This is a traditional ammo can cache at a radio/seismic site
known as "Truncated Cones" on the West side of Mt Erebus. The site is
12,000 feet in altitude approximately 7 miles from the ocean (when the ice
melts out).
To access this site will take some very special equipment
and a very special person. First of all, you have to get to Antarctica.
You can do it the way I do and go to work for the contractor for the US
National Science foundation. If you choose to follow this route make sure you have the qualifications to get sent to the site. I am a communications technician and generally visit the site 1 to 3 times a year. Others that get to
the neighborhood are field assistants, helicopter technicians, and sometimes the Search and Rescue team (on training so far).
Get on a research team that is studying the volcano, the atmosphere or the geology of Mt Erebus.
Come as a tourist. This option will involve taking a cruise ship from Australia or New Zealand and then finding a way to convince the helicopter pilot to fly you to the site.
The Helispot is quite nice however
have the pilot take into consideration that the atmospheric pressure in Antarctica is much lower than it is in the temperate
zones. The pressure/altitude is generally around 14,000 ft. This could make a
difference in the number of cachers on the trip.
Dress very warmly! The ambient temperature is usually below zero on the
Fahrenheit scale and I think I have only been there a couple of times that the
wind was not blowing. The 360 degree views are incredible.
The ocean looks close enough to walk to in a few minutes
(don’t try it). The fumaroles are usually steaming just a very short walk away
and the plume from the caldera just 2,000 feet above is magnificent
There is a special first to find item in the cache. A pewter replica of the 2004 USGS South Pole bench mark. The
ice sheet the South Pole station sits on moves several feet per year and a New
Years tradition is for the USGS to send down surveyors and place a new
benchmark. Another part of the tradition is for the winter-over machinist to
create the brass cap (due to a shortage of brass over the 2003 winter, this
year’s cap is bronze).