Many people ask what I wear when I'm working in Antarctica. Luckily, the United States Antarctic Program (
USAP) provides warm clothes for everyone who is traveling to the ice for the U.S. Everyone headed to MCM has to stop at the CDC in CHC and check in with the USAP, where they are issued their ECW. People use lots of acronyms down here... MCM is Mactown, or
McMurdo Station. The CDC is the clothing distribution center, which is located in Christchurch (CHC), a city in New Zealand.
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| ECW = Extreme Cold Weather gear |
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| Bunny boots |
Essential clothing items in Antarctica include the Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear. My ECW includes a big red parka with my name on it... this jacket is appropriately called "Big Red." ECW also includes hats, ski goggles, a balaclava, gloves, wind pants, and bunny boots. Bunny boots are white rubber boots that are really warm, really big, and quite difficult to walk around in. We are required to wear our ECW, or have it close at hand, whenever we traveling to/from Antarctica, or traveling around on the continent. I also brought some of my own clothing, like my favorite wind-proof fleece and hiking boots, which are more comfortable, but not quite as warm.
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| My "Big Red" from 2010 |
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| Me (left) and Adam (right) in the Clothing Distribution Center in Christchurch , NZ at the beginning of the 2011-2012 field season |
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| Hats and gloves provided by the USAP |
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| Wind proof pants and long-underwear |
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2 comments:
Dear Eric:
This is Mrs. Radner's fourth grade class, the "new", "improved" fourth grade class. In other words, we were third graders last year and we didn't visit your blog.
We just went online and saw your blog. We didn't realize that you had already left for Antarctica. We would like to know why it took two whole days to get from the United States to Antarctica. What were the various legs of the flight? How long was the trip from the United States to New Zealand and then from New Zealand to Antarctica? We studied "challenges" in class. What would you say is the biggest challenge you have faced so far travelling to Antarctica? We think that perhaps you were bored to be on that airplane for such a long time. We were also wondering how many people were on that plane, and if it was a 'regular' flight, or if it was a 'special' flight only for people to Antarctica, which is what we think. We plan to follow your adventures through Antarctica. I will show our new class your pictures from last year so we have an idea of what you will be involved in in Antarctica.
Much success in your scientific experiments!
Mrs. Radner's Fourth Grade Class
Hi Mrs. Radner's new Fourth Grade Class,
Thank you so much for writing to me and asking such great questions. I answered some of your questions in a new blog entry (above).
There are definitely some challenges in traveling such a long way. It is difficult to sit still for so long. Especially on a flight that is 14 hours, after already having been on flights that were 1 and 6 hours. I brought books and science papers to read on an eReader. This is the first year I have traveled with an eReader and it is really nice to be able to carry so many books in such a small device. I also listened to music and slept as much as I could.
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