Back in the Swing of it

So welcome to Fuels in McM. This is the group of wonderful people I work with. We do have three people that will leave for Pole for the season and there is a person missing who is currently out at a field camp, but other than that, this is the group of people I work with. If you can't find me just look for the blue helmet with the cones sticking out.

Our first Mainbody science lecture was from the guys on Planet Earth. This was a great presentation and if anyone out there hasn't seen the 12hrs of film I recommend getting them for the winter. They had some amazing footage and at the end of their presentation talked about their new series called "Life." Planet Earth was more about cool environments while Life is more about amazing animals. They are down here for a little while so they can get footage of our cool animals.
So I didn't post any pics of arriving on the ice so here is a pic of the C-17. Since there is no Ice Runway this year we landed out at Pegasus which is the white ice runway built on the McMurdo Ice Shelf (part of the Ross Ice Shelf). Weather, since showing up has been pretty nice. We did have a day of condition 2 and even a day where the windchill was -45, but other than that very sunny and warm.
Shortly after arriving, Eric my roommate and Kricket a new friend, decided to climb Ob hill and get some pics. It was a fun hike and we all had great stories to share. Kricket is now off to Pole where she is the Foreman in Fuels. I was hoping to go visit her this season but found out that I'm stuck in McM for most of the year except for a trip to Marble Point (helicopter refueling site) for Christmas. It should still be a fun year and Kricket has said she may take me to Kwaj (Island in the Marshal Islands where my friend Amber use to work) after we re-deploying. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
The last quick story to tell you all is about my sledding adventure this past Sunday. My friend Brian who just wintered and I were going to sled down Castle Rock. One of our new friends Heather was going to join us for the thrill. However at the last minute Brian bailed so he could go on a trip to the ice caves. Heather was up for the trip so we filed our e-foot plan and headed for the trail. I don't really have time for the details but even though Heather is smiling in this pic, you can tell by the cracks in her goggles that it was an interesting ride down. The short story is that after I bailed out of the sled (she was in back so she knew I bailed) she hit the jump on the side of the trail at about 35mph. This shot her ~50feet through the air (no joke) where she landed on her face and stomach. She made it back to the firehouse under her own free will but is now being monitored for internal bleeding. I talked to her tonight and the med team may be sending her back to CHCH for medical treatment. Let's all keep our fingers crossed for Heather and also for our sledding privileges down here. Heather is crazy and is already talking about another trip (I must first fix the sled).

I hope everyone is having a great fall. I miss you all and yes life is going well down here. My job is great and so are the people. Last night, after fueling the plane, I got to have dinner with my friend Brian on the C-17 after it broke and he didn't get to head back to CHCH. This is apparently the first time the C-17 has spent the night down here and it will spend tonight as well. However I hope tomorrow when I go out to fuel it again, Brian will get to leave the ice after his long winter.

Cheers