I worked down there in the 1990's. Note the following:
1) No overtime pay as they are exempt from US labor laws, prevailing wage laws also. No benefits other than travel to and from New Zealand with a tiny per diem while you wait for your military flight to McMurdo. Benefits available if you want to pay 100% out of your check. Nothing provided by contractor (Raytheon). I checked the pay scales for various welders and they were almost the same as they were 15 years ago when RJ was down there! I was shocked that the pay stayed the same as it wasn't that great even back then. They use the "completion bonus" to make darn sure you behave and hold it over your head like an axe in case you get snotty. The completion bonus is a huge part of your compensation package.
2) No tax benefits as in overseas exemption (see IRS rules listing Antarctica as being taxed the same as the USA)
3) Get drunk, stupid, get in a fight, argument with the wrong person, feed a penguin or seal, etc....fired on the spot with no recourse. You are also potenitally charged in international court for violations of the UN Antarctic Treaty. Assault someone and go to US Federal Prison. See federal "hammer assualt" case from 1996.
4) Get sick? Need to be medivaced? Read the book "ICE BOUND" by doctor Jerri Nielsen. don't expect to get the same treatment she got!
5) Food is many years old military surplus. Frozen crap that you would be sent to prison for serving to U.S. prison inmates. They feed it to you because they can get away with it as FDA rules don't apply in Antarctica. We called the mold on the cheese slices 'flavor crystals'.
6) Looking for LOVE? Many of the women are lesbians and they will more than likely be your boss also. this place is well known in lesbian cirlces as THE place to go for overseas love.
7) You WILL have a roomate and it won't be your choice who it is. As a newby, you'll get the worst housing available. Basically a closet with a single bed and a locking storgae closet. Bathroom down the hall! The "good" rooms have a shared bathroom between two rooms.
8) Are you a liberal hippy? If so, you'll fit in well. Lots of Occupy Wall Street types down there and you can knit a sweater from the armpit and leg hair off the smelly women.
The only positive is the free trip to New Zealand. You'll love it there but note that your base city of Christchurch NZ was pretty much ruined by earthquakes last year so it's not that nice these days. I suggest you go for the short Nov-Feb hit and see if you like it. Winter over is great if you can take -50F and total darkness for 6 months. again, make sure you don't get sick as there's no way to get you out. Hope this helps.
Chose McMurdo for modern living (if you call it that), south pole for adventure and the worst working conditions you will ever encounter on the planet. Note that the south pole is also somthing like 10,000 ft above sea level so altitude issues will make you sick if you come from a sea level place. McMurdo is at sea level. If you work outdoors, you'll be able to EAT all the food you want and you will still lose weight. Your body burns massive calories just heating the air you breath. It's awesome to be able to eat anything you want and still lose weight BUT the food was so poor and OLD that you didn't want to eat it. I ate MRE's often or dried stuff. The food was that bad.
If they really NEED a welder and you really want to go, you can INSIST they find a job for your wife, girlfirend, etc. They always keep a few cleaning or simlilar positions open until the last minute just in case someone insists they won't come unless they find a position for your wife. DO NOT BE AFRAID to push this issue especially if you are winter overing. Note that many guys will be hitting on your wife/girlfriend when you are not around and even unattractive women are known as a 'McMurdo 10". The key phrase when it comes to women on the Ice is to 'Go Ugly Early".
PM me for additonal info.
I know one thing is for sure I will be surrounded by Liberals. I do need to loose weight actually a lot of it, I've worked in about -60 degree weather well that was with the wind chill, it was harsh but went from about 210 to 180 it was great.
The one thing that concerns me to be honest is really the roommate situation I have had them before and never worked out. Almost kinda want a winter over since john Knox said that I'd be able to probably get my own room but no you're right try a summer over to see if I actually like it. Lesbians I know that one, i worked at a ski resort in Colorado it was full of them. Woman that were more butch then I was that was sca
John said to me in an email that yes the South Pole is about 10,000 foot and that is what I read and that Mcmurdo was lower in elevation. I had a problem about 9 years ago when I moved to Colorado I got altitude sickness really bad and that was the major weight loss I had from 210 well to about 170 I think then back to 180 or so. I remember I drank a half a beer and i was DRUNK took a while to get over that so that is why I emailed back with my first choice to be McMurdo. They say there are pills you can take 24 hours in advance that help with altitude sickness but have no idea if they work.
I just want some dam adventure tied of living in the same BS everyday, I miss the adventure to be honest so no over time fine by me it still pays more then alot of the place around here anyways.
I do appreciate though the advice and if i can go will try the summer thing first. I have heard there is alcohol there so that will make life easier lol
Thanks
Chris
I still may know some people down there or in CO where they hire and if you need some info, let me know. Do you know the name of the facilities guy who is hiring you? Winter over is the way to go if you don't like people. You will get your own room in winter at McMurdo but I don't know about the Pole. They shut down most of the station for the winter and the population goes from about 1200 to around 200 or so. I think they keep 2 housing buildings open and winterize the rest. It's just maintenance/construction for the most part in the winter and the pace is real laid back compared to the summer. We did the pipe line when I was there. Lots of heat recovery work also. Pretty basic pipe stuff and a great place to learn.
One way to do it is take the McMurdo hit and then volunteer to go to the Pole for any work that may come up. I know one guy who did that. He went to the Pole for about 6 weeks and came back to McMurdo before winter. We didn't even recognize him as he lost about 50 pounds and his cloths were all torn up and stuff. Looked like he'd been in sustained combat or something. McMurdo has lots of wildlife once the icebreaker comes in. When I was there, they let us go out on the icebreaker for the day with the coastguard. The ship was massive. Called the USAG Polar Star and it was 400 feet long. The whales are unreal and you can see (and hear) a half dozen or more right from the shore while we worked on the pipeline. Minke whales, maybe a sperm whale and MANY Orcas. I saw a 'pod' of 8 killer whales at one time and have the vidoe to prove it. Very rare to see that many orcas. I've also seen them eat penguins. Lepord seals, weddell seals, Adelie penguins and possibly some Emporers if you stay right to the end of the summer season. The birds are called Skuas and are a cross between a hawk and a seagull. They are savage scavengers and fearless of humans. There is ZERO wildlife at the Pole. Nothing but flat ice as far as the eye can see.
Watch it on the drinking as it can catch up to you fast in those conditions. Lots of people become raging drunks down there. Plus they really rape you on the prices from the company run store. I stayed out of the bars and saved every single penny I made except for the booze I took back to the room to closet drink with the few friends I had. I bought nothing other than a sweatshirt from the coastguard cutter and zippo lighter with the antarctica logo on it. I put all my stuff in storage back home, took the car off the road, and had no bills to pay at all. I think I spent less than $500 in 7 months the last time I was down there. Paid off all my debt and credit cards and have never been in debt since. I know one guy who spent less than $20 for the whole time he was down there and that was a full year! He just worked out in the gym and stayed to himself. Remember, it's not how much you EARN but how much you SAVE! that's what he told me...
I went down twice. First time was great, second time was a huge mistake and I hated it. When you get off the ice, you can get a return ticket voucher with an open ended date so you can hang out in NZ or use the money for additional travel. I went to Australia also as it's only a three hour flight from NZ.
Make sure your TEETH are in great shape or they will reject you. You haven't lived until you get an absess tooth in the middle of winter with no dentist available. I was never so sick in my life and it really ruined the last months of my second time down there. For some reason, people get serious teeth problems down there even if they have perfect oral hygien. Soemthing to do with breathing the cold dry air? Who knows. Good luck and PM me for any other info. I've tried talking the wife into going down for the summer and the free trip to NZ but she's too scared to quit her job in this environment.
Commonar I can't even say I'm hired because I got an email response saying there interested in me and I wrote back said yes I still want the job and that I wanted to work at Mcmurdo for first choice and that was it, hopefully will hear something next week about it. There probably going through my resume calling all my previous employers right now before they call me back.
I seriously need to loose some dam weight it'll be the best dam weight watchers clinic ever lol
Sad to say this but yeah I'm probably more like you I'm not someone to go to the bar and get hammered to pick a fight not me sorry. I'm more a closet drinker haha have a few get a buzz and chill with friends back at the dorm or what ever.
I always go to the dentist every 6 months for a cleaning and x-rays to make sure my teeth aren't rotting. Brush and floss twice a day. Tell ya what I bet wearing a respirator whether you're indoors welding or outdoors would be a good thing down there simply for the fact you may keep your face fairly warm and your lungs healthy to.
I really have no debt, no kids, just a dog and a car payment and few other little things. friends probably think I'm crazy for doing this and well I am I guess but if it wasn't for us crazy's this world would be pretty dam boring. I just hope someone will call back to get the ball rollin.
Thanks for all that great info
That's good info right there. I know when I was talking to them, and got a phone call from a fella on McMurdo one night. We talked for a few minutes and then I asked what the pay was. I ended the conversation after he told me. Told him I was going to need to get paid enough where my wife could take her car and get it repaired while I was away from the world for 6 months to a year. He told me the pay was not so great but most did it for bragging rights. Told him bragging rights won't put food on the table and could make more fiddle fartin' around the house.
I was unaware of the taxes thing. Sounds kind of odd that they are worried about sucking taxes from my arse while I'm there but feed me rot gut and have no "jurisdiction" when it comes to other things. Think I'll just stick to pictures!
Yeah the oveseas tax exemption thing was a "grey area" for some time until the IRS cracked down hard. Many were claiming they were working in the Ross Dependency, as in part of Antarctica claimed by New Zealand many decades ago. Since nobody 'owns' Antarctica, it's not technically a foreign country. They use the same IRS rules that apply to orbiting astronauts who worked on skylab. They were taxed by the IRS because space is not owned by a foreign country and you are using U.S. facilities as your home. Same goes for the Antarctica as McMurdo is a U.S. base operated by the NSF.
The IRS went after hundreds of people for back taxes in the early 2000's and some fought it. The IRS won all of them. They had to pay back taxes.
My tax accountant showed me the list of "foreign countries" listed by the IRS as qualifying for the Foreign Country Exemption. Antractica is NOT listed nor is the Ross Dependency. I paid my taxes when I was down there,,,many did not and they were prosecuted by the IRS. Listen to the so-called tax experts at McMurdo at your own peril. FWIW.
Good point. I don't know about current law, but 20 years ago , to be exempt You had to be CLEARD IN to a forign country for at least 330 days out of the calander year. Time spent at sea was counted the same as time in the US.
When in doubt, just pay the taxes. If you get information in the future that you overpaid, file a amended return and get the money back.
Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / McMurdo or South pole which is best to work at???
