Llanrwst man’s tales from the ‘deep freeze’ of Antarctica

Dec 24 2008 by Samantha Castle, North Wales Weekly News

A LLANRWST man who swapped his home comforts for the frozen wastes of the Antarctic tundra has told of his hectic first few days.

Brenden Bithell, 38, from Melin-y-Coed, started work at the British Antarctic Survey base in October.

“So far I have experienced temperatures well below zero and winds gusting at 45mph,” said Brenden.

“At Punta airport there was an old Dakota aircraft dating back to World War Two, and at first I thought it was an exhibit but it turns out it does fly and it was one of several that have been overhauled for work in Antarctica.

“Once settled in Rothera, the British Antarctic Survey base, the first thing that hit me was how blue the icebergs were and how the whole place looked like something out of a film.

“It’s about -6°C most mornings and we usually find that several feet of snow has built up overnight that has to be cleared.”

During his stay at the camp – a vast blue ice shelf discovered in 1994 – one of his many responsibilities will be to keep the base camp’s runway clear of snow.

Brenden will also be assisting the survey team’s research into precious minerals locked away in the earth’s crust, deep below the ice.

“On my first night at the camp I was made to feel at home with a welcome plate of Welsh lamb stew,” said Brenden.

But his contentment didn’t last long when a radio report came through that a plane due to touch down had lost engine power an hour away from the runway.

“The plane that was in trouble was the same Dakota we had seen in Punta several hours before. The first thing we noticed was one of the two engines had stopped and with only 200 metres to go before he would run out of runway he decided a deviation was better than going for a swim in the icy water so he managed to softly crash to one side into the deep snow.

“What a first day in Antarctica! At least nobody was hurt and with luck it will fly again.”

samantha.castle