washington U. in St. Louis.
I learn so much and hear so much that there is never a dull
moment. I know we have a cushy life here compared to the early
explorers, but last Thursday, a woman decided to walk/climb up Observation
Hill, a 900 foot lava hill.
Well, she went alone and did not take a
radio! A big no-no. She lost her footing and slid on the lava
about 20 feet, then rolled over and slid another 40 feet, loosing a shoe and
gloves in the process. Luckily, a group of hikers came along after about
1/2 - 1 hour and found her. She has frostbite on all 20 digits!! And
her one heel is purple/black. She is confined to her room, visiting
medical for dressing changes and morphine and debridement daily. She is
not out of the woods yet! She could see shuttles going to Scott Base
that night and waved and yelled, but with howling winds almost always, nobody
saw or heard her. She's lucky to be alive - and only right on the edge
of our buildings !!
Sharon
For some reason this was the only email we received from
Sharon - Paul Webmaster
