Camping Antarctic Style.

Field Training - making expeditioners safe when they leave home! 

The Masson Range.

To leave the Mawson station independently each expeditioner is required to demonstrate their competence in:
•    Driving Haggulund in the field
•    Navigating using GPS,
•    Erecting polar pyramid tents,
•    Building ice shelters
•    Camping out –cooking and sleeping in a polar pyramid tent in the field.
•    Communication with the station using radio.
•    Operating safely on steep ice and snow.
      *  Correct method of carrying an ice axe
      *  Self arrest using an ice axe
      *  Traversing steep slopes using an ice axe to chip steps, cut rest points, and support walking.
      *  Belaying and anchors using ropes, ice axes and other climbing hardware for working safely near edges and crevasses.
•    Mapping and navigating using a compass.

The David Range.

Tom our Field Trainer has been taking groups of three to the North Masson and David Ranges for 3 days camping and field training. (6 groups over 6 weeks was the original plan.) Planning for the trips is affected by weather and availability of station staff and trips are juggled accordingly. Luckily only one trip has been postponed due to weather. Others have been changed slightly. As winter approaches the days are shortening rapidly, temperatures are declining and the chance of a delay from weather is greater.

I was scheduled for a training trip after Easter however emergency plumbing work for a burst pipe between the ‘melt bell’ and the station water storage tanks required the help of both station plumbers. (see post Plumbers at the End of the Line as Mawson Water Crisis Worsens)  So with half an hour notice to pack some gear, I was off on a camping trip to the Antarctic plateau. Luckily apart from my personal gear, all the other equipment and provisions had been packed ready to go. I was swapped out of the fire team and Rolf was Happy to cover work shifts while I was away.

Tom completing the intentions board.

By a little after midday we were on our way. As we tracked out of the station at 10km/h we passed the crew working to repair the leaking pipe at the melt bell. Scotty and Ian were the other expeditioners in training and Tom was driving. Once on the plateau we each took turns at driving the Hag using the GPS navigation system and the cane lines to find our way.  We arrived 1km west of the Rumdoodle hut (Maxines) at about 2pm. The wind was light, temperature around -20 deg C and the sky overcast.

Polar Pyramid Tents - Rumdoodle

The first job was to unload and set up our tents for the night. I was sharing with Scotty. Luckily winds were light so the tents went up relatively quickly, we laid some snow blocks around the base of the tent and then started on an ice wall shelter for the windward side of tent before a late lunch at the Maxines.

A small gas heater and hot soup restored our freezing digits. We also radioed Mawson station advising our situation.

Constructing an ice wall shelter.

Scotty preparing dinner in the polar pyramid.

We then went out into the cold and back to the tent to finish the ice walls.

By then the wind had picked up and the light was fading fast so by 5pm we were comfortably in the tent cooking dinner (chili con carne on Korean noodles followed by gnocchi) cooked on an alpine camping stove. By 8:30pm we were tucked away in our sleeping bags. 

Tent setup.
Interested in the tent layout? - The Polar Pyramid accommodates two with room to cook and stow bags in the middle. The Polar Pyramid  floor is on the ice or snow so it pays to choose a flat smooth place to put the tent up. It is anchored on the outside by ropes and storm guys into the ice or snow and the skirt is weighted down with snow or ice to keep the wind and snow drift from accumulating in the the tent. The door is placed away from the wind.

Arranging Bedding to Keep Warm.
The bedding is arranged with the bivy bag on the ground first. The bivy bag is a wind proof bag with high density 10mm foam mat inside which you can shelter if caught out in bad weather. Then a supplementary high density foam mat on top to provide about 20mm of insulation. The down winter sleeping bag is then laid out and the down summer sleeping bag with polar fleece inner sheet is either left on top or put into the winter bag depending on the expected overnight temperature.Water bottles and battery operated electronics equip are kept close to the body to keep from freezing.

Clothing in the Field.
3 layers of clothing are worn outside – thermal underwear, polar fleece top and pants and windproof goretex bib and brace pants with goretex jacket. And of course socks, mittens, wrist warmers, neck warmer, balaclava, beanie and goggles.

In the tent the first two layers of clothing is adequate (thermals and polar fleece) with a goose down jacket if required. In the sleeping bag the two layers can be worn or just thermals depending on preference.

Rumdoodle campsite.

Overnight at Rumdoodle the wind picked up as expected. The temperature also dropped as the cloud cleared. Temperatures were about -25 deg C. The cold winds sliding off the high central Antarctic plateau toward the coast are generated after dark as the air close to the surface cools and starts to move downhill. These are called Katabatic winds.

Wave in the glacier as it contacts the Masson Range.

The blue ice (glacier ice) under the bright sun has many shades of blue and is stunning. The glacier makes its way ever so slowly from inland to the Antarctic coast where it breaks away into the sea to become icebergs. It was surprising to me to see how as it flows, the ice has the various forms of flowing water.

Rocks floating away on the top of the glacier.

The sense that the glacier is a fluid was real to me as I looked about, however large boulders that have tumbled off the mountains the size of small houses litter the ice near the shore line and are gradually carried away from the mountains to the coast. These floating rocks play games with my mind. Because rocks are more dense than water they should sink!

Every time I think about these floating rocks I think of the Monty Python skit where the mob want to burn a a women claimed to be a witch, and a serious of questions of logic are asked. Depending on the answer she is either a witch or she is not. So it goes that if she is a witch she should float, and what else floats, wood, ducks, and someone calls ...'and very small rocks'. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrzMhU_4m-g)

This looks like a good spot to practice a fall!

Arresting a fall using the ice axe.

 Ice and Snow Training.
We had  breakfast in the tent then packed up but left the tent up.

Cutting steps into the slope.

Belaying using ice axe anchor.

Then it was off to the snow and ice slopes to learn how to use an ice axe to aid in walking on ice or snow, arrest a fall down a slope, cut steps and rest points while traversing safely.

Harnessed up for action.

Rope Rescue techniques.
 The ice axe is a handy tool, having used it for self preservation we then had to demonstrate how to use it as an aid to search and rescue.

Harnessed up with helmets on we buried the ice axe in snow to make an anchor and belayed each other, simulating being lowered or climbing out of a crevasse. We also used other anchoring systems to do similar.  During these activities the wind picked up and the cold set in. The couple of hours mid morning of the warming sun was gone in an instant.



 

A quick lunch at Maxines.

To Fang Hut.
With training at Rumdoodle completed we pulled down the tents and loaded the hag. Then a quick lunch at Maxines – a mug of soup, cheese and biscuits and then head off to Fang hut on the David Range.

Settling into Fang Hut.

Fang hut is located at the foot of Fang peak, named because of its tooth like appearance. It takes just short of an hour to get there from Rumdoodle. The sun was already casting long shadows and interesting soft light on the ranges.

Fang hut at 800m is 200m higher than Rumdoodle and is in shadow all day at this time of the year so it was icy cold. Luckily gas heaters are at the field huts and it doesn't take too long to warm them.

The cold kept us indoors doing navigation planning for tomorrows map and compass work while Tom cooked dinner.  After eating we played a serious game of dominoes until retiring to our bunks at about 9:30.

Navigating exercise - Fang Peak.

The Hut.
Fang hut is about 6m long by 4m wide it  has 4 bunks, the two upper ones fold down and the table also folds out. The kitchen has a small gas cooker with bench and cupboards. A small cold porch allows for food storage and an outdoor toilet is attached to the end of the hut. All liquid and solid waist is collected for treatment back at the station.

 

Fang Peak. Hut is at centre left

Navigation exercise.
After the radio sked with the Mawson station at 8am and a hot breakfast with memorable cup of plunger coffee. We headed out in the cold for a mapping and navigation exercise that took us up to the ridge approaching Fang Peak and then around a rocky ridge to a knoll on the rocky ridge across the valley from Fang Peak toward Mt Elliot.

Heading for home.

Then thankfully back to the hut to warm up hand have some lunch. The wind at 20 to 30kts and temps around -25 deg C were not conducive to lots of stopping to take compass bearings and back bearings. 

Homeward bound.
After lunch we headed into the sunset straight down the cane lines from Fang to Mawson station arriving with time to unpack, shower and be on time for dinner at 6.00pm.

Afternoon sun over blue ice.