The Winter Psych Eval

Many people ask about the psych evaluation required to come to the pole. The best description of the winter psych evaluation is at Big Dead Place. This year, the psych eval was particularly stringent because the 2013 winter had many issues. However, there isn't really any proof that the psych eval helps in any way to eliminate crazies from coming to the pole. In reality, many good people are denied positions for reasons never revealed because the psych eval is kept in a shroud of secrecy (i.e., BS). At any rate, the thing they seem to be screening for the most is alcohol abuse.

Because of our winter's unpleasant experience with the psych eval, we decided to make it the subject of our submission to the annual international antarctic 48 hour film festival competition. For the 48 hour film fest, stations around the continent must produce a ~5 minute film in two days that contains five elements picked by last years winners. Our film's subject was a guide to passing the winter psych eval:


South Pole 48hr Festival Entry (Large) from Jeremy Johnson on Vimeo.


More craziness:

• The five items for this year were: a swing, a swimsuit, a line from the movie Aliens, Footrot (some NZ comic character), and a squealing pig
• Most of the question included in the video are actually on the psych evaluation
• The psych eval is all done out of one office in denver, which gets paid for each evaluation, thus the office has an incentive to fail as many people as possible or ask them to come back for a second evaluation

Next week in pole: Which winter month contains the most violence / mental breakdowns?