Would You Got To The South Pole?

[Markxxx]

If someone offered you an all expense paid trip to the South Pole, so you could visit the research station, would you go? We'll assume it's during the summer there and you'd stay one or two days then leave.

Would you go?

I would go, though I'd be a bit nervous about going so far.

Still if I could go and it didn't cost, I couldn't pass up the chance

[dangermom]

Are you kidding? Of course I'd go!

(Neat factoid: my mom's old college roomie and good friend lived in an experimental station down there for a while as a simulation of a Mars trip.)

[silenus]

Oh hell yes! In an ice-cold second. That's one continent that most people never get to check off their list.

[Attack from the 3rd dimension]

Went to Antarctica when I was a grad student. I'd go again in a second.

[enipla]

Sure. I came this >.< close to accepting a job at McMurdo 19 years ago. I took the job I'm still in instead.

It was close. Real close. It would have been a 6 month stint, the money was terrible, but what the hell. I would have been a gopher with construction, computer and cold weather search and rescue experience.

[Kyla]

A friend of mine went to Antarctica in December. His pictures are AMAZING. I would go in a second.

[Sage Rat]

I almost went to Antarctica, but I don't believe that the trip was going to go all of the way to the pole. More annoyingly is that if I'd gone, I'd have visited every continent since the trip included South America as well.

[Arrendajo]

So far I am the only "not sure" vote. For me it would depend on the details. I hate cold, and I think that's one thing Antarctica has plenty of. I don't like being cooped up, and I can't imagine I'd want to spend much time outdoors. Unless I had the opportunity to participate in something really special (like unearthing an alien spacecraft) I think I'm content to just read about Antarctica. Though if I could go anywhere on the continent it would be the south pole.

[Happy Poster]

Hell yes

Be bloody insane not to go there.

I had an aquaintance whose wife was a receptionist at the British Antartic Survey. After a couple of years she was allowed to go out there for a few months, to do general admin work.

So if anyone here is desperate to go and has no skills - do that :)

[Sunspace]

Sure, I'll go.

It can't be that much colder than Saskatchewan...

[AClockworkMelon]

Wouldn't go. Completely uninterested.

[EvilTOJ]

I would totally go! Just for a day or two? Hell I'd stay a month! The others might end up killing me and grinding my bones to make their bread.

[outlierrn]

Um, this is a question? Hell yes, but just a couple of days, you're sure we can't, ya know, start at the pole and get picked up where Shakelton spent the winter? Or vice versa

[Max the Immortal]

Yes, unless my benefactors are gonna be dicks and deny me motorized transportation there and back.

[Rushgeekgirl]

No desire whatsoever.

[Quartz]

Absolutely I'd go.

[BigBertha]

No way. With my luck, the plane would never show up and so on.

[Superhal]

I'm only going there if they pay me, and it better be a lot of money.

[even sven]

I'd go. I wouldn't mind saying I've visited all of the continents, but I'd never pay the money it takes to get down there just for bragging rights. One someone else's dime? Sure!

[Xema]

I'd certainly go.

I've met several people who've been, each of whom thought it was one of the most beautiful places he'd ever seen.

[Hanna]

Absolutely. I'd like to go even if I didn't get an all-expense paid trip. I'd love to work there if given the chance.

[ErinPuff]

Hell no. I hate being cold.

[GuanoLad]

Probably not. I don't like the cold. I used to live pretty close to the Antarctic (southern tip of New Zealand) and that was bad enough. But if there was some substance to the trip to motivate me, I'd consider it.

[hogarth]

If I thought the folks down there would be happy to see me, then sure. If I thought that I was going to just get in the way of serious work and be a pain in the ass, then no.

[Suburban Plankton]

Absolutely.

If all expenses were going to be paid, I'd go just about anywhere (active war-zones being about the only exception I can think of)

[Oakminster]

Can't really see myself passing up a free trip to a unique place. Or the opportunity to post an "Ask the guy that's been to the South Pole" thread.

[Knorf]

Are you kidding? Absolutely I'd go. Expenses paid! Antarctica!

[panache45]

I would jump at the opportunity. It's one of the places in the world that I'd most want to go to, but probably never will.

[Magiver]

Not only no but hell no. Snow and unbearable cold does not a vacation make. It would be like an invitation to climb Mt Everest.

[DMark]

No way in hell!
Not if you paid me to go.
Hate cold and snow, and it is not like there is some wonderful resort there where I could sit around by the pool under a dome and look out.
I have lived in Chicago, NYC and Berlin - and if I never see another snowflake in my life, I will be quite happy. (We have had snow here in Las Vegas about three times in the past 11 years - for about an hour or so - and that is more than enough!)

Plus, I recall that horror flight with all those people killed (Australian airlines?) who were taking some insane flight just to look out at the snow and drink champagne on the plane while flying over the South Pole - the mere idea sends shivers up my spine thinking of it.

[Boyo Jim]

I wouldn't need to actually step outside, would I?

I would go if I could travel as if in a spaceship -- I am sealed off from the environment at all times. This includes the initial landing -- the plane needs to go into a heated hangar before the door opens, or some heated transfer vehicle seals to the plane door and then seals to the residence.

[Dereknocue67]

I voted 'No' because there are three things I dislike about traveling.

1. Traveling there.
2. Being there.
3. Returning from there.

Other than that, I'm packed!

[Edward The Head]

I hate, hate, hate the cold, and I'd still go.

[gotpasswords]

We have ATMs at McMurdo. I'd try to finagle a deal with whoever services them to let me change the receipt paper or something.

[Paul in Qatar]

It snows there. No thanks.

[Moonlitherial]

I am very anti winter, but for a couple of days I'm in! I can just imagine the pictures I'd come home with :)

[RTFirefly]

I'd do it in a heartbeat.

[Magiver]

How is this a vacation site (http://evs.astate.edu/Dowling/images/SouthPoleStation.JPG)? In fairness, it wasn't posted as a vacation question but what justifies the desire to see snow and experience severe temperatures?

I'd rather take an Alaskan glacier cruise.

[Sunspace]

We have ATMs at McMurdo.What bank are they on? Or are they third-party machines with a convenience fee of $20*? :) For that matter, what currency do they give out?

*Sorry about that convenience fee, but every time the ATM runs out, we have to send a team from New Zealand...

[Ellen Cherry]

Of course I'd go! I, too, hate the cold but if someone were paying, I don't see how I could pass up the opportunity to go to someplace so unique! I've been thinking about it off and on, what it would be like to go there, for a few months since seeing the story in Wired of the various stations there and what they look like.

[Mr. Excellent]

It snows there. No thanks.

Actually, I don't believe it snows very often there. Most of Antarctica is a desert, albeit a very very cold one.

[Tastes of Chocolate]

Heck yes, sign me up!
Better yet, let me stay a month and I'll be gopher for some kind of research.

[Gagundathar]

If someone were available to take care of my lovely bride, then I would go in a flash.
It looks like I will have to go to the Philippines in a couple of months for 3 weeks and it is hot as hell there and I am NOT looking forward to it.
Antarctica would be easier on me because I love the cold and hate the heat.
And that is really weird since I was born in Atlanta well before AC was common.

[Angel of the Lord]

During the summer? Hell-fucking-no. In the winter? Well. . .that promises auroras. I'd be sorely tempted. But they'd have to have really good internet, or the deal's off.

[Cunctator]

Plus, I recall that horror flight with all those people killed (Australian airlines?) who were taking some insane flight just to look out at the snow and drink champagne on the plane while flying over the South Pole - the mere idea sends shivers up my spine thinking of it.Air New Zealand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_New_Zealand_Flight_901)

[Johnny L.A.]

Are you kidding? Of course I'd go!

Oh hell yes! In an ice-cold second.

I'd go again in a second.

I would go in a second.

Hell yes

Be bloody insane not to go there.

Um, this is a question? Hell yes...

Absolutely I'd go.

I'd do it in a heartbeat.

^ What they said.

[notfrommensa]

I have never been to any place exotic, so yes I would go. for only a couple days.

[Cat Fight]

I know a few guys who were stationed there doing research and they seem pretty nerdy and cool, not too bad to hang out with. Apparently they watched lots and lots of DVDS. Got soused regularly. Kept food in nature's freezer. Did not go through that huge supply of condoms. (http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/weird/condoms-for-south-pole/story-e6frep26-1111116580819)

[KarlGrenze]

Air New Zealand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_New_Zealand_Flight_901)

Thank you, I did not know this... and I have to admit of getting a morbid curiosity of passing by that area... but not by plane. No, not going to Antartica by plane.

Although I put "not sure"... I don't like the cold, but I would like to see the little "villages" were researchers live that include small one-room schools for their kids...

[Magiver]

I know a few guys who were stationed there doing research and they seem pretty nerdy and cool, not too bad to hang out with. Apparently they watched lots and lots of DVDS. Got soused regularly. Kept food in nature's freezer. Did not go through that huge supply of condoms. (http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/weird/condoms-for-south-pole/story-e6frep26-1111116580819) I would think they would be useful because once the plane leaves you're pretty much screwed.

[NinetyWt]

Oh HELL no. That would be a travel nightmare for me. Too much time in the air, or even way too much more time trapped on a ship. You could not pay me to travel that far.

[gotpasswords]

What bank are they on? Or are they third-party machines with a convenience fee of $20*? :) For that matter, what currency do they give out?

*Sorry about that convenience fee, but every time the ATM runs out, we have to send a team from New Zealand...
Like most any other ATM - $20 bills.

They are Wells Fargo ATMs, and there's no surcharge - apparently that was a condition set by Raytheon, who owns pretty much everything on the ice down there.

Apparently they're really big on recycling there - even the cash that's spent eventualy gets recycled back into the ATM since there's a roughly 10-month lead time to plan a service call.

More about the ATMs here. (http://www.needcoffee.com/2010/01/12/antarctica-atm-interview/)

[Jammer]

I plan to eventually pay to go myself, so taking a freebie seems like a no-brainer. For some strange reason, I've always wanted to see Antartica.

[Magiver]

I'm still missing the thrill involved with the trip. The shelters where the scientists stay are nothing but quonset type structures. There isn't going to be anything interesting in them to look at. There is nothing to look at outside. A trip to the nearest boat dock would be more interesting in every sense of the word.

What am I missing here?

[Snowboarder Bo]

Heck, I'd go to the south pole if even if I had to pay for it.