Ted’s Antarctica Adventure

Our most recent retiree, Ted Juntilla, has been given the opportunity of a lifetime to land survey in Antarctica for the next 6 months! Ted traveled through Christchurch New Zealand on his way to the ice, where he randomly met and had breakfast with the Mayor of Christchurch. A few days later he and his team landed on Antarctica on September 19th and at times have been facing bone-chilling temperatures of -136 degrees with the wind chill. In an email Ted wrote “I made it to the ice today and all I can say is WOW what a place. It’s white, barren and tree-less but just the simple beauty of it all is unbelievable”. Recently we heard from Ted that the sun has finally broke over the horizon on the South Pole, so temperatures are rising to a “mild” -23 degrees. Ted is stationed at the McMurdo Station in Antarctica and is approximately 18 hours ahead of us here in Grand Junction. Ted said the days consist of 17 hours of sunlight, and are getting longer as summer approaches. The McMurdo Station is the largest Antarctic station for scientific research. It was established by the National Science Foundation in 1955, built on the bare volcanic rock on Ross Island, the solid ground farthest south that is accessible by ship (850 miles north of the South Pole). Follow our Facebook page for more updates on Ted’s Antarctica Adventure!