Swiss engineer in Antarctica prepares for tough winter months
The short summer is over and now comes the long Antarctic winter. It is Thomas Schenk’s job to ensure that the winter months pass without mishap at Neumayer III polar station.
Spending a year in the loneliest place on earth and surviving a seemingly endless polar night, with no way of leaving if things get too much: this is what Thomas Schenk from Switzerland has set out to do.
Schenk has been stationed at Neumayer III research station in Antarctica since late 2024. He is responsible for technical management of the polar station over the winter months. As such, he must see to it that the people and equipment survive the winter in the icy desert.
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We reach Schenk via video call. He is in a storage room. “It’s very busy right now,” he says. “The station is full to capacity, so it’s not easy to find a quiet spot.” More than 50 people live at Neumayer III during the summer, which in the Antarctic lasts roughly from late November until early March. After that, things quieten down and it gets much less crowded: Schenk and another eight people will be staying on for eight more months, until a new team arrives.
Around 5,000 people live in Antarctica in summer and just over 1,000 in winter. They are scattered across dozens of stations over the entire continent, which at 14 million square kilometres (5.5 million square miles) is larger than Europe or Australia. Almost the entire surface of Antarctica is covered by ice, which is on average 2,000m (6,562ft) thick. Were all the ice to melt, it is estimated that the sea level would rise by nearly 60m.
The climate in Antarctica is the coldest in the world, although there are large regional differences across the continent. In summer, temperatures around Neumayer III can go up to 0°C (32°F), while in winter they can drop as low as -50°C (-58°F). Fierce storms can also rage for weeks on end.
Only for the last two years has there been strong enough internet in Antarctica to make video calls. The connection is made using Starlink. “But we still have contact via other satellites and radio, so communication is not a problem,” Schenk says.
Nevertheless, the station is physically inaccessible for three quarters of the year. When, in early March, the last ship leaves and the last plane takes off, the team is left to their own devices. In winter, there are no more arrivals or departures, the seawater freezes and weather conditions are such that no aircraft can land. Travelling to the next station would take up to 20 hours by snowcat. But in any case, with temperatures between -30°C and -40°C and gale-force winds, undertaking such a journey would be unthinkable.
“You have to keep telling yourself that,” says Schenk. The hustle and bustle of the summer months can make you forget where you are. But that all changes when the Antarctic winter sets in: “the long darkness”, as Schenk calls it.
Eight months of winter at -50°C
During the short summer window, researchers collect data and carry out experiments. Four members of the winter team continue the research in winter. Neumayer III is the base for extensive polar and sea-ice research by Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute, as well as for expeditions into the Antarctic ice desert. The region is considered remote, even by the standards of the southern continent.
Neumayer III is located on the so-called Ekström Ice Shelf, close to the shores of the Weddell Sea. The ice shelf moves naturally, so it is assumed that the station’s subsurface will one day break off as an iceberg. The polar station stands on a platform held up by 16 hydraulic supports, meaning that the building can be raised periodically. Neumayer III is due to remain in operation until at least 2035.
As operations engineer, Schenk is in charge of technical management through the winter months. It is his job to keep everything running, from the snowcats to the sanitary facilities to the machine that turns snow and ice into drinking water for the station. “We are well equipped,” he says. “But if anything breaks down in the depths of winter and we don’t have the spare parts, then I’ll have to come up with something.”
Schenk grew up in the village of Madiswil in the canton of Bern. He completed an apprenticeship as a construction machinery mechanic, became an officer in the Swiss army, and then went on to study mechanical engineering. This was followed by further training courses. He also spent long periods of time abroad, whether for travel – for instance, he cycled from Morocco to Gambia – or for work, for example in tunnel building in Norway.
“Extreme cold, raging storms, and the seemingly endless polar night”: this is how the Alfred Wegener Institute describesExternal link the surroundings of its Neumayer III research station. Why did Schenk want to spend a year here? “A thirst for adventure, of course,” he says. “But also the opportunity to test my knowledge and skills. Professionally, this position is an exciting challenge.”
Spending winter in the inhospitable Antarctic environment may smack of inactivity and boredom, but Schenk insists that this is not the case. For one thing, he will have normal working hours, with one day off a week when he can do sports, do something with the other team members, or even build an igloo. This said, “previous wintering teams have warned us that you plan to do a lot of things but end up doing only half. After all, there is work to be done.”
Legally complicated territory
From a legal point of view, Schenk is living in a kind of no man’s land. This is because, under international law, many questions remain unanswered about the southernmost continent. The Antarctic Treaty of 1959 stipulates that Antarctica may not be used for military or industrial purposes, but is reserved for scientific research. The agreement also suspended the territorial claims of various countries. Norway, for example, lays claim to the area where Neumayer III is located.
Schenk is employed by the German shipping company F. Laeisz, which is responsible for logistics and maintenance at the polar station. So is he now actually a Swiss Abroad? Schenk sighs. He has contacted various authorities, but none were able to provide clear information. He is still registered as living in Switzerland, even though he works for a German company at a German research station on the southern continent, in a region claimed by Norway. Antarctica is complicated.
For all the region’s remoteness, however, if something really big were to happen in the world, Schenk would be one of the first to know. This is because the station has seismometers and an infrasound station. So if, for instance, a nuclear bomb were detonated somewhere or a major earthquake occurred, the nine people on Neumayer III would know immediately – and possibly also be in the safest place in the world.
Edited by Benjamin von Wyl. Adapted from German by Julia Bassam/gw
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