Union Glacier

Mountains at Union Glacier

Union Glacier is a camp set up by ANI which is a company that does Antarctic Expeditions for Intrepid explorers and mountaineers, as well as a welcome base for people just passing through on their way to their own camp. 

The British Polar team where the first to leave the camp as they had to get to the Ross Ice shelf near McMurdo (the American base camp)

They where being dropped to start their journey to the South pole. It was all exciting  stuff as this year is the 100th anniversary of Amundsen ( the Norwegian explorer who made it to the pole in 1911)  So the team was being dropped off at the Bay of Whales. They were splitting into two teams, one team was taking Scotts route and the other team was taking Amundsen route. There was also a Norwegian team that where doing the journey in the same gear that Amundsen had used, which was Reindeer skin, straw and wooly jumpers. All teams where walking with sledges and skis as they did 100 years ago.

So as I write this post it is Tuesday the 8th of November and we are still on Union Glacier and have been here now for 10 days. This is due to the weather being too bad for the planes to take off or Land. Although we did watch a Bassler Pilot land on the blue Ice runway in a white out, this was using his instruments as you could not see anything but white. Visibility was zero….Balls of Steel !!

The Bassler landing in difficult conditions

So for 10 days we have done nothing but eat, sleep, watch films on our laptops, walk round the parameter, play cards, backgammon and chess to amuse ourselves. It has been cold and while we have had toilets (of sorts) there have been no showers or washing facilities as we are living in tents like Antarctic hero's.

So every morning I take my Nalgene bottle filled with water to clean my teeth,  strip down to my undies and have a snow body wash….Brrrrrr!!!

It's the only wash we get. I have also not shaved in as many days so my Antarctic beard is coming along nicely..

Our Weather Haven tent that we all started off
sleeping in

 One of our regular walks around the parimeter
This was with Karl (Project Manager), Ant (Wintering Chef)
and Carl (Summer Carpenter)

A shot of me with the Union Glacier Christmas Tree

How long we will be here for, no one knows? 

The same weather system that is preventing us from leaving is also affecting Halley, Rothera, Nuemeyer and the other bases…We are all stuck at various camps 500 to 600 miles apart. We have to take each day as it comes, the pilots check the weather and update daily. We could be here for some time.

We have been told that Bas should be phoning round our families and friends to inform them of our situation. We can do no more than wait. 

Being in our clam tents and weather-havens certainly gives me an insight into what it must have been like for Scott, Shackleton and those early explorers.. Those guys were certainly made of tough stuff…Real Antarctic Hero's.

Ant outside his clam tent, the temperature
is approx minus 20 

Wednesday the 9th November 2011

… The word today is that the weather is getting worse especially at Halley , where the wintering team are forced to stay inside and not to venture out as the winds are dangerously high. According to the communication guys here at Union Glacier, a plane took off from Nuemeyer the German camp with the Mechanics from our team on board, trying to get them into Halley. They were forced to turn back as nothing can land at Halley. So back to square one.

Apparently there is a possibility of a window on Friday, but it is only a small chance  as the weather is bad again for another few days….

Still nothing for me to do but admire the Scenery.

Weather still not good for flying and the snow 

is creeping up the sides of the weather Haven

The main problem we are up against is time, as there are now 3 Bas teams all trying to get into Halley base camp.

First team, the Mechanics and base commander who are stuck at Neumeyer. They should have gone in first to de-winterise the vehicles and the summer accommodation block. They are also the team to start up the generators on the new modules to get the new build warmed up and ready for the construction guys to come in and start working.

 Second team are the service crew, myself included. We are stuck at Union Glacier, with the management for Morrisons (the Construction company) and BAS service crew. We should be in immediately behind the first team and settle quickly into rooms and work places that have already been prepared for us. Then we can start to implement the systems and routines needed for the construction guys to start immediate work.

The Third team are the Morrisons construction workers who at the moment are still in Cape town. They are due to fly into Halley on the 15th November which is now only 6 days away…

Me standing against the Union Glacier sign post.

If they get in before us, nothing will be ready for them and they will not be able to start work….That is when we will be behind with the project. So everyone is praying now that we will be in within the next 6 days… It has to be before the 3rd team leave Cape Town..

Everyone is getting bored now, we all want to be working….. 

 The Mountains at Union Glacier, with high winds
blowing the snow off the peaks

Another shot with the sun hitting the Ice on the Mountain.

Sunday 13th November 2011.

weather has been pretty bad in the last few days and we are still at Union Glacier.

Temperatures have dropped at times to - 30 and the winds have been gusting at  around 35 / 40 knots. it would be fair to say that most of us are bored now, there are only so many games you can play and I myself will be glad to have a shave and a shower, even a 2 minute one. 

Good news came after dinner, when Karl Tuplin informed us of good weather at Halley and Union Glacier and that the Bassler will be taking 12 of us onto Halley in the Morning along with some cargo, so an early night was had by most.

Monday 14th November 2011

The Bassler left this morning at 9.00am with the twelve guys that are to set up the Drewery summer accommodation block. I will be on the second flight which will now be in the morning  as it is a 4 and a half hour flight to Halley and the pilots have to get  twelve hours rest in between flights. Hopefully the weather will stay fine and our plane will return. Although looking outside, the snow is falling and the wind is starting to blow. One more night in a tent on the Antarctic Continent….

 Kirk the Cameraman filming as we prepare to leave for Halley

 With all our kit on board, it just remains for us
to climb on and take our seats.

With last minute checks it is not long before we are airbourne
and winging our way across the Ice.

Myself and Ant at the back of the Bassler with a four hour
journey ahead of us

The view from our window of large cracks in the sea Ice. 


At last we are on our way to the Brunt Ice shelf, much to the relief of the winterers
that have been at Halley since we left last season.
As we fly at an altitude of 13,000 feet, the air is thin and at times it is difficult to breath, but it is not long before we land at Halley and are met by Ben Mapston the wintering base commander and Jenny the wintering Doctor.


We are taken by Sno Cat and Sledge to the Drewry building where we will be living this season. After sorting our rooms out and having had a welcome meal we all retire to bed, tired from our adventure.. Tomorrow is another day, when we will be starting work and getting back to cooking on the Ice.  

In Transit

I have not added any posts for the last few weeks as we have been in transit. The problem has not been with the transport, but the weather.

Saturday 23rd October

I Started my journey south at 11.00am Saturday morning, the first step was to meet the rest of the group at Heathrow airport. I met up with most of them during check in it was good to see familiar faces, most of the group where the same guys as last season with a couple of first timers.  The flight was to leave Heathrow at 4.30pm, but was delayed by an hour.

We eventually left for Madrid, the flight itself went quite quickly with 3 and a half  hours in the air, but there was a 5 hour wait at the other end for our connecting flight to Santiago in south America. As we couldn't leave the airport we got a bite to eat and waited for our call.

A few of the lads sleeping in the departure lounge

The next flight was to be a 15 hour jaunt which was not very comfortable as i was stuck next to someone that slept almost the whole journey. Once in Santiago we had another 5 hour wait before we boarded our plane to Punta Arenas, this flight was another 3 and a half hours.



Flying over the Andies on our flight 
to Punta Arenas


We were all glad to be on the ground and heading for the Hotel, it had been a long trip down and we were all pretty tired

having been travelling for approx. 40 hours.

Our Hotel was very comfortable having a room each and a place to shower relax and spread out a bit. it was a bonus to be in Latin America, although there was not much to do in Punta Arenas itself apart from restaurants bars and cafe's, but it was exciting to be in that part of the world, and we did get to have a good look round, but again the majority of our time was spent hanging around waiting for the powers that be to tell us when we would be heading for the Ice. We had a briefing mid week at ALE (Antarctic Logistics Expeditions) telling us how we were getting to Antarctica, what to expect and what to do once there.

Karl Tuplin the project Manager checking cargo
at ALE Logistics

The Kit bags were all there except mine,
that one had been packed in a seperate container
which i could not access until i get to Halley.
So I was issued with new gear.

Nigel and Steve in the lobby of the Hotel
waiting to go

We had been in Punta Arenas for 6 days when we got the word to go, we grabbed our kit bags and personal belongings and boarded the coach that had been provided to take us to the airport.

We were flown this year again by the Russian Yllusion plane, but this time to Union Glacier.

this was a 4 hour flight in a tight military style operation and carrying cargo as well as a team of british army guys who are competing in a race to the South pole. They are competing against the Norwegian team and will be doing it on skis.

On board the Yllusion aircraft with Nigel
in front of me looking at the Russian crew member 
as we prepare for take off

 A shot of myself as we prepare to land on the Ice
We were all tired by now.

Flying over Antarctica as we made our final approach
to Union Glacier. 

The flight was noisy and the landing was awesome these Russian pilots really do know how to land on Ice. We landed on a blue Ice runway between magnificent mountains and crevices. Once safely on the ground we donned our Antarctic gear and stepped off the plane into a temperature of between - 20 to - 30 with winds gusting 35 knots, making a subjective temperature of  - 45 which is the coldest i've experienced since being on the Ice. It was cold and windy but absolutely amazing.

 The Yllusion on the ice, with a track vehical 
and a six wheeled truck to take us to the camp.

Karl Tuplin and our camera man Kirk
standing on the runway.

The Scenery was breathtaking and after a couple of photographs we were taken to a holding container before being transported to the base camp, which was not yet ready for guests as the guys here were still preparing it and putting up tents. This was because they only got in a day before we arrived.
We were given a welcome briefing which included a few camp rules before dinner.

After dinner which was a meaty broth and much needed, we were shown to our tents and given our beds which we had to construct. The tent we were in had no heating as it had to be fixed and plumbed in and the sleeping bags that we were issued with, on the label said, "comfortable to - 6 degrees".  Well, It went down to nearly - 30 in the night and I was bloody freezing!!

 I could not get enough layers on me, I was nearly in my full Polar gear including hat….But , It's what you come to Antarctica for! I loved it…(Almost)..