Terrabus Training

As mentioned below, when we need to transport up to 56 passengers to or from an airplane, we use the Terrabus. The Terrabus is manufactured by a Canadian company called Foremost. Foremost has sold 7 Terrabuses around the world. One of them is here in McMurdo and the other 6 are used in the arctic regions of Alaska and Canada.

The Terrabus is designed to be used on tundra, snow and ice and its huge, inner-tube-like tires are supposed to allow the 66,000 pound (30,000 kilo) vehicle to remain buoyant if it should ever fall through the ice.

Later in the season, I might be called upon to help out an overworked Shuttles Department so I've been trained on both the Airporters (mini-buses) and the Terrabus.



Driving the "boat" is hard work. The road to the ice runway isn't so much of a challenge but maneuvering around town is HARD! Here are some statistics to help you understand why: Length: 48 feet 10 inches (15 meters), Width: 11 feet 10 inches (3.6 meters), Maximum Speed: 25 mph (40 kph), and most importantly, Turning Radius: 72 feet (22 meters). The trick is positioning yourself correctly before the turn and learning when to start turning the wheel.