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I’m currently working at the Pole, and just got word the other day that I’ve been offered a winter position at McMurdo! However, my boss here at Pole flat-out told me that if I winter, I can’t come back to the Pole next summer.
Is this true? I know other people have done it (my boss, for one), so I can’t imagine it’s true, just maybe not very easy? I couldn’t find any info, but someone told me that you have to be off-Ice for something like 60 days after you Winter. I know Winfly is mid- to late-August at McM, and Mainbody is sometime in September, and then the season at Pole begins around November 1 (well, it did this year), so I feel like I could get 60 days of off-Ice time in there.
I love working at the Pole. It’s an amazing experience, and I really want to return next Summer. Is it at all possible if I Winter, or should I just not even bother? (And does anyone have any advice on how to do it?)
It does get in your blood, doesn’t it?
You can do a summer-winter back to back, but you cannot go directly into a summer position from winter. You have to be off the ice for 21 days after a winter deployment. I spent last winter at Pole and then was an alternate for a summer position at McM, but I was told I had to leave the ice for at least 21 days before I could come back. That off-ice period may be longer if you have done a summer-winter, I don’t know.
If you have only done part of one bright, warm, short, sunny summer don’t just assume you would really want do another 13 months without a break. Winter is a whole ‘nother animal.
You may have to stay off longer than 21 days. I seem to remember that the 21 day rule was if you spent a winter not a full year before redepolying. When I did a year and then come back for a summer. I had to leave at winfly and be away 2 months. Not sure what the current rules are.
I think Mike’s right. I keep hearing that you have to be off the Ice for at least 60 days after pulling a summer-winter contract. After watching some of the winter-overs leave at the beginning of this summer, you’re pretty cooked after 12-14 months. Add another 4-6 months ON TOP of that if you pulled a summer straight after being down here for a year, and you’ll probably revert to some caveman-like communication method.
If you don’t do it already when you first arrive, that is….
-Brandon
I believe it. i don’t think 21 days would be enough after a full year on the ice. What they wanted me to do after winter was spend three weeks in NZ, get PQ’d again, and then hop on a C-17 back to McM without a trip to the States. It didn’t happen and I was a bit relieved.
My son is down there now wintering. He came down this past winfly, did a summer season, now doing a winter season, thinking about the next season, summer. From what I understand, he has to come off the Ice for two months, if he wants to come back.
We’ll see if he wants to come back that soon. I think he’s going to want to travel, not come back in two months.
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