27 November, 2001

*Note: 11/26 messed up, and I think it's fixed (if you've been reading, and it looked confusing.)*

It is actually Thursday, and I've just returned from two days in the field doing a survival training course. We were fortunate to have very good weather. It can be cold on the ice shelf, but it was sunny. In fact, I got sunburned and I look like a freak because the sunglasses give me a "negative raccoon" look. I'll get over it.

We learned how to make several kinds of shelters, set up different kinds of tents, recognize hypothermia, and many other skills. Pictures will do the best justice:

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One of our fearless leaders, Thai Verzone. He is an accomplished mountaineering guide. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

I didn't expect this little trick. Believe it or not, all our sleeping gear is piled up under the mound of snow that we are burying. The snow is quite amazing. Give it a few minutes and it binds together in a very sound way. The final mound is on the right. We dug it out, pulled out the gear, and three people slept in the mound last night (very comfortably, I might add). _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

We also made windbreaks out of blocks of snow. We cut them with saws. The picture on the right shows most of the camp, including two Scott Tents, similar to the design employed by Robert Scott. They are very wind resistant (and very anchored). _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

I slept in an igloo. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp