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PRESS RELEASE
May 2002

New Hampshire Couple Bring 'The Ice' To The Internet
Love For South Pole Spawns Web Site for 'All Things Antarctic'

By Rob Burbank

There are times you'd go to the ends of the Earth for something you love.

Tom and Gloria Hutchings know all about that: The New Hampshire couple have spent a combined 73 months of the past decade living and working at McMurdo, Palmer, and South Pole research stations in Antarctica.

The Hutchingses and their 3-year-old daughter, Talia, reside in the Cape-style home they built in north-central New Hampshire in 1993, but for stints of varying lengths over the past 10 years, both Gloria and Tom have traded the Granite State for the Frozen Continent a total of 13 times. In addition, Tom completed a tour of duty at a North Pole research station in Greenland. At the same time, Gloria was working at the South Pole, so the two were truly half a world apart.

A place where the year 'round average temperature is a flesh-freezing 57 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, Antarctica has been their part-time home ever since Gloria first reported to South Pole Station in 1990 to work for Antarctic Support Associates, a contractor providing logistical support for National Science Foundation researchers based there.

Over the years, she has unloaded cargo and worked in retail operations. ("Little did I know I'd be driving a front-end loader up to planes and unloading pallets," in 73-degrees-below-zero weather, recalls the slight, sunny, and resourceful Gloria.) Tom, a friendly and industrious fellow with an easygoing manner, was hired by ASA for his carpentry skills, became a foreman, and worked his way up to construction manager. He has also put those talents to work for Raytheon Corp., the current contractor at the Pole.

So taken were the couple by the beauty of Antarctica-by its harsh but awe-inspiring weather; its quiet isolation; its pristine character; its unusual astronomical and meteorological phenomena-that they now share it with the world on the Internet via their web site, www.antarcticconnection.com.

Spurred by their love of the Frozen Continent and their desire to earn a living while living in rural New Hampshire, they've created a web-based community that brings the intrigue of Antarctica to Internet surfers seeking news, information, and products designed to aid travelers heading to the South Pole and to conjure memories for those who've already visited.
***
The South Pole is a long way from Dover, N.H., where Tom and Gloria both grew up. Though they lived in the same town, they didn't meet until after high school. They met in 1980 and married in 1982, when Tom was 21 and Gloria, 20. Their marriage has thrived despite the long separations that came with their various missions to the ice. On only four trips were they at the Pole together.

"We both knew we didn't want to do the 'normal life.' That's what's helped," said Gloria, chuckling as she remembered the challenges of communication when the couple were at opposite ends of the Earth. She recalled infrequent conversations with her husband when they were fortunate enough to find a Ham radio operator to effect a phone patch. "The South Pole is still hard to get calls out of," she says. "With a Ham operator, they could do a phone patch. That was strange. You'd be saying, 'I love you-over.' With everybody else listening, of course."

"When he was at Greenland and I was at Palmer-that was the hardest, because he didn't have a computer, and everything was slow-boat, and our letters were always crossing," she added.

"I think we were able to post two letters back and forth in four months," says Tom.

It's easier today, with e-mail and web-based communication, but the South Pole is still a tiny, isolated outpost, a place where winter brings five months of total darkness and three weeks of twilight. Summer (which coincides with winter in the Northern Hemisphere) brings six months of sunlight and only slightly warmer temperatures. But, with its location on the bottom of the globe, atmospheric phenomena are unique.

"When you have a sunset, it can last for days and days," says Tom. "All you see at the South Pole is horizon, blue sky, and white snow all around you," says Tom. Gloria recalls seeing sun dogs-the appearance of mock suns, created by sunlight reflecting off ice crystals in the atmosphere.

They had plenty of chances to experience the snow and cold at the Pole-especially the cold. Initial impressions? "Immediately cold," says Tom. "It still hits me, every time I get off the plane." While the year 'round average temperature is -57 F, the wintertime average is closer to 90 below, a temperature at which, says Tom, most operations and mechanical equipment at the Pole shut down.

In such cold conditions, exposed flesh freezes almost instantly. "It takes about two to three months to acclimate," Tom notes. As winter turns to summer, things warm up a bit-relatively. "By the time it reaches 10 below," he says, "you're in a sweatshirt and a pair of pants, and you're feeling pretty warm."

(The Antarctic Connection web site displays real-time temperature and wind conditions for the various research stations at the Pole. "We've had a couple of days with 140-below wind chill," says Tom.)

Harsh weather wasn't foreign to these native New Englanders, who spent several years living and working in the shadow of New Hampshire's Mt. Washington, at 6288 feet, the highest peak in the Northeastern United States, and site of the highest wind speed ever recorded on the Earth's surface-a 231 mph blow in April 1934.

Headquarters of the Mount Washington Observatory-a unique weather-recording outpost-and known as the "Home of the World's Worst Weather," Mt. Washington experiences winter-like weather in all seasons, and hurricane-force winds every month of the year. Temperatures above 72 degrees Fahrenheit have never been recorded on the summit. Because of the combination of steep, rough terrain and often violent weather, Mt. Washington and the surrounding Presidential Range commonly serve as training grounds for mountaineers preparing for Himalayan expeditions.

In these environs, the young couple earned their stripes in the outdoor life, working as winter hut caretakers for the Appalachian Mountain Club, the nation's oldest conservation and recreation organization. The nonprofit AMC operates backcountry cabins, known as huts, for hikers and skiers in New Hampshire's White Mountains. (Gloria currently serves as the club's retail manager.) Their familiarity with the Northeast outdoors and its rugged weather were seen as definite attributes when they applied to work at the South Pole.

"Winter was our favorite season over others, even summer," says Tom. "We always just lived for winter, and skiing, and snowshoeing."

Gloria notes that most of the support crew working at South Pole Station-a community that numbered approximately 90 when she worked there, and has since swollen to 220--hail predominately from such cold climes as New Hampshire, Alaska, and Minnesota.

Many employees of the AMC and the Mount Washington Observatory have worked at the South Pole, and Gloria first heard of the opportunity from those acquaintances.

***

The Antarctic Connection is a comprehensive, web-based information center and retail site for all things related to Antarctica. Travelers planning a trip can find maps, travel guides, and even expedition-class parkas to help ensure a well-planned and warm visit. A broad selection of books, videos, embroidered sportswear, and museum-quality prints is available through the site, which appeals to those who've been to Antarctica, as well as to those who long to visit.

The company's mission is to introduce site visitors to the landscape, wildlife, history, and science of the Antarctic in a conscientious and quality-conscious manner, says Tom.

What sets The Antarctic Connection apart is the virtual community the web site has created, through daily weather reports from the South Pole; continually updated news reports; historical information on Antarctic expeditions over the past three centuries; detailed descriptions of books, videos, maps, and other research materials available through the site; and a guest book section in which visitors describe their interest in and experiences at the South Pole.

"The guest book is amazing," Gloria says. "People are so excited to write about their Antarctic experiences. We hope to get in touch with some of these people and have them really elaborate on their time there," she says.

The business was launched in August 1998 from their New Hampshire home, where they coined the motto, "Antarctica is closer than you think."

"Once I knew I was pregnant and I wouldn't be going back to the ice, I still wanted it in my blood," recalls Gloria. "My last job there was in retail operations, and I knew how hard it was to get supplies there. We felt we've been to the Pole; we know what people want. We figured if we could be the source for people ordering stuff, we could provide a needed service." In addition, she notes, the growing interest in the South Pole as a tourism destination creates another market.

"We started thinking about it in 1996, because we saw the Internet just taking off," says Tom. "We fell in love with the Antarctic, and we thought, 'Here's a way we can stay involved with it.'"

The work at the Pole was enjoyable, the pay was decent, and each trip included a stopover in New Zealand--not a bad perq, and a true paradise by all accounts.

Now, they're settled back home in New Hampshire, but their work with the web site ensures that Tom and Gloria Hutchings are still very much a part of the Antarctic community. Tom, who learned hypertext mark-up language (HTML) as he developed the web site, performs site maintenance and coding, and Gloria handles order fulfillment.

Thankful for the help they received from the Small Business Administration in setting up their business, the couple is proud to note they've passed the "terrible twos" stage that many new businesses don't survive. Orders are growing, the holiday gift-giving season brought many new site visitors and customers, and Tom hopes this will be a year of even stronger growth.

"Our goal is to become the best source for Antarctic-related news, weather, and information, and to carry products that are informational and educational as well as fun and entertaining," he says.

"We feel so fortunate to have been able to go down there and enjoy the beauty of it. It truly is the last frontier," says Gloria. "I'm in awe of the beauty and vastness of it all. It's so lovely, you want to share it with everybody."

Do they intend to go back down to The Ice some day? Tom notes how busy he and Gloria are with a young family and a growing business. Then he chuckles for a moment, and says, emphatically, "Some day, yes."

Editor's note: You can visit The Antarctic Connection on the Worldwide Web at www.antarcticconnection.com. The toll-free phone number for more information is 1-877-SNOWICE. Rob Burbank is a New Hampshire-based freelance writer.

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