Many of us have extraordinary tales of travel. From right here in the United States to the far corners of the world, ordinary women are doing extraordinary things and we at Title Nine want to hear about it! Tell us your tall tales of adventure, the trials and tribulations of moving your own mountain, how you’re influencing others and inspiring us all to get up off the couch and get active either near or far. If your story is picked, we’ll shout it from the mountain top or really, we’ll publish it here on Timeout. So drop us a line at timeout@titlenine.com and tell us your extraordinary tale.
Our first Extraordinary Adventure follows Nora to Antarctica where she’s working as an Assistant to a research team. We here at Tile Nine are looking forward to hearing about Nora’s journey and what awaits her in Antarctica.
In less than two weeks I will arrive in Antarctica. It’s been a month since I accepted a job as a ‘general assistant’ in a field camp in the Trans Antarctic Mountains. Wallowa county of Northeastern Oregon is my home. There, I work as a guide in the summer and fall taking clients and their gear into the Eagle Cap mountains or into Hells Canyon on horseback. When the snow and ice push horses out of the backcountry I work the winter and spring as a brewster (female brewer) at a local microbrewery, Terminal Gravity. I also raise milk and meat goats, pigs and chickens at my family farm. When not out romping with my three year old dog, Oola, I enjoy water sports and hiking.
Antarcita’s frozen desolate plains and mountains that form the highest, driest, coldest continent on earth have been a place of interest for me since I could remember. The impossible seeming landscape in coffee table books, the strange people I have met that have worked there, the various fascinating science projects under way and its climate all pulled me to find a job there. Many of the people that end up on the ‘Ice’ are support workers for the towns/communities that harbor the science going on throughout the continent. Raytheon, a defense contractor, employs polar support staff. The US Navy also has a presence, especially in aviation.
Having some experience, but not the required amount, I could not apply for the various heavy machinery, welding, plumbing, greenhouse, waste, fuel, lineman or many other positions. After a couple interviews I was offered a ‘General Assistant’ position in McMurdo, the largest of the three American bases. To qualify I had medical and dental exams, X-Rays, an EKG, shots and a mountain of paper work to fill out and return. When this was done I was offered the same position but in a temporary field camp in the mountains with a population of about 70. I accepted this change and look forward to the camp and finding answers to some of the many questions I have about the continent and the science going on in various locations.
