Images of

ANTARCTICA

Bomb

Photos © 2002 Seth White

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During the field season, the Erebus team had nearly constant bad weather. During most of the season, all of them were camped at the Lower Erebus Hut, near the crater at the top of the mountain. Not only was the weather bad enough up there that for many days they stayed indoors completely, but this also caused their planned helicopter flights (to work on various sites around the mountain) to be severely delayed. So after they arrived back at McMurdo from their camp, they had planned to do a few more flights to clean up some loose ends at several sites. Weather again was a problem, and they were not able to fly before they left station. One member of the team, Beth Bartel, stayed on station to do this GPS work. So before they left, they asked if I could join her to help out with work at various sites. Well, I again checked my busy schedule, and decided that yeah, I could fit that in! And thankfully my management approved the excursion...so off we went. On this particular day we flew to Bomb Peak...so named due to the many lava bombs that are scattered around there. We then went to the Three Sisters site (see separate page for those pics). This is me, on the way there, enjoyin' the good life. I don't think it would be possible for me to ever get blase about Antarctic flying in a helicopter. During this flight and the previous trip to Hoopers Shoulder, the weather was absolutely gorgeous. I have actually had great weather every time that I've been off-station. Which is lucky, because this summer has been a relatively cold, windy, and dreary season compared to recent years.

We flew over several heavily crevassed areas, where the glaciers get disrupted and crack on their way down the slopes of Erebus.
Another crevassed slope. Nice to look at, but you wouldn't want to go trudging around here unless you knew what you were doing. Dying in a crevasse seems to me to be one of the worst possible ways to go....
The mountain.
Approaching the Bomb site. The landing zone was downhill from the seismic site.
An insulated box, containing the GPS receiver and radio. The purpose of our trip here was to install a GPS antenna, wire up power to the system from the battery banks, and get the system sending data back to McMurdo.
This is Beth Bartel, getting a rock to secure a cable near the antenna.
Antenna mast at the Bomb site, with a solar panel. The little fan is a wind generator, which got its blades ripped out, presumably from debris borne by the severe winds. The new wind generators at the broadband seismic sites ought to function a little better.
Barry James, ace helicopter pilot. At the Bomb site and the Three Sisters site, we had close support - which means the helicopter stays with you while you work. So he hung out for a while. Beth and I (with generous help from Barry) got the GPS systems installed here and at Three Sisters quite efficiently, and with a minimum of trouble. Nice weather always helps.
Barry and the A-Star. The A-Star is a great machine. I haven't flown in the 212, the other main type of helo used at McMurdo.
Mount Terror, as seen from Bomb. This is an extinct volcano due East of Mount Erebus.
In helicopter safety training, they tell you to always approach the aircraft from the downhill side. This is why. There are a lot of things to remember when moving around the aircraft - whether it's running or not. Some things are obvious - like stay away from the tail rotor, but there are other little things as well. Such as the little antenna which sticks out from the nose....you could easily walk by and snap that thing off. The main thing to keep in mind is that although it's loud and windy, to just relax, take your time, and think about what you're doing.
Barry, clearly demonstrating again why one would not want to be standing here if the blades were turning.
The Bomb site, as seen from a helo on the way to the Lower Erebus Hut.