Traveler Threads: Living and Working in Antarctica at the South Pole

Posted By Laryssa on Jan 7, 2014

Antarctica. Rugged, mysterious, magnificent, daring….freezing. The last frontier. Most know it’s possible to visit the outlying edges of Antarctica as a tourist (and even run marathons), but it’s even more expensive and difficult to make it all the way to the center of the continent, the bottom of the world: the South Pole. I’ve read a few travel bloggers‘ accounts of traditional tours of Antarctica, but I had never heard of anyone hanging out at the South Pole — that is, until Luke Magolda’s Facebook location changed one day to Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica. As I watched a stream of photos of the frozen tundra appear on my news feed, I exploded with excitement, curiosity, and awe — and immediately inundated the poor guy with questions. He graciously agreed to share his story, and I’m very excited to launch the first installment of Traveler Threads, featuring Luke and his current occupation at the South Pole. How did you hear about the program? What made you want to work in Antarctica? Well, I found out about the job while I was working in Iraq as a contractor a few years back. I think I just found it intriguing that almost anyone could go to Antarctica and work. Antarctica has always fascinated me but I never thought I would be able to go there. A friend of mine worked here during the 2011-2012 season and he seemed to love it. I applied in 2011 and received an alternate position but never a primary spot. (An alternate position is basically just a backup in case a primary contract holder backs out.) Explain your job at the South Pole — what do you do? I work in logistics and supply. Most cargo that arrives or goes out of the station goes through us first. The supplies are inventoried in the computer database and delivered to the different departments around the station as needed. It’s a very diverse job being that we spend a lot of time both outside and in the office. Most tourists get to Antarctica via ship leaving from Ushuaia, Argentina. How did you get to the South Pole? The USAP deployment headquarters for the majority of people deployed to Antarctica is in Christchurch, New Zealand. I arrived in New Zealand last October and spent roughly 3 days there preparing and briefing for the trip. We had a 5 hour flight on a C-17 Air Force cargo aircraft from Christchurch to McMurdo Station. McMurdo Station is on the coast of Antarctica on the Ross Sea. I spent roughly 3 days in McMurdo before I took a flight on an LC-130 to the South Pole. The flight was...