I worked on IceCube. Was at the South Pole for a little over a month. Wild once in a lifetime experience. And if I am being honest I was terribly bored after the first 2 weeks. Its very flat and white and cold and not much to do. I was asked to go back the next year and I said no.

We hire two people to stay over the winter and operate the detector each year. No icecube affiliation or physics background required, although a technical background helps.

I had a professor who talked about working there. In his words, “Thank God for whiskey!”

While there is some romantic imagery (penguins!) down there, and the disconnect from the rest of the world might be appealing, for large parts of the year you’re just stuck inside.