Alum flies MSU flag in frigid Antactica

By Erin Wrinkle

If you thought Wichita Falls was lacking entertainment, then how would you like to live in Antarctica?

Antarctica only has two bars. Now doesn’t that make Wichita Falls look like a big city?

MSU graduate Clinton Kidwell knows all too well what living in Antarctica is like.

“Antarctica is known as the coldest, windiest, driest place on the planet,” Kidwell said.

“No one actually lives in Antarctica,” said the former grad. “But there are normally about 1,200 scientists and support personnel who are working there during the summer, and about 100 of the employees stay during the winter,” said Kidwell.

With that many people around it’s hard to get lonely, but the 57-year-old said he does get homesick.

Kidwell spends most of the year in Antarctica working for Scientific Research Corporation (SCIRES), a corporation that controls air traffic.

“They are always looking for experienced personnel,” said Kidwell about SCIRES. “I applied for the job and was accepted based on my experience.”

SCIRES employees work during the months of August through February, which is known as the austral summer.

Kidwell recalled the scariest part of his excursion to Antarctica as the flight because once you are around the icy desert, there is nowhere to land if the plane has engine trouble.

He travels on plane from Austin to San Francisco to Christchurch, New Zealand then finally to McMurdo Station, Antarctica.

“We fly commercial to Christchurch then on a C-17 military transport to McMurdo Station.”

Although the weather is harsh, Kidwell wasn’t scared to embrace the coldness.

“We go through survival training in case we are ever caught out in open.”

Luckily the base camp is fully heated and insulated. The McMurdo has its own water and power plant, making it the Taj Mahal of Antarctica.

Since it’s daylight 24 hours a day during summer, employees literally work around the clock.

After working as a civilian controller for the FAA for twenty-four years, Kidwell retired. “I now work for a couple of independent contractors,” he said.

With the temperature between five to twenty degrees Fahrenheit, it’s not surprising that their food and other necessities must come from other locations. The employees are cared for by aircrafts. Food, supplies and other amenities are carried and shipped many times before reaching the final destination.

The temperature can drop to below 20 degrees at the main base camp if a cold front comes through.

The main base camp is the McMurdo Station, which is a former Navy base along the Antarctic coast. Now the camp is managed by the National Science Foundation.

This past January, Kidwell was able to travel to the South Pole station and stay there for two days.

During his time at the South Pole, the temperature was between -30 to -40 degrees.

Kidwell said it was a very special time for him to be there because 2012 marked the 100th year anniversary of the conquest of the South Pole.

He put MSU on the map during his adventure by displaying a banner from his alma mater at the South Pole.

Besides enjoying the beautiful landscapes of Antarctica, Kidwell said he enjoys reading, exploring when the weather is good, taking lots of pictures, and playing chess, backgammon and cribbage tournaments.

Sadly no visitors are allowed on base so he has to keep in touch with his family via internet, phone calls and snail mail.

Kidwell wants to go back to Antarctica and work at the McMurdo Station camp a few more times, but not this coming season.

“I loved working in Antarctica. It was an incredible adventure that few get to experience,” he said.

Kidwell graduated from MSU with a BA in Journalism in 1981.

The Quanah native is married to his best friend Barbara and has two daughter and two step-daughters.