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During days of blowing snow, snow forms a powdery layers over the ground. When you walk over the powdered snow it compresses just slightly making it harder to blow away. When the next wind comes along it blows away the loose powdered snow leaving "raised footprints" or tracks where a vehicle has travelled.
The blowing snow is constantly building and eroding the landscape. The blown snow in the air acts like a "sand blaster" gradually eroding away the hard snow and ice into shapes known as 'Sastrugi'. The blowing snow not only erodes snow, but over a period of months it removes paint from wood and metal. It also wears down the soft fibres in exposed timber giving the timber a very "weathered" look.
Each day we have a "Gash Run". This is just the name for the task of taking the cardboard, RTA rubbish and incinerator rubbish from the Kitchen to "Warren" the incinerator building. We have a Ute fitted with a "cage" on the rear. We put all the cardboard and the light garbage bags into the cage to stop them being blown out of the back of the Ute. Living with the cold Before we departed we were all fitted out a kit of at least 20kgs special clothes. I remember sorting through all the pairs of gloves (about 20 pairs of different kinds) and thinking `am I going to use all of these?'. Now that I have felt the bitter cold I can see why I was given so many!. Each piece of clothing has a special purpose and is designed to be worn at a certain 'layer'. The secret of keeping warm is to use layers. You use thin light clothing next to the skin then put gradually thicker layers on top of that. We have polyester thermals which we put on first, then on top of those are our normal clothes. From here we have a large number of choices depending on where we are going and how cold it is. For walking between buildings around station a trousers / overalls and a fleecy jacket usually suffice, but for longer periods outside and trips off station we have two choices. Either a "freezer suit" or "Ventiles". A freezer suit like a pair of padded 'overalls' with webbing on the end of the sleeves and around the neck to keep the wind out. Ventiles consist of two pieces of clothing - pants and a top. Both of these clothes, especially the ventiles, work by keeping out the wind and creating an insulating layer. They usually have a hood and plenty of pockets with insulated zips. They are usually made of heavy cotton material so by the time you are all dressed you feel quite a lot heavier and bulkier. The extremities such as the hands, toes, ears and nose are usually the first parts to get cold. I find that any kind of fingered gloves looses heat very quickly, while mittens are best for extended periods because you can put your hand in a fist to keep the fingers warm - the downside is that it is near impossible to perform delicate tasks such as operating a camera. I wear small thermal fingered gloves inside bigger windproof mittens so I can quickly pull my hands out, take a picture, then put them back to get warm again. In -20°C temperatures you usually only have about 1 minute before your hands get painfully cold. The situation is even worse riding on a Quad. To operate the throttle on a Quad you have to use your right thumb, and consequently this thumb becomes exposed to the wind and becomes very cold. This condition is nicknamed "Quad thumb". Some ways to help overcome it are to use super large mitts which fit over the handlebars. Also, some Quads have heated handlebars but this does not help to keep your thumb warm. I have likened the pain of cold fingers to putting your hand in a vice and tightening it - but not being able to let go. There are several stages of cold. The first is the pain I have described. Beyond that if you do not get warmer your fingers go numb and the pain goes away, however you need to quickly recognise that this is the beginning of frostbite. Any further exposure starts to cause damage. When riding Quads the easiest ways to warm up hands is to use the warm exhaust gas, or put your hands (in thin gloves - not bare skin) on the cooler parts of the engine block. This is effective but a little tricky since some parts of the engine are hot enough to melt gloves / burn before your numb fingers feel it! The last thing you want is to have burnt and frozen hands!
It is fairly easy to keep your face warm if you are wearing a balaclava because your warm but humid breath is forced upwards. This results in the moisture in your breath condensing on your eyelashes and eyebrows and eventually freezing. If you have been outside for an extended period then your face can turn into a ice forest - especially if you have a beard! Other important accessories are neck warmers, ear warmers and wristlets which fill in the spaces around your neck and wrists. During a Blizzard another good accessory is a blizzard mask which is a full face mask with Down Padding on the front and small holes for your eyes and nose. Wearing one feels a bit like lying facedown in a pillow. It feels claustrophobic, but does keep your face warm. It is also not the kind of of mask you would want to wear in a Bank!
Back to part 1, part 2, part 3
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