Drunken Xmas brawl at South Pole

Doran says:

Two men working at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole station got into a "drunken Christmas punch-up." One man, an unidentified Raytheon employee, was injured so badly he couldn't be treated at nearby McMurdo station and required an emergency medical evacuation to a New Zealand hospital. The other man was flown back to the US.

Link

[#1 posted by Benjamin , December 28, 2007 8:54 AM]

"So I hear Santa's coming this year."

"BLASPHEMY! HAIL THE SNOWMISER!!"

[#2 posted by nicheplayer , December 28, 2007 8:59 AM]

I can relate. I came close to knocking out my mother-in-law four or five times over the holidaze, and I was only there for 48 hours.

[#3 posted by zikman , December 28, 2007 8:59 AM]

that's like getting in a fight on the moon. awesome either way

[#4 posted by jjasper , December 28, 2007 9:01 AM]

South Pole Brawlers Vs Fighting Priests At Jesus' Birthplace

Who wins?

[#5 posted by Dav , December 28, 2007 9:06 AM]

Normally I don't approve much of drunken fisticuffs ...but it's pretty cool to have been kicked off a continent for getting in a fight.

[#6 posted by Miss Cellania , December 28, 2007 9:16 AM]

They are lucky it didn't happen in winter, when you can't evacuate the injured.

[#7 posted by EdT. , December 28, 2007 9:19 AM]

Countdown to alcohol being prohibited at the South Pole...

How much do you want to bet the fight was over how the other guy would never replace the toilet paper or would leave his dirty coffee cup in the sink?

[#8 posted by Marco , December 28, 2007 9:23 AM]

No! Didn't they learn anything from The Thing?! Clearly one of these guys suspected the other of being contaminated and tried to eliminate him. Now it's safely hidden inside the host body and is being taken to the main land where it will wreak havoc on New Zealand.

Or it could have been just two drunk guys arguing over who finished off the last bottle of Beam.

[#9 posted by n , December 28, 2007 9:23 AM]

Well, duh. It stands to reason that it's the opposite of the happy, peaceful utopia that is the North Pole.

[#10 posted by hassan-i-sabbah , December 28, 2007 11:05 AM]

For more drunken polar shenanigans see:-
http://www.moderndrunkardmagazine.com/issues/08-04/08-04-southpole.htm

[#11 posted by V , December 28, 2007 11:06 AM]

Heh.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4337419a11.html

Per a friend on the ice, "the dude that got hit was an ass... "

[#12 posted by kaosdevice , December 28, 2007 1:44 PM]

*sigh* I wish Big Dead Place. was more active, this is completely their sort of story.

[#13 posted by CammoBlammo , December 28, 2007 1:51 PM]

@Marco

I lived in NZ for about thirteen years. I really don't think anyone would notice.

[#14 posted by Erik Fitzpatrick , December 28, 2007 2:23 PM]

For the record, McMurdo isn't exactly nearby - it's about 800 miles from Pole. Just the nearest major US presence.

[#15 posted by dargaud , December 28, 2007 2:33 PM]

Those interested in those kind of polar stories (as opposed to the heroic kind, but let's be honest this is another kind of heroism) are strongly advised to read the book Big Dead Place or go to the site of the same name, which incidentally contains an article about alcohol in Antarctica written by yours truly.

Or you can refer to my own Antarctic site, but Nick's humor is much... icier.

[#16 posted by kaosdevice , December 28, 2007 6:21 PM]

Dargaud, post #12. You were pre-pimped.

[#17 posted by Perla , December 29, 2007 11:12 AM]

Eh. I would drink too if I were at the South Pole.

[#18 posted by Nicholas Johnson , January 1, 2008 3:06 PM]

"*sigh* I wish Big Dead Place. was more active, this is completely their sort of story."

Here you go:

http://bigdeadplace.com/frontierwatch/?p=19