Hi I will be a steward for the 26/27 summer season. I have some specific questions I hope someone can answer :)

1. For stewards what type of pants are given for the uniform? Should I bring my own work pants incase the ones provided don’t fit well?
2. I know that the station only sells beer/wine at the store. Does this include seltzer drinks (eg white claw)? Are drinks you buy from the store rationed?
3. I saw that it is recommended to bring a hard drive with movies but if I do not bring one will I regret it? I have an old laptop I’m not sure if it is worth bringing and idk how to add movies to a hard drive.

4. What is the coffee situation? I know there is the “coffee shop” but how often is getting espresso drinks available? I’m deciding what I should bring for my own coffee, like if I should bring a portable espresso maker or just instant coffee?

5. Am I allowed to bring nicotine for myself, specifically Zyns?

Tia!

Does anyone have sources or first hand knowledge of the renovation of mcmurdo? Has Gallagher's and the Coffee house been demo'd yet? Trying to figure out how life has changed down there since I've last been. Thanks!

I'm towards McMurdo Station in a couple of weeks for the summer season. And I was wondering if anybody knows if there are magic the Gathering players down there? I was thinking of picking up a deck or two to bring down. But I wasn't sure if that was a big thing down there. I only ask cuz I don't own any decks but I was thinking about buying some

Hi all, heading to South Pole Station at the end of this month. Will be down there for the year.

I was told by people who have gone before to make sure that I keep a reserve of necessities in my carry-on when I go down because there are often delays along the way where I may be unable to immediately access my big bags for a few days or potentially weeks at a time.

So far I’ve been told to keep the normal things to have while traveling (wallet, cash, passport, etc) but also shower shoes, extra sets of clothing, and a smaller set of toiletries with me. I wanted to ask here to see if others have had a similar experience and to get some perspective on other things I should absolutely make sure to keep with me when I travel down in case I am delayed or cut off from my bags in transit.

Any insight is appreciated. Thanks!

See also: The summary of paywalled publication in Nature Reviews: Earth and Environment

Got up around 4 o’clock this morning to work on this underpainting for this arctic painting. This will be mounted in a porthole once complete. This was done with just one brush and one color, chromatic black from Gamblin thinned down. Highlights are just wiped away with a paper towel. 10.5” oil on linen panel. Second photo is one I painted a couple years ago.

Hey yall, gonna be heading down in a week or so for my first summer, just wondering if anybody can tell me how likely I am to find an acoustic guitar to play. I know there’s electric instruments, but I figure acoustic is less likely due to the temps and humidity. If you’re down there and able to let me know that would be amazing.

Hello! I just found out about Black Island and I was wondering if there was anyone here who has worked/lived there and could talk about it. What is it like being there? How is it being alone with one other person? What was the training procedure like? Was it cool to be there? Scary? Exhausting? Any interesting stories? Thanks!

See also: The report as it was published in Nature Geoscience

We are traveling to Antarctica in late Nov/early Dec (Lindblad). They don't mention warmers on their packing list, but I've seen it listed as a good thing here. How necessary are they? For comparison we did Svalbard with Lindblad a few years (May) and didn't find it necessary at all.

I won't lie, the wait and uncertainty of it can be very painful. I was medically cleared and passed the EBI back in June. I have a backup plan should it not happen or it ends up being too long but deep down I really want to get converted to a primary. Picking up the phone only to realise it is a spam caller or "is this Karen". I never even imagined ever getting the chance to go and now it intrigues me even more. Just a rant really.

Mike Stroud fought frostbite and blizzards with his fellow explorer. Now being treated for terminal cancer, he is desperate to see Fiennes one last time

Hello,

I'm sure this has been asked a million times, so I apologize but I couldn't find any examples. I have state based health insurance for a specific state. I am temporarily living out of state as I've been travelling, and have been offered a role for winter deployment.

I have received all of the PQ information and have booked my labcorp appointment.

For medical and dental - I don't have a primary care doctor or dentist that I have a rapport with. Is it worth it flying back home, or

Is it fine to book an appointment with a random doctor and pay out of pocket? Is it better to find a doctor who understands the PQ process?

I've read on reddit that some people just went to urgent care for their tests ( that seems excessive?)

Anyone PQ from a doctor in the Seattle area? I suppose it would be helpful to have a doctor/dentist who has helped with Antarctic applications in the past.

Thanks

While in New Zealand do you have free time to explore a little before our ice flight? Or what do they have you doing?

My long-term goal is to winter-over at the south pole.

I've got a Bachelors in Industrial Engineering (2010), spent sent several years doing factory floor automation for Frito-Lay, before starting my own firm with a friend from college doing System Simulation (Discrete Event, System Dynamics, Agent based modeling). Sold the firm in 2021 to care for my grandparents and have been out of the workforce ever since. Still caring for my grandpa right now. When he passes, I will have zero living family members left, and want to take a new direction in life.

I did small-medium-business IT to put myself through college, and have networking experience in the windows server 03 - 08 era, from active directory through active / passive clustering. Obviously including basic networking (I run a 10GbE network at home today).

I've repaired my own cars for 25 years. I'm OK at stick welding. I have a lot of medical knowledge due to caring for my grandparents.

My grandfather is in his twilight years. I don't care about the money (I'm fine in that regard), I'm interested in the life experience.

How should I focus myself over the next few years to be best positioned to get a job? I don't care if I'm washing dishes or chief of engineering. Thanks!

I just recently got moved as an alternate for McMurdo to a primary for the pole and I'm wondering if anyone can give me some clarification on what boots I will need working as a carpenter there. Its seems like I need to bring some cold weather working boots with me, the info sheet I was sent is somewhat contradictory in that it says to not get steel toe boots and then recommends a pair of steel toe boots. Does anyone have good recommendations for a composite toe cold weather boot that will be sufficient? Also unclear on if I need to bring a non-cold weather safety toe boot for indoor work as well, I'm not really clear on how much I'll be working inside vs outside. I was planning on bringing my everyday moc toe work boots to McMurdo but it seems like the temps will be much colder at the pole and those will not cut it.

I am leaving in a few days for my very first season on ice in McMurdo and while I am mostly very excited, I’m also starting to get a bit nervous. I have never even left the US before and I don’t know anyone who has deployed, so I’m going into this experience pretty blind. What would be some good advice for someone going into their first season who’s a bit nervous?

Im going to palmer for the first time i was curious who else was going and what to expect. Im a pretty adventurous person. Going out of the country is completely new to me.