High Noon in January above the Arctic Circle

The posting by someone on Google+ this morning (re. super cold temps in Wisconsin) got me thinking about the coldest place I'd ever been.  That was at an early warning radar station at Hall Beach Canada.  

I was sent there by the Air Force in mid January of 1976 with a small team of communications technicians to install some upgraded electronic equipment.  All told, the trip took around 6 weeks.

We first flew into a frigid Winnipeg, Ontario where we picked up cold weather gear and caroused around for a couple of days waiting on a flight out.  Then we flew in typically crappy winter weather to FOX-Main (a resupply hub).  We got stuck there for a few more days waiting out the weather until we could fly to Hall Beach.  There may have really been a beach but we never saw any sand or surf.  The only signs we saw were massive blocks of blue ice.

Ice on the "Beach"

We lived in a dormitory portion of the facility referred to as a "train".  Probably because it was long with a narrow corridor with rooms on the side.  We stayed two to a room and had small cabinets for clothes.  An elevated, enclosed walkway connected the dorm train to the operations train.  The operations train included our electronics, admin offices, a recreation hall (foosball & pool table) and a dining hall.

As usual, there were glitches in the logistics and the parts we were to install hadn't made it the site when we arrived.  That meant that we'd be enjoying the sites hospitality for an additional week or so.  Other than than not being able to do much outside, it wasn't really horrible duty.  They had beer and plenty of it for the civilian contractors.  The cafeteria had professional chef's for the main courses and desserts.  Every Friday was surf and turf night with steaks, lobster and shrimp in all sorts of combinations.  Every evening there was a large dessert table set up with cakes, pies and cookies.  Oh yeah, there was also a gym.

The few times we went outside it was in the neighborhood of 30 below so we didn't stay out long.  I guess I could claim that it was me in the pictures but its actually one of my Air Force buddies.

Metzler in seasonal beachwear

We were flown back on a contract flight carrying a 6 month rotation of the contractors out.  They were in a party mood and heading for different resort locations in the Caribbean or Mexico.  One fella was staggering down the aisle offering helpings form his whiskey bottle.  A lot of others were smoking like chimneys and you could see a layer of smoke working its way down from the ceiling.  By the time we got to the states I was almost on the floor from either helpings of friendly whiskey offerings or avoiding the smoke.

We made it back to our home base in Sacramento after a trip of 6 weeks and maybe a total of 5 actual working days.  That was probably about par for the course.

I looked up Hall Beach as it is now and they seem to be going for tourism.  I couldn't get my wife interested.  I think she'd rather go with the contractors to the resort in Mexico.

Adios