Two Weeks Later

Right now I'm at my desk, waiting for the storm to hit. It will be the first real storm of the season. Before leaving work today we strapped down everything. They're expecting 80 knot winds within the hour. Luckily, we get warnings before storms hit McMurdo, not just from the satellite, but from the horizon. These storms usually come at us through "Herbie Alley", a gap between White Island and Black Island. Right now, both islands are hidden behind a dark gray wall of weather. Greg, who's been down here five times, figures we have twenty minutes.

The storms will get worse of course. Last winter, the building I'm living in (Bldg. 155) lost part of its roof in a storm that topped out at over 160 mph. No one knows exactly how bad the winds got because the wind-birds ripped off.

In unrelated news, I learned a few interesting medical facts. After wintering at McMurdo for just one month:

• Core body temperature drops 1 degree celsius.
• During sleep, the body uses 24% more oxygen than at home.
• You can consume 40% more calories with no gain in weight.
• Exercise (or hard work) requires 33% more oxygen than normal.

No wonder I'm so tired.

BETTER THAN THE POLE

I remember calling Raytheon that first time, landing this amazing job, and feeling a bit disappointed that I wouldn't be going to the South Pole. To come so far, to get this close. . . It seemed a shame at the time.

Now that I'm here though I see things rather differently. McMurdo may not be the most extreme place in the world, but there is more to see, more to do, and more to photograph here than at the South Pole. We're every bit as isolated; there just happen to be some seals and penguins isolated with us. Besides. . . Shackleton never walked at the pole. He walked here. So did Scott. So did many others who saw immense value in this place.

I have been to many islands in my lifetime, and I've loved them all. Ocean City, Staton Island, Rhodes, Malta, Corfu, Mallorca, Sicily, Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, and others. Islands are wonderful places. The ocean blankets them in salty air, surrounds them with the sound of the surf and that deep blue horizon that pulls its color from the sea. Ross Island, Antarctica is nothing like the other islands on my list. You cannot smell a sea when it's trapped under ice. No breakers crash on its shores. And the blue horizon? Blinding white.

Yet, without a doubt, this is my favorite island in all the world. I can't imagine a place more magical than Ross Island. McMurdo Station is the largest on the continent. The largest by far, but our island is larger still. Here is a picture taken from a helicopter shortly after I arrived. This is McMurdo. Notice the two ice breakers cutting through McMurdo Sound:


Back to the pole. I have seen many pictures of Amundsen-Scott Station, but beyond the station itself there is very little to photograph at Pole. Here is a recent picture from the South Pole taken by my friend Brent. He was stationed there just 3 weeks before getting reassigned to the project I'm working on. As you can see, there are no hills, no dales, no nothin'. The summit of Antarctica is, without question, the most extreme place on earth, but it is also extremely flat:


BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE

The Southern Lights are more impressive at the South Pole than here on Ross Island. They've got us beat in that department, but do you know why? It's because Ross Island is actually CLOSER to the Magnetic South Pole than the geographic south pole is. Remember, there are actually two South Poles: the geographic, and the magnetic. The way things work, Northern and Southern Lights show up best at a distance from the poles. In the Northern Hemisphere, Canada and Alaska get better light shows than farther north. It's the same here. Ross Island is just too damn close to the pole - like being in the front row of a movie theatre. The more distant geographic south pole gets a better show.

So, the long and the short? I'm glad I'm here. Visiting the pole for a day or a week would be beyond words for me. A nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. I'll take my island, with its life, its volcano, its coastline, its bowling alley, Herbie Alley, and yes. . . its ocean horizon. . . even if it is Blinding White.
______________________________________

Well, you've waited out the storm with me, and I thank you for that. I remember reading once that being in Antarctica is like living in a picture. Nothing changes here. That may be a fair description of the South Pole, but it has nothing to do with Ross Island. Things change here faster than you could imagine. I just went outside in my slippers and took this picture. It's 9:00 PM. While I typed this letter, the storm took a sharp turn across McMurdo Sound. . . and passed us by.


I'll leave you with a final picture, one you could never take at the pole:

UNITED STATES ANTARCTIC PROGRAM

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