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Camp Winter Expands
Today was the first full day with all the cargo and people here in Camp Winter. The main task of the day was erecting the workshop tent.
Location: Camp Winter, 86.80S, 54.42E
Elevation: 3151m
Weather: -41C, 10 kts
This is a large arched tent (about 5m high, 13m long and 6m wide), with insulating blankets over the top and on the end walls. One of the ends has large barn doors which will allow us to drive vehicles right inside. The first step in the processes was to put together the steel frame, and then the blankets are pulled over the top. Given the size of the tent, and the height, windy conditions could make assembling the tent nearly impossible. Thankfully, we had very light winds all day. By 8pm, the arches, blankets, and doors were all assembled and the tent was ready for use.
Today, we will install a floor, heat, lights, and fans in the tent. The heaters should raise the temperature inside the tent by 10 or 20 C, making the work a little more bearable. The tent will also keep the vehicles and mechanics out of the wind, and give them a relatively clean and snow-free place to work. With this tent, we have about doubled the enclosed space at Camp Winter. This was a big milestone for us, as it allows us to progress on to the next phase: vehicle repair.
The new Workshop WeatherHaven tent is now the largest building at Camp Winter. Photo: John E. Guldahl/NPI
