McMurdo Station Supply Hub

McMurdo Station sits on Ross Island’s volcanic rock and is the logistical backbone of US operations on the ice. At peak summer season it houses around 1,200 people — scientists, support staff, and the occasional journalist. There’s a fuel depot, a general store (the McMurdo Store), a dining hall, medical facilities, and a vehicle workshop capable of servicing heavy polar equipment. Nothing glamorous, everything functional. Think a remote mining camp crossed with a military base. Access is strictly controlled — you’re here by invitation of the NSF or a supported research program, not because you drove in.

No civilian overlanders roll up uninvited. All access is via US Air Force or charter flight into McMurdo’s Pegasus Field or sea ice runway. Summer season runs October through February. The surrounding terrain — from the Erebus ice tongue to Scott Base next door — is as raw and consequential as terrain gets on Earth.

Antarctica's only real resupply hub.