My first day in Antarctica involved an overnight safety class called "happy camper" or "snow craft 1" which was essentially an Antarctic survival and preparedness course.  We camped overnight in small tents on the sea-ice at the base of the volcano Mt. Erebus. We dug snow trenches, practiced safety and rescue techniques and generally just learned a ton of great information on the subject from our instructors etc..   It was not very cold, about 10-15 degrees F.  A great group of people and we learned a ton!





Visit this Smugmug gallery for  some pics from the class...
http://pyrat.smugmug.com/Other/Antarctica2011-Happy-Camper/20192594_sPnMPR#1594894228_4VC2Tg6