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

Jeffrey Donenfeld

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2013-03-06

During 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

After flying DENver>San Francisco>Los Angeles, I flew on an Airbus A380 from Los Angeles USA to Sydney Australia. Then I flew on a Boeing 777-300ER from Sydney Australia to Christchurch New Zealand.

Outside the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand. This is the New Zealand office location of the United States Antarctic Program, and serves as the departure point to the main US Stations – McMurdo and Amundsen-Scott.

At the Clothing Distrubution Center at the International Antarctic Centre, we receive our Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) Gear. We’re given a few minutes to try everything on for size.

The US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, which I flew from Christchurch, New Zealand to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. This military jet can fly both people and supplies.

Abord the C17 flying Christchurch>McMurdo. People sit in conventional airplane seats, as well as on webbing seats along the walls. Additionally, my flight was carrying pallets of scientific equiptment and machinery.

Flying over Antarctica, with the tips of huge mountains poking out from beneath the polar ice cap.

Upon landing at McMurdo, I’m shuttled to the station by this giant bus. I only stay at McMurdo for one night, before getting back on a flight to the South Pole.

Inside the shuttle facility at McMurdo Station. Everybody who is going to South Pole must tag their bags accordingly, so that bags are correctly routed when “Bag Drag” happens – the loading of everybody’s luggage into the luggage facility.

The LC-130 Hercules, which I flew from McMurdo Station to Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. This plane is much smaller, and is one of only about 10 “LC” models equipped with both skiis and wheels for landing gear. The plane can take off on wheels from a traditional runway, and land on skis on an ice runway.

Inside the “herc”, everybody sits along the wall, with bags and equiptment in the middle and in back. The airplane is loud, and earplugs are passed out at the start of the flight.

Once airborne, free roaming around the airplane’s cargo bay is allowed. The view out the window, passing over the Transantarctic mountains, is beautiful.

Finally, arrived at the South Pole. On the day I arrived, the temperature was -40 degrees – that first breath of air was cold!

Arrived at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica. The geographic pole is about 200 meters away from this sign.

The mirrored ball at the Ceremonial South Pole. This pole is only used for ceremonial purposes, and does not mark anything.

Ceremonial South Pole, with my United States Antarctic Program – issued ECW Jacket. It has a patch with my name on it, and a USAP logo patch.

Slicing meat in the Kitchen. One of my jobs on station was as the lead breakfast cook, and assistant lunch cook.

My daily breakfast spread, consisting of eggs, potatoes, bacon, an entree, french toast, yogurt, cut fruit, granola, oatmeal, and pasteries. I made this breakfast 6 mornings/week for all 170 people at the station.

The galley, where the station crew eats. The TV’s on the cieling show the “galley scroll” info, such as weather, flight schedule, social events, and internet access times.

The post office at the south pole station is the world’s southern-most post office. Normal US mail rates apply.

The southern most post office in the world, as well as our general store. Here, we could buy apparrel, souvineers, toiletries, and rent DVD movies.

The greenhouse is not used in the summer, however in the winter it’s used to grow fresh food for the station staff to eat.

Beneath the elevated station, there’s a labrynth of storage, supply, and utility spaces. This includes the Ice Tunnels, Storage Arch, Fuel Arch, and Vehicle Maintenance Facility. This is the entrance to the under-ice utility corridors, at the base of the “Beer Can”. the structure connecting the elevated station to the utility spaces.

Inside the ice tunnels, which route water, sewage and electrical lines. 50 feet under the ice, the temperature here is a constant -60 degrees F.

A utility technician taking readings on one of the massive engines which make the station’s power and heat. The station burns 600,000 gallons of AN8 jet fuel yearly to keep everything powered up and warm.

The South Pole Telescope, which is able to look at the Cosmic Microwave Background, a remanant of the Big Bang.

Working with the KECK Array science team on maintaining the receivers that make up the telescope.

The heart of one of the receivers of the KECK Array, the niobium framed focal planes. These get cooled down to around 250 milikelvin.

Liquid helium escaping an overflow valve, while air condenses instantly into a liquid.

Outside of the Ice Cube Laboratory, the Askaryan Radio Array team sets up their workshop.

Twin Otters are frequently used by science teams for accessing remote field camps.

The roof of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Atmospheric Research Observatory, where the cleanest air in the world is sampled.

A luau under an airdrop parachute in front of the station. This was on the last day of 2012.

A concert on new years eve in the gym. New years eve at the south pole included multiple performances, drinks, and lots of dancing.

Running the South Pole Marathon. 26.3 miles in -20F temperatures. I ran it in 05:41.

To run outside, full head protection must be worn, including a gaiter and goggles.

Since the south pole station is on a moving sheet of ice, the location of the marker planted in the moving ice drifts by about 10 meters per year. Every years on new years day, the Geographic South Pole Marker is re-planted at the true pole of the earth, and a new metal marker is revealed. In this ceremony, the station staff are symbolically passing the American Flag from the 2012 marker location to the new 2013 marker location.

Toursts visit the south pole too. Although they are allowed in the elevated station for brief tours, they are restricted to camping out in the “NGO Camp” about a half mile away from the station. Adventure Network International runs the tourist camp.

Tourists visiting the south pole. Most tourists arrive on airplanes, such as this DC-3 Basler turboprop. Other groups of tourists ski in, covering the last degree or two degrees of lattitude.

The south pole station hosts many guests throughout the season. Here, I’m pictured with NASA Astronaut and UTMB Medical Director Dr. Scott Parazinski on my right. On my left is former NASA ISS Lead Flight Surgeon and South Pole Lead Physician Dr. Sean Roden.

The Golf Ball, which houses the GOES and Skynet satellite uplinks. These links provide voice and data access to the station.

The GOES-3 Satellite dish, which is our main communications link to the outside world.

The medical clinic, which features a full trauma bay, dental bay, medical laboratory, exam room, and two ward beds.

As a certified W-EMT, I was a member of the station’s emergency response team. Here, we’re triaging patients during a Mass Casualty Incident training exercise.

On the Pegasus Ice Runway, with Ivan The Terrabus ready to transport people from the ice runway back to McMurdo Station.

On top of Observation Hill, high above McMurdo Station. McMurdo is much much bigger than South Pole Station, and is situated on Ross Island, on the actual ground. South Pole Station is built on top of the polar ice cap.

The Maersk Peary tanker ship, which supplies McMurdo with fuel for the winter season.

Finally leaving the ice on an Air Force C-17 Globemaster III. Read more about my experiences in Antarctica at https://JeffreyDonenfeld.com/Antarctica and contact me at Jeffrey@JeffreyDonenfeld.com .

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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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.

How I got my job in Antarctica: Getting A Job In Antarctica: My Long Journey 2009-2012
Frequently Asked Questions
Other resources, see Bill Spindler’s Wrapup on Antarctic jobs and Jobs in Antarctica from CoolAntarctica.com
If you’re not looking to put in the required effort to land an actual job there, you still have options on getting to the ice. I’d highly recommend looking at Adventure Network International. They run a couple very high quality tours to Antarctica, both to the coast as well as to the South Pole. During my time working at the south pole station, I had the opportunity to give station tours to a bunch of the ALE groups, as well as hang out at their camp. Writeups on tourists and tourism at the south pole:

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.

All Photos, on Flickr – about 700 photos
Essential Slide Show – 120 photos
All videos, on YouTube
Station tour Video
Interactive Panoramas
A brief audio recording on my thoughts on Antarctica…
https://www.jeffreydonenfeld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Jeffrey%20Donenfeld%20on%20Antarctica.m4a

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

Categorized: Expeditions, Thought Leadership, Travel, Trips

Tagged: antarctic photographer antarctic photography antarctica Antarctica-summer-12-13 how to get a job in antarctica jobs in antarctica McMurdo Station south pole station

Comments

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

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

2013-11-25

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

2014-07-19

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

2014-09-22

[…] 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.
LuvRofLife pray

2014-11-07

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…
Pete Kron

2015-06-17

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

2015-08-18

[…] 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 […]

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

My Job in Antarctica

Traveling to and from Antarctica:

Facilities at the South Pole Station

Science at the South Pole

South Pole Life

Other Content

McMurdo Station

Getting a Job in Antarctica

Media:

Comments

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

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