 |
||||||||||
| Home | News | NHM Diary | Messageboard | Contact me | Recommendations | |||||
UK
Met training in Cambourne
Climbing masts in Taunton
Abseiling in Derbyshire
First aid in Derriford
Fire training
The Voyage South
Crossing to America
Montevideo
The Falklands
Sub- Antarctic Islands
The Brunt Iceshelf
Halley Research Station
Living on an ice shelf
Summer
Winter
Recording the weather
Holidays
Training for the remotest place on Earth |
My training that first summer consisted of a mixture of meteorological training and survival stuff. On the met side, I had to learn how to do weather observations and ozone observations, I had to learn how to calibrate the equipment and maintain the masts that hold the instruments.
The survival training was a bit alarming. There are no "emergency services" at Halley - so we all had to learn first aid, how to work breathing apparatus and search smoke filled rooms, and of course how to travel safely in Antarctica.
I rented a room in a house with Sarah, Neil and Pete who had all already visited Antarctica. They told me lots of stories about their experiences "down south" and I saw thousands of pictures of penguins! Going to Antarctica is exciting but also incredibly daunting and it was great to have people to get advice from, especially on what things to take;- cameras and camera film, deodorant (which bizarrely is the only hygiene product BAS doesn't supply), smart clothes for Saturday night's formal dinner and anything that I really couldn't live without (in my case Coco Pops.)
Me jumaring out of a crevasse
Edible walls
The crevasse that I am climbing inside
is at the edge of the Brunt Ice Shelf. The ice-shelf forms on top of Antarctica
from thousands of years of snow fall. The ice-shelf and the icebergs that
crumble off the edges are therefore made of pure water. I could have licked
the walls of this crevasse (except my tongue might have got stuck)
Every year the sea around Antarctica, freezes to form ice floes up to a couple of meters thick. The sea ice extends for hundreds of kilometers. Sea ice is salty and would make your Gin and Tonic taste nasty.
 |
||
|