The Norwegian Polar Institute has somewhat of a luxury problem when it comes to selecting the next crew to overwinter at its all-year research station Troll in the Antarctic. 209 persons have applied for the six positions offered.
Fourteen doctors have applied for the position as physician, 37 as electrician, 27 as electronics engineer/research technician, 29 as mechanic/engineer, 48 as technician and as many as 54 as cook. Ten of the applicants for the position as cook today work as chefs.
Many of the applicants are so-called “Polar bums” – an honorary name given to people who have spent several seasons on Svalbard and on the outposts of Jan Mayen, Bear Island and Hopen.
209 applicants is not even a record. The last years the number of applicants has varied between 196 and 342. The crew will be picked out in April and the lucky six will spend 13 months in the Antarctic, starting from November 2014. Nine of the months they will be completely alone, Nordlys writes.
The Troll station is located 235 kilometers from the coast on Queen Maud Land. The station opened as a summer-only station in 1990 and was taken into use as an all-year station in 2005. It has an overwintering capacity of eight people and a summer capacity of 40. It is served by Troll Airfield, which was opened in 2005 by Queen Sonja of Norway.
