Journal Entry # 4

October 26-27, 2001

Summary: Field Survival Training, aka 'Happy Camper School'

       Finally this weekend I got out of McMurdo!!!  I got to travel out to the McMurdo Ice Shelf and participate in a field safety training course (here in Antarctica we just call it Happy Camper School).  The whole idea behind Happy Camper School is to prepare anyone who's going to the field for survival situations they might have to face.  It's not meant to be a rough weekend, in fact it's the exact opposite.  Most people that go out to Happy Camper School love it, it's the highlight of their season.
       We started off our weekend on Friday morning in a classroom going over cold weather medicine, but soon we piled into a Delta transport and were off for our camp.  The Delta that we took was huge with tires easily six feet tall.  It easily took all nine students and our instructor Chris out to the field.
       Once we reached our camp we had another indoor class, this time going over stoves and other tools like VHF and HF radios.  After a quick break for lunch we dressed back up and headed into the cold to set up our camp.
       The first task in setting up our camp was to put up our Scott tent.  These big yellow tents are great for large groups and performing tasks like cooking.  Later that night when it came time to cook and eat, we had all nine students, plus three stoves in the Scott tent and it wasn't that uncomfortable.  After setting up the Scott tent we practiced making a windbreak.  To make a windbreak we used three foot long bow saws to cut into the snow and take out blocks.  The windbreak was made by simply building up a wall with snow blocks. 
       Once we had created a rectangle area surrounded by our windbreak, we set up two Sierra Design mountaineering tents, which are apparently very commonly used in the field.  Once we'd set these tents up, our instructor cut us loose and we were own our own for making dinner, which I already said we did in the Scott tent. 
       After dinner we ventured off into old Happy Camper camps that were filled with old windbreaks and other creations of snow.  The greatest thing was a chessboard made out of snow.  Everything was perfect down to the very last pawn.  My friend Troy and I got plenty of pictures pretending to play.  Another creation we found was a Quinze, which is a primitive igloo formed by piling bags on the ground and then covering that with snow.  After the baggage is completely covered, one person digs into the ground and back up into the Quinze where they pull out the bags to find a snow shelter perfect for sleeping two.  One of my classmates, Geoffrey and I decided this would be an awesome place to sleep, so we slept there that night.
       The next morning we woke back up and broke down camp.  We went back into the classroom with our instructor to talk about how everyone slept.  Most were warm enough, but the two that slept in the Scott tent said it was pretty cold.  Upon returning to McMurdo, we concluded our weekend training with two safety videos.  One was one helicopter safety and the other on environmental protocol in the Dry Valleys. 
       The weekend was fabulous and all my classmates were great people.  I am sorry to see it's over, but now it's time for a warm shower and dinner in the galley.