ANTARCTICA: It's a Cold, Cold World!: SURVIVAL TRAINING (aka Happy Camper)

HAPPY CAMPER (AKA SURVIVAL TRAINING)...

Below | Ready for the Happy Camper survival training. We head out in a giant vehicle!

Below | We unload and prepare to set out for an adventure on the sea ice. Red. Red. And more red. It's easier to spot in a place with such little color in cases of emergency or just to visually identify a bag, a person or a vehicle on a daily basis out in the field where a storm (blizzard) can set in rather suddenly.

Below | The VERY long walk to a classroom lecture (a trailer in the middle of nowhere) carrying a significant amount of my own weight. I filled a very large thermos full of (heavy) hot water to sleep with that night in a tent on the sea ice for warmth. Also included were several changes of socks and extra bits of food to munch on for calorie burning throughout the night.

Below | Boomerang Bag Tromp! The "boomerang bag" is named as such due to a potential "boomerang flight". On the initial flight from New Zealand to McMurdo Station, everything we have is checked in except for what we carry in this bag, which we bring on our person as we board the C-17 - like a normal carry-on. If there is any disruption in weather - even if we've flown the entire way (6-ish hours) the flight will then "boomerang" back to Christchurch without having landed, for a total flight of up to 11 or 12 hours, rather than take the chance of landing in a blizzard (compromised visibility) or on ice that may have shifted or for any other reason that may cause a safety concern. This is why there has been a 100% success rate in landing. I've heard the record for consecutive boomerang flights was something like 12 flights - all the way (or partially) there and all the way back for 12 consecutive days in a row. Could you imagine? Torture! And you just have to go as you are scheduled until you can land successfully and these flights are often scheduled very early in the morning. Point being, all of your possessions are already packed up and stored so whatever you put in your "boomerang bag" is all you'll have available to you for however long it takes to get there. I've not experienced a boomerang flight yet and hopefully never will!

Below | Marissa Lee - NSF (National Science Foundation) bag-tagged! It's a very proud feeling knowing that your name and your party are associated and sponsored by such an incredibly impactful institution as I'm reminded here just by my bag tag sitting out on a field of snow covering a sheet of ice floating on top of the ocean in the middle of a very, very southern part of the world.

Finally, we arrive for a survival lecture in some kind of trailer classroom... I'm not sure what else I would realistically expect. The fire is blazing and the setting does the trick.

I'm clearly doing exactly what I should be ...

I love Colleen.

TOOLS for use...We are literally going to cut out blocks of snow.

Below | One huge, heavy, dense block at a time - we build this BEAUTIFUL wind breaking wall by actually sawing through the thick, dense icy snow, carefully shoveling it from it's place and carrying it over (I used a sled) to it's new rightful location as a part of this highly necessary wall. It's difficult to describe just how windy it can get here and how suddenly it comes on. This wall was a great protector for us throughout the night.

Below | Brian demonstrates how to dig a trench in the snow to sleep in. Survival Trench!

Scott Tent demo - I think I slept in that one! This tent is specifically designed to endure such extreme weather.

Below | Our 'camp ground' on the sea ice layered with snow on top of the Ross Sea... in Antarctica. It's just madness to me.

Laura and Colleen being hardcore (and simultaneously adorable) women warriors, as usual.

Below |The sunset. Oh, wait - actually the sun doesn't set, it just kind of goes around in circles. This is how far we had to walk to use the "bathroom" - or rather an ice hole with a strategically placed pretend toilet seat over it. Or you could use your "pee bottle" (a water bottle that looks like your normal water bottle only it says "pee" on it) from which I get mixed reviews. Accidents have been said to have happened.

Below | This is a box in the middle of nowhere that says "SOUTH POLE" on it. Guess where it may be headed...

Below | "HC" = Happy Camper. Dan and I prepare to jump the 4' fall to glory.

Some are more successful than others.

Below | Darren continues to to amaze us with his caveman skills - or snow-caveman skills rather (this is a complement). Oh yes, he slept in that trench. A true adventurer.