RWSE Day 16: VB … Heli to Continent

Our turn to fly came around 2:30p. Since I had not been co-pilot yet, when the helicopter lifted off, I was in front seat for the ride out. The continent was about 9 NM from Ortelius, which gave us extended flightseeing time each way.

It was a fantastic ride, flying in part over open water trimmed with fast ice on one side and decorated with icebergs … some of which were frozen in. Leads — big and small — were evidence of break-ups in the ice … but mostly the wide expanse of white was unbroken. As we went ‘feet dry’ over the ice covering Antarctica, we glimpsed heavily crevassed glaciers streaming down to the fast ice … continental bedrock peeking out from under its thick blanket of ice. Some of the crevasses were as wide as canyons … with meters-thick ice walls rising on either side.

Regrettably, my yellow parka and red life vest were often reflected on the clear bubble of the chopper, marring my photos and videos. But B&W treatment in post-processing saved several of them, so I do have photos to jog the memories recorded in my brain.

And then came the polar plateau that was designated as our continental landing site.

Once on the ground, we received our briefing and were told that we would be on the third chopper back to the ship … giving us about 40 minutes on the polar plateau. It was dead calm … no wind whatsoever. I later heard that it was a-blowin’ earlier in the day.

The ice stretched deceivingly-flat in almost every direction … expansive views of Vahsel Bay in another direction. We walked over to the blue pole at the farthest corner of the perimeter of the landing zone … which a fellow-passenger said was the absolute southernmost point of our trip. Beyond us was the South Pole … 720 NM away.En savoir plus