Jeffrey Donenfeld

Living and Working at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica, Summer 2012-2013

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Antarctica Slides - 120 - usap_logo - FullWMDuring the Austral Summer of 2012-2013, I traveled to Antarctica to work as a Cook, EMT, Tour Guide, and Photojournalist at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. While I was living there, I took over 10,000 photos, hours of video footage, and published an article about life in Antarctica on my blog every single day.  Here’s a brief wrapup of my time in Antarctica, with links to all of the content I produced.

A complete account of my experiences in Antarctica can be found at: https://JeffreyDonenfeld.com/Antarctica

Articles written while living at the South Pole, 2012-2013
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Antarctica Video Playlist

Since I’ve started blogging about Antarctica, I’ve received a number of questions from readers. To address as many of those questions as possible, I’ve made a long FAQ document. Frequently Asked Questions about Antarctica.

My Job in Antarctica

During my time in Antarctica, I lived at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The station is American-run, but supports scientists from all over the world. For a bit more on the specifics of the station, check out the Wikipedia Article.

The Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station is an American scientific research station at the Geographic South Pole, the southernmost place on the Earth. The station is located on the high plateau of Antarctica at an elevation of 2,835 meters (9301 feet) above sea level.

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Since the Amundsen-Scott Station is located at the South Pole, it is at the only place on the land surface of the Earth where the sun is continuously up for six months and then continuously down for six months. (The only other such place is at the North Pole, on the sea ice in the middle of the Arctic Ocean.) Thus, during each year, this station experiences one extremely long “day” and one extremely long “night”. During the six-month “day”, the angle of elevation of the Sun above the horizon varies continuously. The sun rises on the September equinox, reaches its maximum angle above the horizon on the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, around 20 December, and sets on the March equinox.

During the six-month “night”, it gets extremely cold at the South Pole, with air temperatures sometimes dropping below ?73 °C (?100 °F). This is also the time of the year when blizzards, sometimes with gale-force winds, strike the Amundsen-Scott Station. The continuous period of darkness and dry atmosphere make the station an excellent place from which to make astronomical observations.
The number of scientific researchers and members of the support staff housed at the Amundsen-Scott Station has always varied seasonally, with a peak population of about 200 in the summer operational season from October to February. In recent years the wintertime population has been around 50 people.

I was hired to work as a cook at the south pole station. My primary job was as the breakfast cook, and my direct employer was Gan-A-Yoo Services, which is a subcontractor under Lockheed Martin’s Antarctic Support Contract. I got up at 3am 6 mornings per week to single handedly cook breakfast for the entire station staff. For more info on my kitchen job, see my article: Working In The South Pole Kitchen.

I also worked as an emergency medical responder on the station’s “Team 4”, which was in charge of emergency medical response. I worked alongside the fire crew, our nurse, and the station’s lead physician Dr. Sean Roden. More: Team 4 – Emergency Medical Response.

Next, I was one of three station tour guides. When tourist groups would arrive at pole via flight or skis, I got to give them a brief tour around the station. More: Tourists At The South Pole and Welcoming Skiers To The South Pole.

And finally, I spent whatever free time I had acting as the station correspondent for the United States Antarctic Program’s Antarctic Sun Newspaper. Throughout the summer, I wrote a series of single-topic articles, as well as monthly station summaries, which were published on the USAP’s site. Articles published in the Antarctic Sun.

Traveling to and from Antarctica:

Although long, the journey to and from the south pole was incredible in itself. I flew via commercial air from Denver Colorado > San Francisco California, San Francisco California > Los Angeles California, Los Angeles California > Sydney Australia, Sydney Australia > Christchurch New Zealand. Then on US Air Force Operation Deep Freeze military flights from Christchurch New Zealand > McMurdo Station Antarctica and McMurdo Station Antarctica > South Pole Station Antarctica. The entire journey took a solid three days of travel, but was a spectacular tour. Articles on traveling to and from Antarctica:
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Facilities at the South Pole Station

Living at a frozen polar station is interesting – super interesting. The entire station is suspended above the ice by pylons, and includes everything we need to survive. In addition to the elevated station, there’s also a labrynth of support corridors and arches buried deep under the ice. I documented as much of the station as I could. First, be sure to watch my South Pole Station Tour Video on YouTube. Additionally, below are links to my writeups on each part of the station.


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Science at the South Pole

The primary goal for the South Pole Station is to support scientific research and exploration. There are an incredible amount of world-class science experiments going on there, and since I lived on station, I had the opportunity to explore almost all of them. Living and working with scientists every day led to a continous stream of once-in-a-lifetime conversations about their work, science in general, the universe, etc. Additionally, I spent much of my free time actually helping out a couple of the experiments. Notably, I spent a good amount of time in the field building the drilling rig for the Askaryan Radio Array, and helping out with drilling operations. Check out my time working with ARA. Here’s a collection of content about the science going on at South Pole:
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South Pole Life

Life at the South Pole is unique, but we still try to keep a bit of a normal life there. This includes celebrating holidays, lots of fun and games, and exploring the unique place we’re in. Notably, I had the opportunity to run the South Pole Marathon while I was there. More about life at the south pole:
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Other Content

Stuff that doesn’t fit anywhere else, but is still interesting.
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McMurdo Station

Although I didn’t live at McMurdo Station, I did spend a few days there in transit. During my time at McMurdo, I did a bunch of exploring.

Getting a Job in Antarctica

On getting a job in Antarctica: Getting my job was hard. Very hard. It took over 4 years of constant research, training, networking, and organizing – and in the end, my job offer came just days before I departed. Definitely a hurculean effort – but after everything, I can truly say that it was absolutely worth the dedication and struggle. Working in Antarctica has been (and hopefully will continue to be) an incredible, life changing experience. If you stay dedicated to it, and make it happen for yourself, it will be an amazing voyage.

Media:

During my time on the ice, I took over 10,000 photos, and shot hours of video. I shot on three main cameras: My Canon 5Dmk2 w/ EF 24-70 f/2.9L lens, Sony RX100, and Apple iPhone5.

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any other questions! 

Comments

6 responses to “Living and Working at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica, Summer 2012-2013”

  1. Photography Portfolio: Adventure Travel with the Sony RX-100 | Jeffrey Donenfeld

    […] Living and Working at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica, Summer 2012-2013 […]

  2. claus

    Hey man, i saw your amazing experience , just tell what should i do to get a job over there, do i have a chance , i,m not a scientist or anything, i know how to drive things or clean around, should i apply for it? thanks a lot and lucky you

  3. I'm Going Back To Antarctica To Work At The West Antarctic Ice Sheet Field Camp – Jeffrey Donenfeld

    […] My first deployment to Antarctica was during the Austral Summer of 2012-2013 at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, where I worked as the station’s breakfast cool, and as a field science assistant, wilderness-EMT, and station tour guide. I had a great time working at the south pole, and am excited to get back to the ice to reconnect with old friends and colleagues. During my time at the south pole, I wrote an extensive blog, covering every aspect of live at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Here’s the wrapup, and links to all of my articles, photos, and videos.

  4. LuvRofLife pray

    YOU ARE ONE AMAZING , PERSISTENT , DEDICATED YOUNG MAN. . i WAS HOLDING MY BREATH AS I READ EACH LINE OF LEAPS AND BOUNDS, TURNS OF DISPAIR AND DISAPPOINTMENTS ROOTING FOR YOU TO GET THE JOB. WHAT A JOURNEY. I WAS SO HAPPY WHEN I READ THE HEADLINES “I GOT THE JOB” I COULD FINALLY TAKE A DEEP SIGH OF RELIEF AND ACTUALLY BREATH A COMPLETE FULL RESPIRATION ALONG WITH YOU AND SHARE IN THE JOY AND VICTORY OF ACCOMPLISHING YOUR DREAM. WELL DONE. YOUR WORK ETHICS ARE INCREDIBLE. YOUR MIND-SET NEVER WAVERING AWAY FROM STEPS TO YOUR ULTIMATE GOAL. UNBELIEVABLE..CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU & BRAVO TO MR. JEFFREY DONENFELD. YOU MAKE ANY PARENT PROUD AS SURE AS I KNOW YOUR FAMILY & FRIENDS ARE OF YOU. I DON’T KNOW YOU AND I TOO AM PROUD … GOD BLESS YOU AND BE SAFE ON YOUR WELL DESERVED JOURNEY AT ANTARCTICA…

  5. Pete Kron

    I spent 2 Summer tours with Operation Deepfreeze as a Navy weatherman in the 70’s at the old South Pole station (under the ice). They were building the geodesic dome while I was there and I see it is gone now, replaced by a 5 star resort compared to what we lived in back then!! I always thought it might be fun to go back to “90 South” and see how things are today, After looking at the pictures of the station I think I will just keep the memories I have of the old station and be satisfied with how things were “back in the day”.

  6. The Complete Guide To Getting A Job In Antarctica | Jeffrey Donenfeld

    […] and work in Antarctica? Sounds good! I’ve lived and worked in Antarctica a number of times (2012-13 South Pole and 2014-15 WAIS Divide), and have fielded countless questions about the best way to get down to […]

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