Back, what seems like many moons ago, I had the most amazing opportunity to live and work at a field camp in Western Antarctica. It was a dream come true. . . one that I had no idea I wanted to experience. WAIS stands for West Antarctic Ice Sheet and is as flat as it looks, it is almost a mile above sea level. Researchers have been working on this ice core drilling project for about 10 years now and this season they had a very successful one, as the hole was drilled to its final depth of 3405 m.
Hands down going to WAIS was the highlight of the last four months here. Among new friends, I washed dishes, slept in a mountain tent, almost got buried in my mountain tent (having to kick myself out at 2 am), abandoned my tent, experienced REAL Antarctic storms, peed in a bottle, shoveled snow to drink and shower with. I indulged in Kody’s energy bars, drank coffee as thick as motor oil, ate home-made bagels, icecream!, and drank scotch out of an ice core glass that was over 100,000 yrs old from Taylor Glacier. Christmas was celebrated (the first time away from my family) with a group of about 40 people, road bikes, did cartwheels in the snow, grilled outside, relaxed in a man made hot tub -got out and rolled in the snow, laughed a lot and breathed in deep as I relished every moment and the beautiful white surroundings, realizing how blessed this life of mine has been.
On to some of my favorite shots.
