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Team 2 - Ready to go
Team 2 has been busy the past few days in McMurdo. Instruments have been checked, cases packed, extra food and clothing put into the cargo system; and we are even engaged in rigorous training for the grueling mission ahead – skiing and sauna-ing relentlessly.
Last night we took a short trip around historic Cape Armitage (Scott and Shackleton rounded this Cape each time they ventured south towards the pole) and into a large area of pressure ridges near New Zealand’s Scott base. It was a beautiful evening, just a few degrees below freezing, with a light breeze from the south. As the lone American in Team 2, I can tell you that keeping up with Norwegian and Finnish skiers is no picnic; but I did beat them to the McMurdo pub afterwards by a good margin. I know most of you had your money riding on me for that last leg of the trip.
Team 2 is looking ahead eagerly to the visit to South Pole, as most of us have never been there. But more than the visit to a unique place on earth, we are anticipating the challenge of getting the traverse configured with all the gear and instruments we have brought, so that it becomes a rolling laboratory, a kind of ground-based satellite sensor system (and airborne as well – with our UAV system), recording everything we can about this unexplored part of the Antarctic Plateau we are about to cross.
We are scheduled to fly out to Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station on Friday, the day after the traverse team arrives. If all goes well…
Kirsty exploring the pressure ridges by Scott Base. Photo: Ole Tveiten.
