Icebreaker Oden

The Oden with Hut Point in the foreground

The Swedish icebreaker Oden has arrived. It comes in January every year to break the ice so that the tanker and the cargo vessel can get in and unload. I was too lazy to go out and take pictures, but my friend Jenny Brower took these very nice shots.

The tanker and the vessel only come once a year, so it is a big deal. We do get some cargo by airplane, but most of it is on the ships. A huge amount of cargo comes in, and then a huge amount of garbage, etc. goes out.

I am leaving tomorrow for the BYRD deep field camp. it is another flat, white place in the middle of nowhere. Myself and about six other carps will be closing down the camp. Byrd is an old camp that was last active there maybe eight years ago. The original camp which was built underground, or under snow, is still there maybe 75 feet below, although it is slowly being crushed by the weight of the ice and snow. They don't let you go down there because it is too dangerous. Anyway the entrance is buried under probably twenty feet of snow.

The Oden at the Ice Pier with McMurdo station in the background. The pier is literally achunk of ice covered with a layer of gravel.