A Colorado auto mechanic decides to quit his job at an American car dealership for an unusual job in Antarctica, the coldest place on Earth.
According to SWNS, 33-year-old Jeff Capps traveled 9,000 miles around the world for work in Antarctica. Temperatures in Antarctica often reach -60 degrees Celsius, and it is pitch black for half the year.
He quickly applied for an $80,000-a-year mechanic job at the U.S. government-owned Amundsen-Scott Antarctic Research Station in 2019 and hasn't looked back since.
“One day, an old friend came to me and said they needed a mechanic to build snowmobiles in Antarctica, and I thought, 'I'll sign on!'” Capps said.
He told the magazine that one of the big attractions was that the job required him to stay in Antarctica for just six months, meaning he had “nearly no expenses for half the year.” .
The mechanic compared this unique job to being isolated from the outside world and located on a ship, with the nearest factory some 3,000 miles away.
“We call it a spacecraft because it's 1,100 miles from the next nearest research station,” he told SWNS. “We are completely isolated from everything.”
But just like life on board, the 43 people who live and work in the self-sufficient stations have everything they need on-site, including a chef to prepare their meals.
“If you don't open the door, you feel like you're in a nice hotel,” Capps said. “We have a great team of chefs. It's room temperature inside, so you can walk around in a T-shirt.”
The 43 staff and researchers become like a close-knit family during the six months they work and live together without much interaction with outsiders.
“You build a very close-knit community because you see the same people every day. It's all very good until you open the outside door, but then everything changes,” he says, highlighting the big drawbacks. He pointed out one thing.
Temperature near the South Pole observation point — description “The coldest, driest, windiest place on Earth” by NOAA. Winters average a bone-chilling -60 degrees Celsius, and Capps often works outside repairing the trucks and snowmobiles used by his crew.
The mercury once dropped to a shocking -76 degrees while mechanics were working in winter weather.
“You might think you're going to freeze to death instantly, but it's a dry cold, so it's actually not as serious as you think,” he says. “The worst thing you can do is feel a sharp burning sensation when the cold air hits your exposed skin. It feels like a knife is being stabbed into your skin.
Another element of extreme weather in Antarctica is the lack of sunlight. Six months of the year there is no sun and the remaining six months there is full sunlight. In winter the sun never rises and in summer the sun never sets.
“It gets weird outside in the winter. The sun sets once a year so it's always dark, half the year it's daylight and the other half it's dark,” Capps said.
But thanks to the darkness, the light of the south shines.
“We also see the Northern Lights almost every day. It's a good job if you can spot one,” the mechanic said.
Despite the darkness and isolation, Capps considers his professional social life to be one of the best aspects. He calls his station parties “legendary” and even met his partner Michelle at the station two years ago.
“We're all like a big family. Sometimes we argue, but we still respect each other,” he said. “We all say shit to each other, but then we all party and drink whiskey together.”
The six months of downtime allowed Capps and Michelle, who works as a caterer at a train station, to travel around the world together.
According to SWNS, they have visited New Zealand, Australia, Turkey, Dubai, UAE, Yemen and are currently in Oman. They plan to return to Antarctica next year.
