McMurdo Arrival

Ok, finally the post everybody has been waiting for!  The flight to McMurdo was uneventful from a weather standpoint.  It was a little foggy in Christchurch when we took off, but as soon as we got above the clouds it was bright and sunny.  We were above clouds for about half the flight, but as we reached the pack ice, the clouds cleared out and we had a great view.

 

As soon as they told us the clouds were clearing and the pack ice was coming into view, the rest of the flight was excited conversation and camera shutters clicking.  The crew of the Airbus kept the cockpit doors open and let people come up to take pictures and chat.  There were some spectacular views of the Transantarctic Mountains.  I made the comment to the pilot that this is probably routine for him by now and his response was each time he sees something new and incredible.

About 30 minutes before landing, we all had to put on our ECW gear.  I'm still not sure why, but it did make for a warm end to the flight.  I'm quite impressed with the windpants and Big Red (the parka).  So far I have not used any of the thermal underwear I brought and have been fine, though so far the coldest I've seen is -13F with a windchill that makes it feel somewhere in the minus 30s.  Winfly had a day where the ambient temperature was around -40 with the windchill taking it to -80.  If I get to see any of those days before leaving in February, I imagine the thermal underwear will have to be used.

 We landed somewhere between noon and 1300.  I'm not carrying a watch or cellphone, so times are becoming more general when I'm not near a computer to check.

Not only is it amazing to think that the sea ice is thick enough to land a C-5, but that last year, where I was standing to take those pictures was open water.  Unfortunately, the video I took with my camera on landing came out pretty blurry, so the pictures will have to due.  It was about -4F when we landed with the windchill making it feel in the minus 20s and didn't feel any different than a similar day in Minnesota.

So far the first couple of days have been briefings, tours, and learning the job.  After we landed and received a welcome brief, we were shown to our dorms, picked up linen, and left alone to settle in and meet our roommates.  Yesterday was the first full day of work and today (Sunday), is the day most of  the station has off.  I made it to the outdoor safety brief which was required before hiking any of the trails around McMurdo.  Spent a few hours last night hiking one of them and a few of us plan on going out to the Observation Tube where we can get below the sea ice and look around.