Cape Evan and Scott's Terra Nova Hut

This year I helped out set up for the Halloween party since the party was the weekend we transitioned to nights and I had helped last year I knew it would help me stay up and would be a fun time.  Little did I know that by helping out I would get the trip to go to Cape Evans out of it.

To give you a little back ground, this hut was built by Robert Falcon Scott in 1911 and is about 12 miles north of McMurdo on Cape Evans.  This hut was built by Scott for his expedition to the South Pole.  Having been inside the Discovery Hut here at McMurdo as well, I can say that Scott learned from his mistakes.  This hut was built better to withstand the environment down here.  The size is bigger and the furnishings seem to have made it more comfortable for Scott and his team than what they would have lived in the Discovery Hut.  Scott even added an enclosed stable and storage area to this hut for his horses, dogs and supplies.  Not sure why someone would have brought a bicycle with them here back than but there is a bike hanging up on the wall.

On our way out the the hut we stopped and saw some Weddel seals, the Erebus Glacier tongue and Ice Cave and on our way back we stopped at another glacier that was much bigger and higher.  To get out there and back we rode in a Hagglund and the whole trip lasted about 7 hours.  All in all, I can't say how lucky I am to get to see some the most historic and endangered places in this world.  I need to remind myself this everyday that I am down here.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Tim

Some Weddel Seals

The Erebus Glacier Tongue

Looking at Tent Island from on the Glacier Tongue

 Looking out onto the Ross Sea from the Glacier

Inside the Ice Cave

The cool Ice Crystals

Looking up at the icicles 

An Ice Crystal

Scott's Terra Nova Hut

The Plaque at the Entrance to the Hut

It is hard to read but a member of the expedition was keeping track of who died.

Another view of the hut

Looking South at Castle Rock (the tall point in the distance on the right, I hiked there from McMurdo last year) the 2 islands are Big Razorback on the right and Little Razorback on the left

Looking at Tent island and Inaccessible island on the right

A memorial to the 3 individuals lost that were written inside the hut.

Looking back at the Hagglund.

The other glacier we went to.

A sea ice crack

The following pictures are from my friend Dacre Dunn who won his trip for his Halloween Costume and got to go with us.  Hope you enjoy his pictures as well.

 The bike I talked about earlier

Inside the hut

We did a group shot of all of us in front of the big glacier

This is a map of the trip we took, McMurdo is at the bottom and Cape Evans is at the top.

A few new photos!

So I found out tonight that I get to go to Cape Evans on Saturday night and see Scotts hut out there.  I will take lots of pictures and post them when I get back on Sunday morning.  Hope you all enjoy these for now.

Tim

 The sun peeking around OB hill!

 Mt. Erabus, I got this photo early on in my shift at the airfield, when I went back into town a few hours later it looked like Mt. Erabus was very active by the amount of smoke and steam coming out from the top.  I didn't get any photos of Mt. Erabus than.

 One of a few beautiful days at the airfield this week.

 Looking back at McMurdo from the airfield.

 I got a new camera and have been playing with the features, I liked how blue the sky is in this one.

 This is the Basler (Modified DC-3) I rode in last year.

 We have an Ice Pier so hopefully all the vessel work goes a whole lot easier this year.

If you look carefully you can see the old ice pier just off of the point in this picture.  There is not much left of it.

New Season of Challenges!

I haven't written in a while since I have been busy working and just enjoying life as it is here in Antarctica.  Things are going well and getting back into the routine of life and work here has gone well.  Last year being my first year here everything was new and exciting, this year that isn't the case so it has taking some getting used to the feeling that I am now here for the money and not for the excitement and adventure of working in Antarctica.  I have talked with a few ice vets here and they all have agreed that the second season is the hardest as of right now I have to agree with them.  Though working 12 hour days has helped get into the groove of things. 

As for life down here this season it is different than last season for the above reason but also due to some changes made both by the NSF and the contractor Lockheed Martin.  All staff that is scheduled to be here longer than 98 days have been moved into what is called the upper case dorms.  These dorms sleep 2 persons to a room and are suites so you end up sharing a bathroom with your neighbors.  In each room we have our own sink.  These rooms are smaller than where I lived last season and I hate saying it are not any nicer than what I had last year.  I sort of wish I was able to still live in my own room, but housing down here has been a problem so I can't complain when they are trying to work on solving the problems.  Other changes have been hiring few staff members to work here.  This has helped the housing situation but has caused problems in other areas.  Working on nights, some of the food options that we had last year have gone away due to the staffing issues and population issues.  My breakfast choices are more limited at night than in the mornings here so I usually end up having dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner.  The food has gotten somewhat better but certain items just don't seem appealing waking up and eating for breakfast.  The bars close earlier here which hasn't effected me working on nights but we will see how things change as the season goes on.  Our equipment that we use for work has been in short supply because of the staffing cuts.  Fewer mechanics have been hired on so getting equipment repaired has been challenging along with just the preventative maintenance that goes with equipment as well.  Normally we have 9 loaders 4, delta and 3 5-ton trucks to help build and move cargo with.  As of right now we only have 5 loaders working and 3 deltas running for moving cargo.  2 of the loaders are always at the airfield for flight operations so it has taken some juggling of equipment to make sure that cargo is safely handled and transported.  

Last season we had cargo teams of 6 all season long, this year we are teams of 4.  In the end I don't think that the loss of 2 members on a team will be that bad for the rest of the season but I also feel that we have gotten lucky this year.  Right now the LC-130's that do the bulk of the flying down here for transporting staff and cargo to the South Pole and the various Field Camps have been having equipment issues.  So fewer flights have been flying on a daily basis which has allowed us to build ahead for future missions.  This could be a blessing in disguise for us or it could be bad for us.  By being able to be ahead of the game with fewer staff it makes things look like it is working, but on the other hand maybe it really isn't.  Only time will tell.  I am glad that we are finally building cargo cause it helps for shifts to go faster.  

Well that is all for now.  I haven't taken any photos this week.  I will try to get some tonight and post them later on.  Hope all is well with everyone who reads this.  As always if you have any questions or comments I would love to hear them.  

Round 2 has begun!

Wow, a year has come and gone since I quit my full time job to come to Antarctica and work.  What was an adventure into the unknown has lead me down a path that I never thought my life would lead.  I have been able to see a part of this planet which not very many people actually get to see in real life, I have been able to spend time in countries I thought about going to, I have been on the grounds crew for a major league baseball team that had been labeled as both the best dressed and best grounds crew in the Major Leagues by 2 umpiring crews.  What more could I ask for, I have been happier over the past year, I have made new life long friends and I am back in Antarctica again.

This summer in Antarctica is going to be different from last year from the standpoint that there is a new contractor running the show and the National Science Foundation had made some changes as well.  The biggest change is that staffing sizes are smaller this year from last year so some of my friends and coworkers from last year were not able to return.  I am living in a new dorm with only one roommate and in a smaller room.  Getting down here this year was harder than it was last year from getting qualified to come down, to the flights we had to take to finding out I even had a job.  The day we left Christchurch, New Zealand I was able to check my e-mail and found out that I had received a promotion for the season.  I am happy that I have a new position from last year as it will be the same work I did last year but with a little bit more pay.  I was able to work a Kiwi C-130 flight Friday night, it felt good to get behind a plane and work the loaders again.  Today we found out our teams for the season.  I will be working the night shift to start again but will be working with 3 other people on my team that I haven’t worked with before.  I am looking forward to working with them and sharing stories about our lives back home off ice and why we choose to work in this crazy place. 

Having been here before, I find that I am not taking as many photos as I did last year.  I hope that I can start up again and get some good shots to show everyone.  So I have attached a few from my time in Christchurch and the few that I have taken here in McMurdo so far.  

A Year Later!

So as I am writing this I am taking a break from last minute details to go back to Antarctica for a second season.  I have been reflecting on the past year and all the fun that I have had and the places I have seen and been.  I have been asked why go to Antarctica, well in all honesty why not.  To be able to tell someone that you have been to a place where few people have gotten a chance to go to and see animals up close that you would have to pay to see at a zoo from behind a glass wall.  I have made friends for life and most of all I got a chance to work with the best grounds crew in all of Major League Baseball (Jim Joyce told us this).

So I can say I am happier now then were I was a year and a half ago when I first applied to work in Antarctica.  I had a few struggles this year with getting qualified to go back because of some lost paperwork but I am glad to know that I wasn't the only one.  It has been a trying season for all my friends and myself to get cleared to go.  I hope that next season the qualification process goes a whole lot easier for everyone.  I am glad to know that I am going back and will be working with and seeing most of my same friends from last year.  Knowing the process of getting to McMurdo, where things are and how things run will make getting started a lot easier to.  I will be working in the same department as I did last year, hopefully have one of my old roommates back but we will be living in a different dorm than last year, so we will see how that goes.

Saying good bye this time around has been easier for me, since I know that I can call home whenever I want, e-mailing is easy and sending mail out is easy to.  So home isn't as far away as it seemed  a year ago.  This time it has been a staged goodbye for me with my family.  My sister Joan and her husband Matt and their two girls took a trip to visit family in Germany and won't be back till after I leave.  I couldn't believe how much my niece Orly grew while I was gone, but she got to know me this summer while I was home so hopefully when I get back in the spring she isn't scared of me like she was when I got home back in March.  My dad left 2 weeks ago to continue on with his cross country bicycle ride so I got to say goodbye to him before he left.  I am looking forward to raising a drink to him with my friends at McMurdo when I find out that he has reached the Atlantic ocean.  I wish I could be there with him to ride the last day of his long journey with him, but I know that we both will be proud of each other for our accomplishments even though we are thousands of miles apart.  Tonight I get a chance to say good bye to my sister Eva and her family over dinner.  I will miss Breandan and Elsa her two kids while I am gone, but I know that Breandan will remember me and Elsa will get even bigger while I am gone, but I will have all next summer to spend time with her.

Well that is all for now.  If you would like to send me something via mail you can send it to the address below.  If you do choose to send me something as much as I would like alcohol, that is a big no no for us.  But food is always welcome.

Tim Schunck, ASC
McMurdo Station PSC 469 Box 700

APO AP 96599-1035 

Hope this finds everyone well and hope you all enjoy this years blog.

Orly playing

Breandan at his first Broncos Game (We were playing the Raiders)

Elsa and her mom

 Andy on the right, Orly on the left

Coors field after a game with the moon 

I borrowed this shot from a Rockies player

 My dad on his ride last week

Joan, Matt, Andy and Orly on a ferry on the Danube

Andy and Orly at an amusement park in Vienna

 Opening Day 2012

Getting the field ready for the season

My mom with all her grandchildren that will keep her busy while both my dad and I are away.

 Breandan and I at Lakeside

 Breandan playing in Lake Estes

Leaving Sydney!

Tonight I am leaving Sydney for Honolulu.  I have had a fun time traveling around New Zealand and Australia for the past 15 days.  I have seen lots of great places from the Botanical Gardens in Christchurch, to the Sydney Opera House.   I have gone through different emotions from sadness of missing both my family back home in Colorado and my new family of friends from my time in Antarctica.    I know that this is normal and I have learned a lot about myself and things that I wanna try when I get back home.  I know that I wanna see more of both New Zealand and Australia and hope that I get a chance again.  I will post pictures and more details about my travels when I get home.  I just wanted to say hi and that I am doing ok.

Tim

Back in the real world

I just wanted to make a quick little post today to let everyone know that I am well and safe in New Zealand.  I am currently back in Christchurch for the night before leaving for Wellington in the morning to visit some old friends of mine.  I have now been off the ice for a week and am missing some friends that are wintering there but am also glad that I am heading home soon.  As much as I loved spending time in Antarctica I am happy to know that I will be home in 12 days.  I have discovered a lot about myself in the past 4 months that I am looking forward to working on when I get back home and to see my family and friends again.  I will post pictures from my travels after I get home and have free internet again, till than it will probably be short messages like this one or a long one that I will just copy over.  Till next time.

Tim