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February 2008 Archives
February 29, 2008
Polar bears and how to dress for the Arctic winter…
It's -7 degrees today – but with the wind chill it manages to be -38 degrees, which explains why I felt so cold walking back this afternoon. With the recent snowfall and the strong winds the topsnow is blown up and around, making every nuance of the moving air visible. Caught by the dusk and the street lamps, with the wind moaning and whispering around us as we walk up the valley, it's very beautiful.
Continue reading "Polar bears and how to dress for the Arctic winter…" »
February 28, 2008
An Epic Day…
Today (February 27) was a day that can only be described as epic. For a start, I never thought I would appreciate a sunrise quite so much…
Continue reading "An Epic Day…" »
February 27, 2008
Feeling rough in the Drake Passage
On the evening of Thursday 21st February, we finally set sail from the Falklands for the Antarctic Peninsula on the British Antarctic Survey research ship RRS James Clark Ross. We all went up onto the Monkey Deck (directly above the Bridge) as we left Stanley very excited and eager to get to the open sea. I felt immensely happy as we finally cleared the headland and started heading south knowing that this was going to be the start of a trip of a lifetime.
Continue reading "Feeling rough in the Drake Passage" »
February 26, 2008
Snow scooter challenge…
The course is well underway and the daylight hours are getting longer and longer here. When we arrived the week before last, it was already dark at 2pm. But now we have light from 9am until about 4pm. And what amazing light!
Continue reading "Snow scooter challenge…" »
February 25, 2008
The most northerly... in the world
We've been here nearly two weeks now, and already it feels like we've been here a lot longer. I can hardly remember what it feels like to be able to walk outside without layering up to protect against frostbite, or to wander down the street without wading through deep snow. Seeing more snow scooters than cars already seem very normal and the sight of publicly-carried firearms is no longer surprising.
Continue reading "The most northerly... in the world" »
February 21, 2008
Excursion to a glacier
Damien Mansell
February 20 2008
We have started our lectures in the most northern University in the world. With the safety, Skidoo and rifle training behind us we started our four-week Glaciology course at UNIS. The first week is lead by Regina Hock from Fairbanks University Alaska, specialising in glacier mass balance, energy balance and melt modelling.
Continue reading "Excursion to a glacier" »
February 21, 2008
A different perspective on glaciology!
Adam Booth
February 20 2008
Hi again! Monday saw the start of the course here – we’ve had a couple of days of lectures but today was our first field excursion. We headed out to Scott Turnerbreen (‘breen’ means glacier – this one is named for an American mining pioneer, apparently) a glacier around 40 minutes away from the university centre by snowscooter.
Continue reading "A different perspective on glaciology!" »
February 20, 2008
Arrival in the Falklands
Benedict Reinardy
February 19 2008
I am now writing to you from the windy Falklands. My journey south started with an overnight flight from RAF Brize Norton to the Ascension Islands on a DC10 (other popular tourist destinations one can fly to from Brize Norton include Basra and Kabul!).
Continue reading "Arrival in the Falklands" »
February 20, 2008
An incredible week!
Dean Wood
19 February 2008
So, we have made the first week in one piece. It has been an incredible week, I've shot a rifle (something I thought I would never do), ridden snowmobiles and been skiing pretty much every day.
Continue reading "An incredible week!" »
February 20, 2008
Scooters in the snow
Jenny Bradley
February 15 2008
Today is snow-scooter day! I think it's about -12 degrees C though I imagine it'll be colder when we're moving on scooters. It was very windy in the morning, kinda cool though; it took the loose surface snow and blew it across the road in front of us as we were walking down towards UNIS. Tiny bumps and pieces of snow and ice on the surface where the snow met the road meant the blown snow was split so it looked like the road was covered in a river of ghostly writhing snakes, very cool and surreal.
Continue reading "Scooters in the snow" »
February 20, 2008
Showcase of a beautiful landscape
Damien Mansell
15 February 2008
My first glimpse out of the aeroplane window at 78 degrees was definitely not one of any disappointment. The wind swept waters of the ocean met the snow covered coast with stark contrast which disappeared into a white haze towards the horizon.
Continue reading "Showcase of a beautiful landscape" »
February 15, 2008
Polar night skiing and the Aurora Borealis
08.29hrs, February 13, 2008
It’s my first morning here in the barrack house of Ny-Byen, 40 minutes walk from the UNIS Centre in Svalbard. We arrived yesterday, around 2pm, and night time was just starting after the smooth, red sunset that we saw from the plane.
Continue reading "Polar night skiing and the Aurora Borealis" »
February 14, 2008
“Hello from 78 degrees North!” says Adam Booth
So, we arrived, safe and sound – though pretty tired and in need of a bed to replace the floor of an airport departure lounge!
Continue reading "“Hello from 78 degrees North!” says Adam Booth" »
February 14, 2008
Swansea students go Pole to Pole
On February 11, Swansea University Environment PhD students Adam Booth, Alessio Gusmeroli, Damien Mansell, and Nick Selmes and Engineering MRes students Jenny Bradley and Dean Wood swapped Wales for the Arctic island of Svalbard.
Continue reading "Swansea students go Pole to Pole" »
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