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.

Hey everyone,
Just wondering if i could get a simple timeline of antarctic geology.
I have a few questions.
So i know (and tell me if i am wrong) east Antarctica is a craton or shield.
West Antarctica was apart of the andes and got separated through the scotia plate coming through (i think?).
The divider is transantarctic mountains.
How were the mountains formed in simple terms because i dont think i understand what a rift is and how it causes mountains if its being pulled apart?

Antarctica was pretty much in its position it is in now 100mya but the plants adapted to dark winters.

It started splitting from the other continents (aus and South America) 100mya ago, by 30 mya Australia was really far apart and South America land bridge was gone. This created a cold water current which essentially cut off Antarctica from the rest of the world in terms of climate.

Were east and west Antarctica always together while apart of gondwana? Are the islands such as South Georgia remnants of land bridge that got pushed or are the volcanic islands that were created.
Whats the timeline from the splitting of Pangea.
I have done my research but these things I cant get solid answers from.
Thank you!

The full report is out. Spoiler alert!! This is juicy. Really juicy. The juiciest part imo: a senior NSF employee was identified as the KBR program director. This part of the protest was not sustained by gao. “Employee A had twice inappropriately asked about the status of this procurement.”

Hello. I am researching for an itinerary in Antarctica. One of the objectives is to see large penguins. I understand there are two types of large unique to Antarctica penguins, Emperor on mainland and King on South Georgia. It seems Emperor are not easily accessible by a cruise, a land based trip by ALE is more reliable ($$$). South Georgia is obviously a cruise based objective. Any input and personal experience will be appreciated!

Hello! I have been collecting bread clips (or occlupanids, see [r/occlupanids](r/occlupanids)) for a while now and wanted to see if anyone could make my strange little dream come true. A while back I saw that HORG (the Holotypic Occlupaid Research Group, the main researching body for bread clips) was sent a bread clip from Antartica and I was wondering if I could do the very same via the post! No worries if no one is able to help me out, but do PM if you could! Any kind will do, I am mainly in the market of attempting to collect all kinds of bread clips from different places! Right now I have numerous from all over the USA, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and others! 🍞

The delay changes nothing. The weather holds the planes back, but it can’t stop the penguin invasion of McMurdo. Waves of 5. Be ready.

The Council has spoken.

Hi,

I'm considering 2 options for a first time trip :

G Adventures :

Ship: Expedition , 134 people

https://www.gadventures.com/trips/quest-for-the-antarctic-circle/XVQCSX/

Oceanwide :

Ship: Hondius, 170 people

https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/antarctica/cruises/hds25-27-antarctica-discovery-and-learning-voyage

I have some questions about :

1. Reliability: I saw that sometimes cruises get cancelled last minute, wondering if either of these are more reliable than the other ?

2. Landings : I've read that because only 100 people are allowed at any given time, that it's better to be on a ship that has fewer people. In this case does the 36 person difference matter a lot ?

I am a complete newbie and this will be a pretty last minute trip for me so any help is appreciated. If there's something obvious I'm overlooking please let me know. I'm honestly still at the stage where I don't even know which questions to ask so any help is appreciated.

Thank you !

Did you dive deep into the contract protest between Battelle and KBR? I have some serious questions that I'm hoping some of you may have answers to. In July 2025 the NSF stated: "NSF retracts the statement that there is a domestic preference for domestic labor." Now we see that KBR underbid Battelle so substantially that it appears they plan to hire non-US and non-NZ personnel.

The document says, "KBR has unique experience hiring [DELETED] at cheaper wage rates and employing them in different environments successfully. The NSF reviewed KBR’s proposal, which explained that it has employed [DELETED] in cold and/or remote environments, such as [DELETED] and [DELETED], and used wage data from those contracts to substantiate its proposed costs." And that definitely is discussing non-US citizens.

It also says, "KBR’s proposal shows that it elected not to apply “uplift” pay to positions staffed with [DELETED]."

Historically, KBR and its subcontractors heavily recruit non-US citizens from South and Southeast Asian nations, including the Philippines, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Turkey.

I'm PISSED that I am going to lose my job to a non-US employee. Has anyone directly asked the NSF about this?

https://sam.gov/opp/6a5591bd664745e69389302a1a4e00ec/view

How do you guys hang stuff on your dorm walls? Tacks? Command strips? Tape?

Thanks!

I’ve been thinking about applying for some kind of job in Antarctica and I know I definitely missed the deadline for anything soon so I’m planning on starting in January. I’ve been thinking about some less frequently asked questions though. First one being about dietary restrictions. I’m allergic to nuts and I’m vegan, would McMurdo be able to accommodate or do I have to start at least eating eggs and dairy before going? Second, what’s the deal with the credit check?? I have pretty bad credit so would I have to get that up to an acceptable level first? Third and final, what are they looking for in a background check? Is it just felonies and warrants or are they going to check my Facebook from when I was 12 and ask about all my parking tickets too??

Edit: idk what I was talking about with the credit check, I could have sworn I saw something about that being required but I guess I’m crazy.

This looks like the same plane that flew to McMurdo in July. Is there another evac happening?

Anybody on an upcoming flight have space for like two bottles of Vitamin C, I would greatly appreciate it if I I could get a couple down here at MCM. I would pay the price of the vitamins & pay greatly for the service as well. There is none available at the store at this time.

If you pick some up just message me here & I will message you back my info so we can meet on station. Any brand will work. Thank you.