Birthday Antarctica Style

Friday saw my birthday come and go on station, it doesn't matter where you are in the world, tradies can utilise anything to keep beer cool and the BBQ hot. On arriving back from SAR training, the workshop had been transformed into a Bar and Grill for the afternoon. With a selection of quality brewed beer from the Vestofold brewery (here on station and another blog!), quality station wine and champagne compliments of the boss, steaks, sausage sanga's and birthday cake, doesn't get much better than that. 

Thanks to all for your kind birthday wishes from home and on station,

 Some of the boy's preparing for the crowd,

 Catching up on the day's activities

 One thing there's no shortage of, snow combined with the bucket of a skid steer to keep the brew's cool.

Feasting part of life.

Another utilised part of equipment, the rear storage of the Polaris.

SAR Rock and sloping surfaces

This week saw more training in SAR, this time in rock and sloping surfaces which the Vestofolds is mainly consisted of. This was a a lot more difficult than I imagined, walking a stretcher with a patient over uneven unstable ground can be challenging. The training is being pushed through as the sea ice is now starting to get unstable to the point where all vehicle travel has been cancelled, except for SAR and training exercises. 

 Craig and Val ready for the day, all the gear is laid out on the tarp behind for easy access if required, these training sessions are undertaken to be as close as possible to a real situation.

These are called "nuts" they are used in cracks to tie off on, not so much in an SAR situation, more for rock climbing.

Finding the right area's can be challenging, especially if you were dangling 50m off the ground

View from the top of Plough island where we undertook the training, ice burgs in the rear around to the plateau.

 Adam and the Doc having a break.

 Preparing for a walking exercise, ensuring we were all aware of which ropes and techniques were required.

Belay and Mainline team, looking highly motivated.

 Birthday muffins in Antarctica.

 Our patient was Gav, one of the chefs who volunteered for the day, doc was the attendant, as more than likely she would be required to carry out the job in a real situation, couldn't have been too bad Gav fell asleep for the majority of the exercise.

Again the lower in this case, was undertaken in both a horizontal and vertical position to ascertain which would be most suitable.

Team Leader for the day Nick, I was unable to get any more photos as my skills were required with the majority of the excercise.

SAR Snow and Ice

SAR rescue training was undertaken last week, in this training we learn to recognise correct anchor points in snow and ice, should a rescue situation arise. The FTO had found a snow drift drop off on the Southern end of Plough island approx 6 k's from the Station, which was suitable for the training exercise, the day was overcast around -2, not bad considering where we are and no wind which was a bonus.

 The crew preparing for a big day out on the snow, surprisingly sun screen is essential you get fried from above and the reflection off the snow, it's not uncommon to get sunburn under your in your nostril's.

 We travelled out in hags and 2 x quads, the sea ice is starting to break up a bit won't be much longer and no travel will be allowed.

Discussion of what we were about to undertake,

View from the top of the drift

The gear we will be needing for the day, which includes mainline, Belay, snow anchors, rigging ropes various other pieces of equipment needed for a SAR exercise, all packed into back backs which in most cases we would have to carry as most rescue situations would be on foot.

 This is a 3 point anchor system in snow which we used for the mainline, (which is the main rescue rope)

 Val topping up on lip balm, Stu looking like he is after a gig in a fashion mag, PJ opening a snack bar.

 Another 3 point anchor, this time for the Belay line (backup rope for the mainline)

Drop off, this was about 12 meters to the bottom

Sarah was the attendant and the doc was the patient, this was undertaken to give the Doc an idea of what the patient would be going through in a rescue situation.

The patient was bought up both vertically and horizontally to give us an idea of which would be suitable.

Mainline team under instruction from the FTO, re rigging the system to a 9:1 for the lift, not normally used in this situation, more to show the differences in ratios

View of drop off, back across to the mainland.

Helicopter Incident

Unfortunately we had a Helicopter go down about 100 nautical miles from the station on Sunday the 2nd of December at 9.00pm local time. There was 2 x Heli's out on a scientific expedition to study an Emperor Penguin colony on the Amery shelf.

It is AAD policy that 2 x Heli's fly together at all times in case of an emergency so the 2nd heli can be utilised in a SAR situation.

The weather was fine with some high cloud and clear skies, all in a matter of minutes, the weather took a turn for the worst and they both decided to turn around and head back to the station. The heli in front radioed to the 2nd heli he was going to bank to the right, it was agreed and as he banked they flew straight into the ground. The probable cause at this point is poor definition of the ground due to the white out.

There was 2 x passengers an FTO (Field training officer), a scientist and a pilot on board, the second heli landed, it was crewed by one pilot and an FTO. After landing the 2nd heli, they were able to assist all injured parties, 2 x which had been thrown from the wreckage on impact and the other, the scientist who was still trapped inside the cabin.

The mayday call was received on station at around 9.10pm Sunday night, immediately a Bassler aircraft with the doctor and lay medical team were assembled and set off to the site it took approx: 1.5hrs until the plane was immobilised and on it's way, a pretty impressive response time for Antarctica. The Chinese and German's both offering assistance both ground and air support.

It searched the immediate area for suitable landing site to no avail, the accident had occurred in a well known creviced area, and the weather was still poor, with visibility low. After discussions with the on site party, who were warm and comfortable for the time being, it was decided that they would return to station and attempt a retrieval the next day.

The next day saw the weather still hadn't lifted, forecast was for clearing skies around mid morning. True to forecast the weather cleared and allowed a rescue to take place, this was undertaken with true professionalism and all involved on the station in some way from weather forecasting to carrying patients from the planes to waiting hags and into the medical facility here on the station.

The Doc and her lay medical staff had 24 hour watch over the patients until they were stabilised enough to be sent to Casey for evacuation to Hobart which took place on Wednesday last week.

All involved in the accident are expected to make a full recovery.

Travel Training

This week we undertook Travel Training, this is aimed at familiarisation of the area including more orienteering and GPS navigation and quad travel.

Day one:
We left station at 12.00 for Brookes Hut, lunch then onto Platcha Hut for the night, party consisted of Corey (Dieso), Stu (Comms), Judy (Doc), Anthea (FTO) and myself.
Platcha is located on the edge of the plateau under a glacier and is usually subject to high winds, the forecast was for high winds on the plateau 30-40 knots, decreasing on Thursday morning to 10-15 knots.
Luck would have it that the forecast was incorrect and the winds didn't eventuate to much more than about 10-15 knots which made it quite pleasant to take in the incredible views of the glacier.

Day two:
We headed out from the hut to undertake some local area sites and training in ice axe techniques, then it was off to the next site for the night further North along Tryne Fjord to the Woop Woop track up onto the Plateau then to the polar tent site.
The weather was fine with the sun and clear skies, some high cloud which, I'm led to believe, indicates the approach of a front. By the time we had reached the Plateau the weather had turned for the worse, definition was difficult and visibility had dropped to about 10 metres, the decision was made to discontinue travel to the Plateau and head back down to lower ground. By the time we had reached the Fjord again the weather had lifted and visibility was again restored, part of being in Antarctica.
We then proceeded to Snezhnny Bay to look at a melt pond which forms under the Glacier, this was a great sight to see, unfortunately with the fresh snow the ice was covered however according to Corey, the ice is really blue and reasonably clear, still a spectacular sight. Then off to the polar tent site, we reached the site just as the weather turned again, snowing and wind from the NE at around 30knots made the tent erection quite interesting, I must say there is not many times in your life you sit in a snow storm and cook your dinner, however mission accomplished, freeze dried lamb casserole, cup of soup and off to bed.

Day three:
Off to Bandits Hut for a look, located on the edge of a hill, with spectacular views back across to the Plateau then headed North again to Mikkelsen's cairn, Caroline Mikkelsen was the wife of a Norwegian whaling Captain the first female to visit Antarctica who landed there in 1935. Unfortunately the Adelie penguins are nesting on and around the island so access was not possible to the site, however there was still plenty of ice burgs and locals to investigate. We then wove our way back to Davis through the ice burgs on the sea ice arriving back at station at 3.00pm Friday, just in time for the bar to open.   

Group at bandits Hut.

 Some pedestrians along the way
















Corey being questioned by one of the locals

Anthea getting a better pic, up close and personal

 Quads ready to tackle another day

 Penguin rockery at Mikkelsen's Cairn

One of the ice burgs on the route back

This burg was pretty special, it's difficult to put into perspective the size of the burgs

Standing on the sea ice approx: 3k's off the coast line, we drilled here the ice was a consistent 1.5 to 1.6m in depth 

 

More pedestrians along the way

The Doc in a spot of bother, first day 3 k's from the base.

 Corey entertaining a group of Adelie's on the sea ice

 Quad travel across the sea ice is a very different experience

 Platcha hut

 Platcha hut, the Plateau is in the forground.

 Ready to leave on day 2 from Platcha

 View from the top of a hill near Platcha hut, back over Lake Bisemoye

 Stu making the most of the views over Lake Bisemoye

 Ice melt from the Glacier, near Lake Bisemoye

 Plateau in foreground, part of Snezhnny Bay

 Glacier in the foreground, Corey and Stu in front, gives you an indication of the height of the Glacier.

 Stu, Anthea, Doc and Corey dinner at the Polar tent site.

View up to Bandits hut.