Whiteout at 45 mph

Imagine whiteness. Look left: white. Look right: white. Up. Down. The same flat, featureless white. What's going on? Either you're a character in Jose Saramago's novel Blindness, or you're on a snowmobile trip through a snowstorm. I recommend both (thanks to Jaime for the book loan, and thanks to James for the boondoggle opportunity).

"Boondoggle" is the Antarctican term for a trip with no point but to have fun and raise morale, distributed by supervisors for good behavior. Mine consisted of a snowmobile trip partway up Mount Erebus, to a location renowned for its incredible view of McMurdo Sound and the Royal Society Range.

As you can see, the view that day was unfortunately monochromatic, but it was quite an experience nonetheless: the snowy landscape, overcast sky, and driving snow combine to wash out your entire field of vision. Even the horizon disappears, making earth and sky indistinguishable. Of course, the best part was the ride: having creeped around at the 15 mph speed limit for three months, it was quite a thrill to tear through driving snow at nearly highway speed.

An added bonus was yet another form of transportation to add to the list. The Hägglunds is an articulated arctic all-terrain vehicle developed for the Swedish army. It brought us out to the snowmobile depot, but is used primarily to transport science teams out into the field.


All the best,
pepe