Despite having pretty low goals for my blogging this season, I’m a bit disappointed by my performance. Here are a few ideas for posts that I haven’t made:

  • How sleds work. We pulled a few dozen tonnes of supplies across the Ross Ice Shelf, and those supplies rode on sleds. The five main sleds we towed were of two basic types: slippery (aka magic carpets), and rigid. There are some (maybe) interesting variations between the rigid sleds, and some (maybe) interesting techniques involved in working with them, which might’ve made for a good post or two.
  • A day on traverse. Just a log of a day in the life, with a few photos and maybe links out to more thorough posts.
  • Toilets in the field. My last post from the ice was about food, here’s the other side of the coin!
  • Flags. Bamboo and polyester(?) flags are ubiquitous in Antarctica, justifying a post on different types and usages. I’m sure others have covered the different colours and what they mean in blog posts, but how about the different flags used for flight operations? The yellow flags of yore? Is the traverse route worth flagging? Using dead flags as packing material?
  • Banjo. I picked up banjo on a previous Antarctic deployment, and I took a very nice one (a Tui, made by my friend Don) along for the traverse. Thoughts on instruments for this sort of adventure. May be time for one of those fancy composite cases!
  • Turkey Trot. Back at Scott Base after the traverse, I joined in a 5k fun run hosted by folks at McMurdo station.
  • Comparing station/roles/programs. I’ve been lucky to go to the Ice in a few different capacities, this was my third deployment over a nearly 20-year span. Thoughts on the differences and similarities across the various dimensions.
  • GPR equipment and software. Although I started a post on Ground Penetrating Radar, that was quite early in my experience with it. The post could be improved with a diagram/animation or two, and more detail on the hardware/software we used.
  • Crevasses. Where do they occur, what do we do when we encounter one, etc.
  • Polar contracting as a job. How does an Antarctic deployment fit with life off the ice; finances, relationships, uncertainty.
  • Berms. What/why/how longer term storage is done in Antarctica.
  • Burning fuel for climate change research. Traversing like we did to set up the KIS3 camp is far more fuel-efficient than flying would have been, however the fuel used is put on display in the fuel bladders we towed…