Pictures of Antarctica

[Mike K]

I have been here for comming up on two months now and just figured i would share some pictures. But first, why are we here? Science!! Every Summer (Oct-Feb) a bunch of scientists come down here to study everything from fish to space. This place is operated by the National Science Foundation and from my understanding they have contracted the grunt work out to Raytheon (who i work for). The scientists need a place to stay, eat, helicopters to fly out to thier site, vehicles to transport them.... etc. Raytheon provides all of those services and i am a heavy equipment mechanic.

So how about some pictures? I will provide links to the pictures instead of uploading them to make it easier.

First of all... where am I? Technically i am on Ross Island, a teritory owned by New Zealand. When Raytheon flies us out here they send us to Christchurch, New Zealand where we catch a military flight down to McMurdo Station (where i work).
Ross Island - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You will notice that Raytheon has opted to make it simple, they buy mostly Ford and Cat, however, we still have some odd-ball stuff left from the Navy. Most of the Fords here have the 5.4L in them, we have a few crash recovery MatTraxx that have the 6.0L in them.
ImageShack - Hosting :: dsc00385io7.jpg

Vehicles like these are used to take scientsts out to thier research sites in the field.
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/4466/p1000106fd9.jpg <-- Hagglund (spelling?)
http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/8863/p1000101cn2.jpg <-- Tucker

Hagglund with Mt. Erebus (active volcano) in the background
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/78/p1000818ba3.jpg

A small (and i mean small) storm
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/9688/dsc00388xz0.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/9550/dsc00384gr5.jpg

A picture of a dozer (the building on the right is the Vehicle Maint building), in the background is Ob Hill (observation hill)
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/8507/p1000058kh8.jpg

This is the kind of view you get from Ob Hill
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/9717/dsc00372di6.jpg

At the top of Ob Hill is a cross in rememberance of Capt Scott and his team that walked (walked!!) from McMurdo to the South Pole (1,000 miles? one way) but him and his team died on his return trip.
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/5007/dsc00375ou0.jpg

Me next to the cross
http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/871/dsc00382tn5.jpg

Last weekend i had Arctic Survival Training, nothing special really. They teach you about Hypothermia, how to keep warm, what to eat, how to sleep in bad weather, etc. It is 2 days (1 night) long. We got the full expierence, it was -25F outside (-51F with the wind chill), here is a picture of me:
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/3482/dsc00448xb1.jpg

Our camp site... all i slept in was a small (uninsulated) mountian tent, a sleeping bag with a fleece liner. We have our class out on the Ice Shelf (frozen ocean).
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/1337/p1000814el9.jpg

I have some additional pictures on my MySpace account:
MySpace.com - www.myspace.com/19132479

One additional picture has been uploaded below, its me kneeling in front of some baby (~1 year old) Emperor Penguins. We seen them while we were out on a Sea Ice class where we drill holes in the frozen sea ice to see how thick it is.

 

[atk]

and i thought it was getting cold here(fall finally showed up), but no where near what it is there....stay warm and be safe....(even looks cold there)

 

[jharvey]

Cool shots Mike, thanks for sharing them

Looks like your eyes are frosting over in that closeup next to the cross.

Now, how do I get an invite for a photo shoot???

 

[Mike K]

John, i think there are only two ways you are going to get down here. 1) get sponsered by the NSF to come down here or 2) the easier way is to get a job down here. Are you a full time photographer?

check out Raytheon Jobs & Employment Opportunities and do a search online for the NSF (national science foundation) and raytheon to see if they have any kind of photography deals. I havent heard of any to be honest though. There are quite a few people down here that get 'normal' jobs, but do the photography thing. We just had an art show and had several photographers showing thier work.

 

[Mike K]

more just came to mind:

If you get a job down here you get a free trip to New Zealand and with Australia right next door (along with other countries in route) it could be a great oportunity to get a summer job (Oct 2008 - Feb 2009) and hit some near by countries that would normaly be expensive to travel to.

i really regert not bringing my camera (Canon 30D) down here. I plan on spending a week in New Zealand, hoping over to Melbourne, Oz and down to Tasmania before i fly back in Feb. Raytheon pays for your flight to/from the states and new zealand, you can even delay your return flight to visit local countries (what i will be doing).

-Mike

 

[BamaSixGun]

Awesome stuff Mike. thanks a bunch for sharing. i saw a documentary about Mccurdo on TLC or Discovery not long ago. very interesting.

be safe down there

 

[powerboatr]

more just came to mind:

If you get a job down here you get a free trip to New Zealand and with Australia right next door (along with other countries in route) it could be a great oportunity to get a summer job (Oct 2008 - Feb 2009) and hit some near by countries that would normaly be expensive to travel to.

i really regert not bringing my camera (Canon 30D) down here. I plan on spending a week in New Zealand, hoping over to Melbourne, Oz and down to Tasmania before i fly back in Feb. Raytheon pays for your flight to/from the states and new zealand, you can even delay your return flight to visit local countries (what i will be doing).

-Mike

let me know when your going over to melbourne
my folks like in victoria near sydey
great pics

 

[Scarlet_Nape]

Mike,

Pics are just awesome! My son and I looked at them together and he really enjoyed them. Neither of us had any idea there were active volcanoes down there. What an oxymoron!!!

Stay safe, enjoy every minute of it, and take more pics!!!




P.S. How's the tan coming?!!

 

[platinum01]

Cool pics Mike. That van is a hoss. Cools really nice around there. Looks like you had some visitors when drilling in the ice. Be safe in your small storms.

 

[Mike K]

Thanks for the compliments and comments everyone!

let me know when your going over to melbourne
my folks like in victoria near sydey
great pics

Great! I just started looking, maybe you can give some input. I have a Kiwi room mate right now (i work with him) and if we can leave at the same time he is going to show me Christchurch, NZ and like i said i will probably head to the land down under (that saying doesnt have much meaning when you are in antarctica )

Any must sees in Oz? I think I will spend a week there but dont know where to go.

P.S. How's the tan coming?!!

I have never been so white

That van is a hoss. Cools really nice around there. Looks like you had some visitors when drilling in the ice. Be safe in your small storms.

The Vans kind of suck, its only a 5.4 and they add the 35" tires without regearing them so they arent the most ballsy vehicles you have ever driven but they look cool. My favorite is the Case Quadtrack tractor they will be using to drive from McMurdo to the South Pole and back.
http://www.lyndochmotors.com.au/images/stxtrack.jpeg

You can see one in the second storm picture. And i say small storm because a bad storm you cant see your own hand in front of your face. I was a Black Island (10 minute helicopter ride away) for the last couple of days and we got up to 80mph winds and i hear that is normal