February 8, 2004

Summer fun is drawing to a close in Antarctica

R&R brings hot showers, hike to Observation Hill

   We are gearing up to move the old Biomed (clinic), which is currently under the Dome, to the new station. The inspectors cleared the way, and I am back from R&R and ready to rock.

   It was nice to add a few wrinkles in the day’s routine. Although McMurdo, the largest of the three U.S. Antarctic stations, offers several things that the Pole does not, such as long, hot showers, landscape that protrudes above the horizon and wildlife. I forgot how much I enjoyed having a morning coffee — or three — and watching live news.

   Every day I made it a point to get out and hike around — kick dirt, pick up rocks and check out the scenery. Some friends and I hiked 750 feet up Observation Hill, known locally as Ob Hill, several times, which rewards you with spectacular views of the billowing Mount Erebus and its sister, Mount Terror. Across the frozen McMurdo Sound and Ross Ice Shelf stands the beautiful Mount Discovery. Atop Ob Hill is a wooden cross that was erected in 1913 in memory of those members of Scott’s expedition who perished on their return trip from the South Pole the year before.

   Robert F. Scott’s hut, from which he launched two expeditions — including the one in which he lost his life — is still preserved on Hut Point. It is a short walk from McMurdo Station, and still has a seal carcass, clothes, canned goods, cooking stove and utensils.

   Also near the spot is Vince’s cross, which was erected in memory of Seaman George T. Vince, who was a member of Scott’s first expedition, and the first man to lose his life in the icy waters of McMurdo Sound after slipping over the edge of a cliff during a snowstorm.

   Two U.S. Coast Guard icebreakers, Polar Star and Polar Sea, were breaking a path in the ice for the annual resupply vessels. McMurdo Sound has been uncharacteristically frozen-in for the last few years because a large iceberg, B-15, has lodged itself across the opening of the sound and is preventing the break up and outflow of ice. B-15 is slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island.

   I was lucky enough to tour both icebreakers, which brought me back to my sailing days when I was a marine navigator in the U.S. Coast Guard.

   Adelie penguins and Weddell seals were plentiful during my stay. The Orcas came in a week after I left, when the broken ice in the channel created by the icebreakers was cleared by a favorable wind.

   The flight back to the South Pole was welcomed. However, it began with a seven-hour wait at the ice runway. The flight was delayed due to ice fog. We were eventually taken back to the station just in time to see the overtime field goal of the last game that sent Green Bay home for the season. It was a cruel day. We sat, and waited, and missed live football.

   After a week of playing and relaxing, I was ready to get back to Pole. However, I was reluctant to leave behind the live news, 24-hour phone call ability and prolonged daily hot showers — the things we take for granted back in the “real world.”

   Flying over the Transantarctic Mountain Range is a treasure to behold. Some of the largest glaciers man has ever seen pour from the ice cap through mountain passes as they flow toward the sea.

   To witness the transition from the mountains to the polar ice cap is a scene one never forgets. It is obvious that the mountains dam the ice. A true appreciation of the magnitude of the ice cap is revealed at the transition. It is here where you see ripples in the snow made by mountain peaks as they are slowly engulfed by a massive amount of snow and ice — the same mountain range that has been so impressive prior to this point. Beyond the ripples, the smooth, white vastness of the southern polar ice cap extends to the horizon.

   Once back at Pole, we were all greeted with hugs and smiles. To my disappointment, our packages, which were being held in Christchurch, New Zealand, for more than three weeks, had not arrived.

   As summer’s end nears, science and station supplies take precedence over package mail. However, I would not have to wait much longer before my morale was lifted by a large box filled with gifts and Detroit Lions 2003 game tapes, which my wife faithfully recorded. Most importantly, the package had pictures drawn by my two daughters, and a complete set of ABCs, scribed in black marker, by my four-year-old, Jenna.

   Cheers!

   Troy Wiles, a 38-year-old physician’s assistant from Frankfort, is part of a two-member medical team caring for about 600 researchers and staff at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station for a year. He is writing a journal for the Record-Eagle describing life at the pole.

View from down South

Special to the Record-Eagle/Troy Wiles
Above, the view from the very small Kiwi, New Zealand, base just over the hill from McMurdo Station. Mount Erebus and Mount Terror are in the background.


Special to the Record-Eagle/Troy Wiles
Troy Wiles atop Observation Hill, erected in memory of Scott and his fellow explorers who died on the way back from the South Pole.