Siple Dome

I got back from Siple Dome today. The weather wasn't too bad. We worked hard every day. 5 workers and 5 beakers (scientists) departed on November 1 on a ski-equipped C-130. We landed at Siple Dome after circling for 45 minutes while waiting for fog to clear. The scientists flew to the Fosdick mountains the next morning. Our stay was scheduled for 5 days. I stayed 10 days with one other carpenter - Graham. We each had our own tent. The 3 other carpenters left after 2 days. We put up a jamesway, which serves as the heated cooking / eating / lounge area for the camp. We also built a freezer cave. The cave was 8' deep, 20' long, and 6' wide. In the additional days, Graham and I did other work around the camp. The largest task was to survey and reflag 6 miles of skiway. It is now perfect. All flags are correctly aligned an everything exceeds the code for skiway layout. I got to ski solo a few evenings, staying out until past 1:00am. I have now skied, camped, barbequed, and baked cookies in the deep field in Antarctica. A twin otter picked us up and brought us back to McMurdo this evening. On to the pictures...

Sleeping quarters.



Graham mans the grill.


Camp cook - Silver - and the jamesway kitchen.


Nectar of the gods. A bowl of cookie dough.


The freezer cave.


The new jamesway. New meaning circa Korean war.



6 miles of skiway, twisted by the mirage (11500' of approach markers, 10000' of skiway, and 11500' of approach markers).



Skier and track.





Twin Otter and takeoff.