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What's one of the first things that you do when you arrive at McMurdo Base in Antarctica? You take a 2-day survival course, variously known as SNOWCRAFT ONE, SURVIVAL SCHOOL, or HAPPY CAMPER. Nine of us spent a day learning how to survive if stranded out on the polar icecap in a condition one hurricane blizzard. We learned to put up various tents and to construct snow shelters, snow walls, snow caves and igloos. We learned to light stoves, make water and to stay warm and on the happy side of the hypothermic line. Then the instructors left us to fend for ourselves for the bright night out on the icecap. Fortunately, we had nice balmy weather: 20 degrees above zero to ten degrees below. I shared a classic Scott Tent with two others and experienced the best sleep of my trip. Another, not-so-happy, camper spent his night alone in a constructed snow cave and was so cold that he could not sleep. A great lesson in survival strategies. The next day, after lessons in setting up an emergency short wave transmitter, we passed a couple of survival scenario tests with flying colors. With white plastic buckets over our heads, we attempted to locate a lost team member. And after that, we set up a quick survival camp next to our crashed "school bus" and called out for help on a shortwave, after setting up an antenna. HK 
Lots of Ice
School Bus
Campus
Ice Survival School 1
Ice Survival School 2
Erebus
Ace Instructor Thai Verzone
Building an Igloo
Scott Tent
Snow Block Quarry
Stuff we made at School 1
Stuff we made at School 2 Dropped off for the Night Snomobiles & Erebus Erebus Again  Back to Main Henry Kaiser in Antarctica page
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 See video clips of Henry in Antarctica.
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