WINTERING?Hello All: Below is a compilation of all of your suggestions to next years crew on what to bring.Mike
As a winterover, what special items should I bring to South Pole? Compiled from the 95-96 Winterover crew. Please remember that these are suggestions only. Pick and choose as you like, but remember that space is at a premium here.
CLOTHING***FROM CDC -Two pairs of all issue clothing (one pair of everything has to be stored in the Blue Building during the winter in case the dome goes up in flames).
Note: There are extra clothing supplies at Pole, but there are no guarantees that your size is here. So, get everything in Christchurch at the CDC while you can and only rely on the stock at Pole in case you need a replacement of something.
-Polarfleece pants (You have to ask for them specifically at the CDC when they issue clothing for you, but they are so comfy and worth it).
-Mittens (The leather gloves are nice for summer, but you need mittens for the winter).
-Clear lenses (at least 2, you'll need the clear lenses after the sun goes down), and either yellow or dark lenses (depending on your summer preference) for your Carrera or Smith goggles. Make sure they give you the right kind for your brand of goggles. And, get Smith goggles if you can...they are better.
FROM HOME -Costumes for Halloween, special outfits for holidays, anything weird to dress up in to liven up parties, and one outfit that is nice (suit, dress, pants/nice shirt). The nice outfit is for formal dinners or other special occasions. Also, most people dress for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve.
-A swimsuit in case they open the hot tubs in the summer. The hot tubs are the tanks of water that PICO uses to store and heat water for their drilling in the ice.
-Extra tennis shoes (if you plan to work out or wear them a lot).
-Clothing hangers (just a few).
-Sewing kit and patches for clothing. If something wears out you can't just run down to your local store to get more. Your local store is about 3,000 miles a way.
-UGG boots or felt slippers (you will want shoes that are comfortable to wear, but that won't slide out from under you on the ice).
-Here are a couple of things I would add, include in dress wear a tie, I really enjoy seeing the guys with a tie and shirt, makes it seem festive.
-If you have problems getting clothes that fit you may have problems with the issue clothing. I am 5 ft. tall and the Men's gear at CDC never fits me properly. So, bring your own thermal underwear. If you are working inside you may only need a couple of pairs.
-Bring jeans or other comfortable pants. I have a couple of pairs of Polarfleece 100 pants that are great for lounging around in.
-If you like to exercise, bring some workout clothes...including a windbreraker jacket for walks outside. Windbreakers weren't issued to Pole folks last year. The down Parkas are too heavy for long walks or cross-country skiing.
-Bring something nice to wear for Thanksgiving and Christmas. A nice shirt and pants..or a skirt. Its great to get out of Carhartts and Polarfleece for a day. Although anything goes down here and you will see plenty of folks in Carhartts at the dinner table.
-Bring a pair of sweatpants or other comfortable pants to lounge around in on Sundays. Also, bring some clothes to stash. It is nice to pull out clothes at mid-winter that you haven't been wearing all year.
-If you will be working outside in the winter...cargo, trades, comms, scientists, then bring your own extra neck gaitor or face mask. The issued gear won't cut it.
-I think that it is a good idea to bring your own set of capilene REI (or whatever company) long underwear, so that you can be sure you have at least one set that fits. Especially if you are a girl because (of course) all of our tax money goes to buy clothes for the boys and that leaves us to put up with the "weenie-thing" in the trousers. -Bring a couple extra set of clothes to put into your emergency bags that go into the Blue building. That way you aren't always short of cloths during the winter. TOILETRIES
-Toothbrushes, extra soap, and plenty of toiletries. If there isn't going to be an air-drop then make sure that you bring enough to last the whole year. Bring a couple extra toothbrushes because the ones in the store are big enough to choke a horse.
-Bring your own toiletries...especially if you are allergic to anything. The store has a limited supply...very limited.
-Bring plenty of skin moisturizer. I found living in the summer camp Jamesways very dry. The buildings under the dome aren't so bad. I had a water bottle, Carmex and hand lotion beside my bed all the time.
-You can get vitamins and aspirin from Biomed, but I still bring my own favorites. I also bring Alka Seltzer. Biomed has none. The food may be different from what you are used to. It is wonderful and there is alot...easy to over eat :(
-Bring your own favorite over-the-counter medications. It is not likely that the medical facility will have what you want.
-Extra fingernail clipper, lots of people loose theirs and there are none to buy.
-If you wear glasses, make sure that you bring an extra pair. If you break your only pair during the winter, you're out of luck. FOR YOUR ROOM
-Alarm clock (mechanical or with battery backup).
-Bring a battery operated alarm clock. There may be a power outage which screws up the settings on an electric clock. I have been late for work a few times because of this. I also had a hard time knowing what time of day it was (morning or night). This year I bought a Timex Indiglo watch that has a 24 hour feature. If I wake up in the middle of the night/day I can just use the Indiglo light to see what time it is. This has been VERY helpful.
-Humidifier. This doesn't have to be very big (the rooms aren't that big to begin with). But something that will pump moisture into the air for about 12 hours straight without running out of water. I use the one I have only when I sleep. It helps me to sleep better and I don't wake up with my mouth and nose all dried out.
-Clip-on reading lamp to place within easy reach while laying in bed.
-Power Strip (if you bring a lot of things that need power).
-Bring a poster to put on the wall of your room.
-Bring your own sheets (maybe a comforter) from home. The plain white issued sheets are fine for the summer, but if you are staying the whole year, you may want to personalize your room a bit more. Flannel is nice! On the subject of personalizing your room, bring pictures and posters and silk flowers, etc. What ever you want to decorate your room. Also bring a calendar with scenic photos to put on your wall.
-For the cold blooded, in case you a get cold room a hot water bottle good to warm the bed and feet.
-"Neil suggested bringing sleeping bags instead of dealing with" regular bedding. What do you think and do most people do this? Quite a few folks bring sleeping bags, if only to use as a comforter. If you get down here and want to use sheets, there are plenty on station.
ENTERTAINMENT -Anything that you think would make a party better.
-As much music as you can possibly carry. Tapes from the radio are excellent. You will get tired of listening to the same thing over and over.
-VCR tapes of your favorite TV shows. You might want someone to be taping some shows for you during the summer and send them to you right before station closing.
-Blank cassette tapes. So that you can tape other peoples music, especially a summer persons music.
-Blank VCR tapes (you will want a copy of your own winter-over video).
-Compact CD/Tape player for your own room or office.
-TV/VCR for your room (some people sell their TV/VCR, so you may be able to purchase these items once you get to the ice). Not everyone has their own tv/vcr in their room. Usally you can find one of the stations TV's not being used.
-We have a good size video library and plenty of TV's and VCR's throughout the station. You may want to bring a tape deck or something to listen to music. Bring your own music and maybe some blank tapes.
-If you are into arts and crafts or other personal projects, bring some small project to work on. Ther isn't alot of free time, but it is nice to have something to work on just in case. A lot of people bring down loads of hobby stuff and never get to a lot of it. CAMERAS AND OTHER PERSONAL EQUIPMENT
-Day Pack (used in some jobs a lot to carry around tools and supplies). Aslo good for the carrying stuff between summer camp and the Dome, incase you want to workout in the gym or weight room or use the sauna.
-24-hour watch with a light (Timex Indiglow is a good example). You can't tell by looking outside if it is AM or PM.
-Extra batteries for everything (rechargeables are recommended, and bring a charger). Especially if you have something that takes and odd sized battery.
-A good camera (you need a slow shutter speed to capture the auroras).
-A small 35MM camera with a flash for indoor shoots.
-Along with camera, film, some in 64 or 100 asa for the summer and then 400 and maybe even 1600 for the auroras. Black and white nice to get shots of snow in black and white. Bring all the film you think you might need. If we have any film, it is probably expired. Bring lots of films...all different speeds. You will have the bright light of the summer (bring a Polarizing filter) and the blackness of winter as well as lots of indoor shots during parties. Also bring back-up batteries for camera and flash unit. The cold dry air really runs the batteries down quickly. We have a darkroom if you are into developing film yourself.
-Leatherman tool or Swiss Army knife (especially if you are a technician or in a trade). HOLIDAYS
-A gift to exchange at Christmas. What they do is put all the gifts on a table. A person can either take from the pile of from someone who had already picked a gift. This continues until everyone has a gift. This can be quite entertaining.
-Bring a present for the Christmas gift exchange. Interesting t- shirts are very popular targets as well as any handknit items. AFTER ICE (STUFF FOR RIGHT AFTER GETTING OFF OF THE ICE)
-Driver's license and credit cards that don't expire before you leave the ice and finish your travels. Check with your credit card company to find out how long do they wait to cancel a credit card if there hasn't been any activity on it. One of last years winterovers got off the ice to find out that his card had been cancelled due to no activity on it for a year. It took him a little explaining to get another card. In the mean time (of about a day before he got his replacement card) he only had the money on him.
-ATM or credit card PIN #s. Remember to keep the PIN numbers separate from your cards. But due to lack of use, you may forget what your PIN is and not be able to pull money from an ATM machine once you hit Christchruch.
-$50 Kiwi money so you have cash when you hit New Zealand again - you might get in at night (cab fare, etc.)!
-If you are into travelling and plan to travel when you get off the ice, bring your own travel books to drool over during the winter. "Lonely Planet" guides are excellent.
-Sunglasses (for when you get off the ice)!
MID-WINTER -Have someone send down sometime before station closing a bunch of magazines to be opend for mid winter. So even if no airdrop, you have new reading material.
-If you aren't going to be having an air-drop, then have friends and family send down letters and packages that you can open during the winter. Having little crazy things to play with and laugh at sure is nice when things begin to get dull down here.
MISCELLANIOUS SUGGESTIONS AND INFORMATION -Use collapsable luggage if you can. There isn't much extra room to put things in your room. Once you are under the Dome you can but stuff on the roof of Upper Berthing but whatever the tempature outside is, that will be how cold your stuff is on the roof.
-Remember that space is at a premimum for your room so you have to consider carefully what to bring. Also once station closes, if you forgot something esential then you're going to have to learn to live without it for 9 months.
-Personal things that you like. For example, there is a tub (a small tub but a tub) in BIOMED, so if you like taking baths, bring some bubbles (bubble bath helps keep the heat in the water and is a good way to pamper yourself). Or, if you like soft socks, bring your own, especially Polarfleece socks.
-Fragrances (oils, perfumes, etc.). A couple of those rings that set on light bulbs and you place a drop or so of your fragrance oil on the ring and then turn on the light to let the heat from the light fill your room with the smell of your choice. Eucalyptus oil is popular in the sauna and in humidifiers. You will be surprised at how much you miss your favorite smells!
-Telephone calling card (AT&T works best).
-Don't bring books..we have two libraries here...definitely meeting all tastes. If you do bring books, once you are done with them you can place them on the shelves for anyone else to read. This way you will have less stuff to take back with you.
-We have a postal service so you don't need to bring stamps, but do bring stationary. Also, I bring Christmas cards to send out during the holidays. We don't have any Christmas cards at the station store.
-You can have more weight in your luggage on the commercial flights than on the military flights to McMurdo and South Pole. I suggest you bring as much as possible with you on the plane to NZ and then use the Internal Delivery Service to mail your excess gear to Pole. It is free. You will save yourself the hassle of mailing things from the States. Since mail is last priority on the military flights, it is possible that it will take three weeks to receive your gear from CHCH, but at least you will get it. Sometimes packages get lost through the US mail to South Pole.
-If you do mail stuff from the States, do it thru the Post Office, they understand what an FPO address is. A couple of people (in the past) have been charged way to much from those mail drop places and had to go back after they got off the Ice to get a refund on a big chunk what was paid.
-The crew is expected to volunter to cook Sunday meals during the winter, so bring your favorite recipes.
-TRY EVERYTHING ON AT THE CDC WHEN GETTING FITTED FOR YOUR COLD WEATHER GEAR. ONCE YOU GET TO THE ICE YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO GET A REPLACEMENT OF THE RIGHT SIZE.
-When the CDC tell you to keep a set of street clothes in your carry on baggage, do it. Once your stuff if palatized for the plane, you can't get at it until you reach McMurdo. It is not uncommon for one reason or another for a plane to be delayed from anywhere from several hours to a few days. There have been people who didn't put anything into their carry on bag and the flight got canncelled for a day or so. So they were walking around Christchurch during that time in the clothes that they had on.
-"What is the mailing address for summer? (We may get Christmas cards printed.) The address is the same as it was last year....I think.
your name, ASA c/o South Pole Station Box 400 PSC 469 FPO AP 96598-5400
----W-A-R-M--G-R-E-E-T-I-N-G-S--F-R-O-M--T-H-E--S-O-U-T-H--P-O-L-E---- |/| Michael Slack |/| The programmer at the top of the world. |/| slackmi@cyprus.spole.gov ----- slackmi.asa@asa.org ( )