Welcome to WAIS!

The Galley tent at WAIS. The Galley tent is the primary meeting place at WAIS as well as the most likely spot to find people.

We have made it to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide field camp. Tuesday was our fourth day of trying. When I went to bed Sunday evening I was fairly confident in the forecast that the flight would likely be cancelled on Monday. I was packed and ready to go but I didn't make any other final preparations and good-byes Sunday evening. The initial transport time was 7:15. I woke up at 6:15 AM to check the status of the flight. The flight was on a weather delay until transport at 3:15 PM. I went back to bed but quickly got up as fixed wing asked us to switch our afternoon Twin Otter flight to a morning flight. We had quick return visits to Vito AWS and Emilia AWS and we made it back in time for lunch. Shortly thereafter we were notified that our WAIS flight was cancelled. It was once again not too disheartening given that we were able to get out into the field and finish two more AWS sites that day.

Tuesday was set as the last day we would attempt to make it to WAIS. If not Tuesday, we felt it was getting too late in the field season for all of the effort to get to WAIS, nevertheless the potential of being stuck at WAIS for an extended period of time. I felt the forecast for Tuesday was borderline. It was not a given that we'd fly but it was also reasonable that we would be able to land. Add all of that up and for the first time since the initial attempt, five days earlier, I treated last night as if it would be my last night in McMurdo for awhile. This came in handy as I woke up at 5:15 AM for the 6:15 AM transport. The flight was still scheduled and on time. I cleaned, dressed in my cold weather gear, had a quick breakfast, and made it to the transport location by 6:15. Basically, everything from there went like clock work and we were on the 'herc' and in the air by 8:00 AM. We arrived at WAIS by 11:45 AM and the weather was great, albeit back to colder temperatures. One extra bonus is that I had a great time hanging out with friends late Monday night with an unplanned and unintentional sendoff party.

We are scheduled to be at WAIS for the next week to week and a half to finish our field season. I will do my best in the next week to describe what life is like at WAIS. To put it simply, it is truly Antarctica here. None of that McMurdo stuff.

The LC-130 "herc" ski-equipped military cargo plane that is the primary transport method for passengers and cargo around Antarctica. The LC-130 fleet is operation by the New York 109th Air Guard.

Being greeted by the WAIS camp staff immediately after arriving at WAIS and getting off of the herc.