My First Steps on My Last Continent

The 5.5-hour flight from Christchurch, New Zealand to Antarctica gave me plenty of time to reflect on my selfish intentions of setting foot on my last continent. After taking my obligatory tourist photos with the pilots in the cockpit, I convinced the air sergeants to give me a full tour of the plane. The Boeing C-17 Globemaster is the size of half a football field. Utilized in the 1990’s for transporting military troops and supplies all over the world, the C-17’s now live at McChord Base in Washington State.  (I got really excited when I saw my last name misspelled all over the plane). The National Science Foundation now uses these planes to deploy grantees (scientists), Air National Guard, and contractors (Me) to and from Antarctica during the summer months.

“We are about to touch down to Antarctica. Everyone put on your ECW Gear” (Extreme Cold Weather Gear)

This is it! Just be cool, and pretend you know what you are doing. After a smooth landing on the sea ice runway of Pegasus Field, the C-17 hatch opened, and we slowly disembarked from the belly of the plane.

The sensation I felt as I erupted from that hatch and took my first clear breath of crisp, dry Antarctic air can only be compared to the first full breath a baby takes after leaving the birthing canal….It was HORRIBLE.

I was a 31-year-old baby who had just been turned up-side-down and slapped in the butt by the frozen hand of Dr. Antarctica. No wonder babies are grumpy right after birth. Entering a new breathing environment is wretched. Those first 5 seconds on that continent made me want to turn around and re-enter that warm, inviting womb of the C-17 and fly back to New Zealand. I felt like I had just swallowed my mother’s pin cushion, and I was cranky. After all, I made contact with the ground of Antarctica….that counts right? Now I can l leave Antarctica.

But as I swiveled 360 degrees to assess this icy, white kingdom, I felt like Lucy in The Chronicles of Narnia. I knew I had to step deeper through this magical wardrobe and explore the wonders of this new world….( Plus I heard a rumor that there was hot pizza waiting for us at McMurdo Station).

So I stayed…