Weekends in McMurdo

Weekends in McMurdo are very short. It is a 6-day work week and for most of the contract workers, they are 10-hour days (scientists are on their own schedule/days/hours). The weekend is then from Saturday evening through all day Sunday. With such a concentrated weekend there are often slight changes to the schedule and rules. For example, wine and beer are allowed in the galley (dining hall) for dinner on Saturday. There are two bars in McMurdo and the bars are open later (midnight) on Saturday nights. Instead of breakfast served from 4:30-7:30AM and lunch from 11:00AM-1:00PM there is a single extended brunch from 10:00AM-1:00PM. For many people, brunch on Sunday is their favorite meal and it is often the one that has the greatest variety and preferred options.

Different serving lines in the Galley for Sunday brunch.

Eating, hanging out and talking with friends during Sunday brunch in the Galley.

With only one-day weekends, as well as being fairly physically confined during the work week, effort is made each weekend to get people out and doing things. Oftentimes, there are special annual traditions that happen throughout the year on Sundays. For example, there is "Ice Stock" each year, which is a Sunday filled with outdoor music performances done by people living in McMurdo. There is also an annual 5K-ish race in January. However, since this is my first time down so early in the field season, I am not real certain as to the activities that happen at this time of the year. There was a station-wide Halloween party this past Saturday night at the Big Gym. I went to the Halloween party for about an hour and a half with some friends. The costumes were a mixture of creative ideas put together from unclaimed clothing and cardboard boxes to some costumes that were fairly elaborate and brought down for this one night.

The entrance to the Big Gym for Saturday night's Halloween party.

Inside the gym at the Halloween party.

Beyond the special events, every Sunday also includes a range of social and recreation activities available to people. The Chapel of Snows is in McMurdo and it holds a non-denominational service every Sunday morning. There is the Ross Island Trail System, which includes about a half-dozen hikes ranging from one mile to 10 miles. You have to attend a safety lecture (once a year), file a hiking plan, and carry a radio with you on the longer hikes. There are also often special hikes or tours that are available on Sundays. Lastly, about 2 miles away from McMurdo is Scott Base, the New Zealand Antarctic station. Scott Base is a fraction of the size of McMurdo, with approximately 85 people in the summer. One of the only things that USAP participants can do, without an invite, is to go to the Scott Base store. As a part of my Sunday afternoon, I stopped in at the store yesterday.

Chapel of the Snows

Walking into the store at Scott Base.

Another weekly Sunday activity is the Sunday Science Lecture that is held in the Galley. The Sunday Science Lecture is designed to share some of the details and results of the active science projects with the larger community. The lecture last night was on a robotic exploration that is being done beneath the Ross Ice Shelf searching for different forms of life. The efforts that are being done here will be used as a model for possible future efforts in the Solar System, including Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. In addition to the Sunday lecture, there is a Wednesday science lecture that is more focused at the scientific community. Dave and I will be presenting "Telling Antarctic Meteorology Stories: From Observations to Modeling" at this Wednesday's science lecture.

Sunday evening science lecture in the Galley.

Lastly, the temperatures have remained in the range of -5F to +9F. We have not reached double-digits yet. We had a helicopter flight on Saturday cancelled due to low clouds at the site, White Island. Today, all flight operations (helicopter and fixed wing) were cancelled due to overcast, light snow, and windy conditions in the area.