Free Travel to Antarctica: Pros and Cons of Jobs at McMurdo Station, Antarctica

Antarctic cruises are expensive, with most over $5000 per person. You can visit the frozen continent free of charge as thousands do each year. Cooks, carpenters, mechanics, fire-fighters, doctors, nurses, etc. are all needed to support scientific research in Antarctica. Positions are also available for non-professional support positions such as janitors, dining assistants and general assistants. You do not need to pay to see penguins and seals in their natural environment.

Each year the US Antarctic Program (USAP) deploys 3500 people to Antarctica, of which about 2700 are support personnel (source: NSF). With a summer population averaging over 1000, McMurdo Station, on Ross Island, is the main US base in Antarctica and the largest base on the continent. Even during the austral winter nearly 200 people remain there, mostly to keep the facility running during the long night.

If you want to be one of the few, the proud, the frozen... on the continent at the bottom of the world, getting a job there is the cheapest way to go. If you have a skill McMurdo Station needs, the USAP will fly you there free of charge, issue you with extreme cold weather (ECW) gear, and even pay you for the privilege.

You don't need a PhD in physics, geology, biology or atmospheric sciences. Good cooks, plumbers, diesel mechanics, etc. are all needed to keep the station running smoothly.

Advantages of working in McMurdo Station, Antarctica

The USAP runs McMurdo Station, South Pole Station, and dozens of smaller facilities and field camps "on the Ice" each year. Support for these operations is provided through a contractor, currently Raytheon Polar Services Company (RPSC).

Raytheon hires thousands of people to provide this support. Unskilled positions such as shuttle drivers, dining assistants, janitors, etc. give almost anyone healthy enough to be physically qualified a chance to be hired. Whatever the position, all these folks get to travel where only the tiniest fraction of the human race will ever go.

If you are a successful applicant, you will be flown down to the Ice at no expense to you. You will be issued appropriate ECW gear to keep you warm and safe on the coldest, windiest continent in the world. All the while you will be paid for your time and effort.

When not on duty, you will be allowed to hike, cross-country ski, and in general enjoy stark, pristine, other-worldly landscapes. Hikes and arranged shuttle trips will allow you to visit historic huts built and used by Antarctic explorers of over a century ago. You will see where the likes of Scott, Shackleton, and others slept and worked.

Along the way, you will almost certainly see Adelie penguins and Weddell seals. On base you will run across the skua gull, the world's southernmost bird. Following strict safety procedures and staying in allowed areas will make sure you get to go home and tell the story of your remarkable experience.

Another unique aspect of an Antarctic trip is being able to see the midnight sun, or the 1 AM sun, or the 2 AM sun, or the 3 AM sun...

Free popular science lectures are given weekly by many of the scientists working in and around McMurdo Station. Some groups open their labs or facilities to the interested local public, providing an opportunity for in-depth interaction with the researchers.

When research groups need non-specialist labor, you may be able to volunteer and get even more closely involved. Depending on the location of such work, this may be the best way to get closer to penguins and seals chilling out on the ice.

With the close quarters, fast friendships are easy to form, and a surprising variety of leisure activities are available. If you have some special interests such as yoga, ball-room dancing, crafts, etc. you can participate in these, or even volunteer to teach others.

With the free food and shelter, you'll be able to save up much of your salary. The galley is open 24/7 and food is plentiful and free. The dorm-style accommodations are also free of charge.

Disadvantages of working in McMurdo Station, Antarctica

In Antarctica you are expected to work as needed. Whatever shifts you pull, your work hours will be long. Working 6 or 7 days a week, and 10 - 12 hours per shift and sometimes even 24 hours at a stretch is not uncommon. Wages are no higher than similar jobs command elsewhere, even with the much longer hours.

If after arriving on-station you have a sudden change of heart, quitting and leaving is not likely to be an option. The nearest commercial airport is thousands of miles and an ocean away. Even when you're manifested on a flight, weather can ground all planes for more than a week.

Unless you thrive on solitude, life in Antarctica is much less diverting than you might expect. Hundreds of workers arrive late August on the "winfly" or winter flight, and stay up to 7 months before the end of the season. That's a long time to spend in one place with few new faces.

As mentioned above, rooms are dormitory-style, so privacy is limited. You will be living in a room with anywhere from one to ten or more room-mates, with showers and bathrooms shared by an entire floor.

You can explore some areas nearby, but unless your work requires it, you will see little if anything beyond the base. Working on or near the Antarctic Peninsula, e.g. at Palmer Station, you can expect to see a wide variety of wildlife. At McMurdo Station, however, the variety of wildlife is limited almost entirely to skua gulls, Weddell seals and Adelie penguins.

If lucky, you may see a leopard seal, emperor penguin or orca, but those are fairly rare. The only vegetation you will see outside the galley is restricted to the greenhouse.

Should you try to get a job at McMurdo Station?

The answer to that question depends on many factors. Do you mind being away from home for the better part of a year? Do you mind being limited as to where and when you can go for that period of time? Do you mind working long hours for little pay? If all that is acceptable to you in return for a free trip someplace few people go without paying for an expensive Antarctic cruise, the answer is yes.

Many of those who get a job at McMurdo Station return year after year. For them, the answer is a no-brainer. Many save most of the money they earn, as there are few expenses on the Ice. The money saved can finance trips around the world during the months away from Antarctica. Some even move their belongings into storage and have no permanent address outside Antarctica for several years.

If you want to experience this unique life style, far from anyplace you've ever been, see the resource box for the USAP and RPSC links. Keep in mind however that even unskilled positions in Antarctica are in great demand, and highly skilled professionals also compete for the limited number of positions offered.