The big chill

Thu, 23 Jan 2003 20:01:00 +0000

The ice runway at McMurdo Station is not only at sea level, it is the sea -- the Ross Sea. The ice has been shaved so that planes can take off and land on the ocean's surface. I didn't know it at the time, but as I stepped from that frigid runway into an airplane headed for the South Pole, I was leaving behind the elements that would soon save my life: sea level and oxygen.

About five months ago I left Salt Lake City to live in Antarctica. I'm not an adventurer, world traveler or thrill seeker of any kind. I've never gotten a passport. Nonetheless, I was in the mood for a change when the National Science Foundation offered me a chance to occupy a windowless room in Antarctica and wash dishes for 981 people. The contract guaranteed a place to live, $4.88 an hour, and the opportunity to work 60 hours a week cleaning up after scientists in a town called McMurdo Station, 900 miles north of the South Pole. I took it.

Not long after I landed in McMurdo, my skills were needed at the science station at the South Pole. "You may not be the best dishwasher in McMurdo," my boss told me, "but you're the one I'd like to get rid of. You're on the next C-130 flight to the South Pole. Pack your bags."

Salon.com > Phil Jacobsen

The big chill