This was one of the first things I got to do outside of work while in Antarctica. The pressure ridges are where the ice meets the land and as the ice shifts, it has no where to go but up. The seals use this area to come up and sun on the ice. We drove over to Scott Base to start our tour and started out onto the ice via the flagged route. Scott base is the New Zealand base which is located about 3 miles from McMurdo.
Beau was our tour guide, he is a fireman at McMurdo Station and he volunteers to lead tours on his off days. Although the area is checked for safety and the route is flagged, we carried a couple ice axes and occasionally had to check cracks in the ice to make sure the area was safe to walk on. I felt very lucky to get the opportunity to take this tour as they sometimes have to shut them down later in the season due to the ice melting.
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| Start of the Pressure ridge tour |
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| Beau checking a crack in the ice |
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| Scott Base in the background |
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| Mama Seal |
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| Baby seal |
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| You can just catch a glimpse of Mt Erebus over my shoulder. Erebus is an active volcano with an open lava pit on top. |
Not much else to write about this tour, it's pretty self explanatory. I'll try to post about Scott's Discovery Hut next time...Stay Tuned
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