How to Survive Winter in Antarctica

The Atlantic ^ | February 15, 2015 | Philp Sopher

[Marcella]

My son, the documentary film maker (Wayne Derrick), several years ago, filmed the recreation of the Amundsen-Scott race to the South Pole. They could not do the recreation at the South Pole since sledge dogs (or any dogs) are not allowed there anymore. Therefore, the recreation was done on the ice cap heading to the North Pole. Wayne spent three months on the ice cap filming this recreation.

A modern day Swedish explorer was Amundsen and an English explorer was Scott. They wore the same type clothes and ate the same type food as the original men.

Men have a critical task when they urinate in that cold. The penis can only be bare in the extreme cold for a very brief time before frost bite will damage that appendage. Invariably, even they were told to immediately place and zip the penis in the first layer of clothes and then zip again after the next layer of clothes, they tend to want to be out of the cold so fast, they don't zip that final layer.

One man stayed out too long and didn't zip that last layer and his penis turned black and he had to be flown out of the ice pack to a hospital for surgery. Lucky for him, he wasn't circumcised so that extra skin had died but the penis under that skin was saved.

Wayne said he, and the others, had only seen white for that three months and when they came back, their eyes/brain were bombarded with color and it took some time to adjust to seeing color again.

[Marcella]

Ping to 41.

[kearnyirish2]

I read a book by a German fighting in the Soviet Union in WWII; he described how their doctors instructed them to remove the seam in their pants so they could crap without suffering frostbite.

Incredible...

[greeneyes]

That’s all interesting, especially about the color. Never heard that before.

How come they don’t allow sled dogs around the S. Pole?

[greeneyes]

I am using rice socks and pillows and drinking lots hot liquids. Heat the rice socks in the micro wave, and wrap around the neck, arm, whatever.

Put one in the bottom of the pillow case and stick my feet in when I am sitting at the computer. The computer is in a drafty location in our basement family room, and even the rug isn’t stopping the cold from the concrete floor.