I'd love to spend a winter at McMurdo ... but I have no idea how to get there without being a scientist :(
Try being an alcoholic?
Alcoholism in Antarctica
21–30 of 34 posts
Re: Alcoholism in Antarctica
#22Time has a different meaning at the South Pole if you are working with offsite people, as is typical of the science winter overs. "Day" is when the internet connection is working. "Night" is when it is not. There is only satellite coverage for half the day.
Re: Alcoholism in Antarctica
#23I'd love to spend a winter at McMurdo ... but I have no idea how to get there without being a scientist :(
Re: Alcoholism in Antarctica
#24The interesting part of this story, for me, was how Antarctica is for some the ultimate, final destination for people escaping from themselves. If anything, this only highlights the need to improve awareness and treatment of mental illness in the United States. It is obvious to anyone who has first-hand experience with these issues that you can never outrun your own problems. Some people flee for a while before reali…
Along these lines is the (wonderful) Werner Herzog documentary, Encounters at the End of the World. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encounters_at_the_End_of_the_Wo...
I loved that. It's a striking representation of nature and people.
Re: Alcoholism in Antarctica
#25The interesting part of this story, for me, was how Antarctica is for some the ultimate, final destination for people escaping from themselves. If anything, this only highlights the need to improve awareness and treatment of mental illness in the United States. It is obvious to anyone who has first-hand experience with these issues that you can never outrun your own problems. Some people flee for a while before reali…
Along these lines is the (wonderful) Werner Herzog documentary, Encounters at the End of the World. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encounters_at_the_End_of_the_Wo...
There's also another great documentary from Werner Herzog called Happy People: A Year in the Taiga. Very genuine and profound. Werner is a master of being in the moment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_People:_A_Year_in_the_Tai...
Re: Alcoholism in Antarctica
#26My father spent 13 months there while in the Navy in 1963. He just gotten married and two weeks later went off. In return the Navy let him pick any assignment for three year stint which was Bermuda. Talk about a long thawing seeing that I wasn't born till some years later.
He told me stories about the drinking and the bleakness etc. It's even worse at the Amundsen–Scott Station where he was frequently sent over the 13 month period.
I do wonder if he developed his alcoholism while being down there because of the environment or it was a trigger. He no doubt had long hidden problems and alcohol was his way of self-medicating.
He's gone now so I will never know but this article brought back a lot of memories of our conversations about his experiences down there.
Re: Alcoholism in Antarctica
#27I'd love to spend a winter at McMurdo ... but I have no idea how to get there without being a scientist :(
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Re: Alcoholism in Antarctica
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
In fairness though, and this is mentioned briefly in the article, you'd be there to do science. Many of the people passing out in a bar alone by 8pm are doing physical labor and not interested in or qualified for the science.
Yes, but - You can't go see a movie at the cinema - There's no new bars in town - You can't go for a walk, ride a bike, go to the gym, go shopping, etc - There's nobody besides that (small) group of researchers. People you'll have to see/tolerate every single day. - Food is pretty much the same always Really? That's not for me
A great friend of mine did a few summers and winters at McMurdo as support staff.
> You can't go see a movie at the cinema
There are tons of DVDs and projectors around, never mind laptops.
> You can't go for a walk, ride a bike, go to the gym, go shopping, etc
My friend would cross-country ski over to some other countries' base (China, I think) a few times a week, snowshoe regularly, and of course there is always body weight exercises for the gym component. She would also go out with people and practice their climbing/rescue skills in crevasses.
> Food is pretty much the same always
She said it was perfectly fine, tons of vegetables.
All-in-all she absolutely loved it, and I'm still trying to find a way to get there.
Re: Alcoholism in Antarctica
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, but - You can't go see a movie at the cinema - There's no new bars in town - You can't go for a walk, ride a bike, go to the gym, go shopping, etc - There's nobody besides that (small) group of researchers. People you'll have to see/tolerate every single day. - Food is pretty much the same always Really? That's not for me
A great friend of mine did a few summers and winters at McMurdo as support staff. > You can't go see a movie at the cinema There are tons of DVDs and projectors around, never mind laptops. > You can't go for a walk, ride a bike, go to the gym, go shopping, etc My friend would cross-country ski over to some other countries' base (China, I think) a few times a week, snowshoe regularly, and of course there is always bod…
> tons of vegetables
Wow really? On Kerguelen island vegetables were a rarity. We had fresh fruit for one, two weeks after a resupply (from Reunion island, they were actually among the best fruit I have ever had, and not only because they were the first after and before several months of no fruit at all) but apart from that, fruits vegetables were most of the time limited to potatoes, onions and increasingly bad apples and oranges (and that's when they didn't mistakenly put the fruits and vegetables in the -20°C storage). Really, I'm not sure how they could keep vegetables much better than we could.
(Delicious fresh meat and fish all year round though, but that's because we were not in a place as extreme as Antarctica)
Otherwise, I had much the same experience, with a dedicated "cinema" actually - just a building with a rather good projector and a computer with large storage.
But some people simply cannot imagine life outside the full society with all the amenities their are used too. It's fine, and much better for everyone if they already know it before leaving.
EDIT: oh right, "a few summers". Summers have all kind of things available that you really miss in winter. Our chef actually tried to limit the amount of good things he'd cook during the summer so the overwintering personnel would have it rather than those who were there for just a few months.
Re: Alcoholism in Antarctica
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
A great friend of mine did a few summers and winters at McMurdo as support staff. > You can't go see a movie at the cinema There are tons of DVDs and projectors around, never mind laptops. > You can't go for a walk, ride a bike, go to the gym, go shopping, etc My friend would cross-country ski over to some other countries' base (China, I think) a few times a week, snowshoe regularly, and of course there is always bod…
> tons of vegetables Wow really? On Kerguelen island vegetables were a rarity. We had fresh fruit for one, two weeks after a resupply (from Reunion island, they were actually among the best fruit I have ever had, and not only because they were the first after and before several months of no fruit at all) but apart from that, fruits vegetables were most of the time limited to potatoes, onions and increasingly bad appl…
Summers and winters.
I'm pretty sure all the vegetables were frozen, but IMO that's still fine.