Every once in a while, you go somewhere and feel like you just belong. You just connect with the people. The culture speaks to your heart. The views take take your breath away and fill you with awe. All those feelings crystallized for me when I was introduced to Fuchs House.
Fuchs House is where the field guides work. The field guides take scientists out to their research sites, organize recreational trips, and train various people on how to get around Antarctica safely and efficiently. The building is filled with an assortment of outdoor gear – skis, snowboards, ice axes, pee bottles, paracord, portable stoves, snowmobiles, and the list goes on. And they encourage you to get trained to use all of them.
It’s exactly that spirit that draws me to this place. Rothera wants you to go out and explore. They want you to learn to ice climb. They want you go skiing. They want you to go out on the boats to go whale watching. People work hard here. They take their jobs seriously. But they also want to have fun in Antarctica. It’s a privilege to be here. We all know that. And we want to enjoy it as much as we can. Walking around Fuchs House made it clear that exploration isn’t just historical at Rothera, it’s alive and hiking today.
