The Dark, Disturbing Truth Of Working In Antarctica

In the depths of winter, there's nowhere on Earth you'd less like to be than Antarctica. Nope, not even Atlantic City. Winter in Antarctica is cold, with temperatures at McMurdo Station hovering around -30° Fahrenheit. Near Russia's Vostok station, it's been known to hit a bone-cracking -128° Fahrenheit. It's also darker than a gritty Netflix Archie Comics reboot. While some stations get a couple of hours' sunlight each day, those closest to the pole sit in eternal night. They're totally cut off from the outside world, meaning you're basically in the plot of The Thing. Unsurprisingly, that translates into severe mental pressure.

Over the decades, these winters have sent a number of people mad. In 1996, the Associated Press reported on three cooks at McMurdo who blew off steam in a brawl so bad the FBI had to investigate. Other stories include an Australian staffer who had to be locked in a storage room all winter to stop him attacking his coworkers, an Argentinian doctor who burned his base down, and a Soviet station where a game of chess escalated into one man attacking another with an axe.

Those are just the headline incidents. Every year, there are smaller tales of drunken fistfights, brawls, and random stabbings. Yes, stabbings. In 2018, a Russian researcher stabbed his roomie after suffering an emotional breakdown (via the Guardian). If the guys who grew up on a diet of freezing winters and vodka can't hack Antarctic winter, what hope do you have?

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