4 November, 2000

FYI answer for 11/03/00

Antarctica is the coldest desert in the world. It onlys snows about eight cm a year.

There are three conditions of weather here.

Condition 3 is normal and there are no signals, winds are less than 58 mph, windchill above -75F, routine safety and exposure precautions.

Condition 2 is signaled by yellow lights, winds are between 58-66 mph, windchill is between -75 to -100F, persons must remain in the area, travel must be approved.

Condition 1 is signaled by red lights, winds are in excess of 66 mph, windchill is lower than -100F, persons must remain inside, high restrictions and special approval on all travel.

Yesterday we departed for FST (Field Safety Training) by 11:00 am. We were enjoying Condition 1and partly cloudy skies. By the time we had traveled the 40 minutes to our FST site, conditions were deteriorating. We had unpacked all our gear and, as we were being instructed, the weather unleashed a Condition 2. We experienced this through the next five to six hours as we dug blocks and built a snow wall and dug one-man 'tombs' and snow mounds for protection. The fifteen of us were then left by our instructors, and we began to manage heating water for some dehydrated dinners. The weather seemed to be letting up for us. By 9:00pm we were eating dinner, and the sun began to shine again.

It helps to stay warm by keeping active, eating, and drinking warm drinks. Some of the evenings activities included short walks around our immediate area only, singing campsongs that had movement with them, learning some international dance steps, running back and forth to our outhouse, heating water to keep our water bottles from freezing and for making hot cider and hot chocolate, and building our own 'Icehenge'. Most of us retired as the sun was high in the sky at 1:00 am

We were greeted by our instrutors this morning at 9:00 and visited about our night. We then went through two life saving scenarios: a missing person and fire in our snow tractor. We learned how to use radio communications correctly and then headed back to McMurdo. Upon our arrival we had a brief course on helicopter travel and safety and then our very own, quite informal, graduation.

FYI

If you go to bed ________ and wet, your body cannot get ________. You should move around, _______ or drink something warm and ____ ____ the bathroom before you go to _______.

He speaks of a better time

So what do we do now?

If you don't have bad weather, make it seem that way - search and rescue technique

Miss Krysl is using good communication with MAC OPS singing her rendition of 'Over the Glacier...(Over the river and through the woods, it made their Friday