June 9, 2016

A major crew exchange

he newcomers line up in front of the Skier in Kangerlussuaq Airport just before departure. From left to right: Kristian, Hans-Christian, Anders, Thomas, Kerim, Helen, Iben, Jan, Eliza (not yet going to the ice, but improving the picture).

Today we received a Skier with 8 new people arriving to camp and 4 leaving, bringing the camp population to 21 persons. The flight operation went smooth and the Skier took off in the first attempt.
With 8 newcomers in town it will take a while until camp is back in a regular mode. We spend the day installing people and getting used to the environment and each other. Still there was good progress for all ongoing programs. In the drill trench the coming weeks will be used to set up the foundation for the winch and the drill tower. Today an important achievement was the exact positioning of the main drill hole in the drill trench. Camp is in a good mood preparing for the coming 2.5 weeks where the next flight period will again shuffle the camp population.

What we have done today:

1. Received Skier 52 with crew exchange and cargo.
2. Two Twin Otter missions for the Nettles group retrieving seismic station NE-3
3. Locating exact drill hole position, starting layout for main drill installation
4. Worked on casing at Swiss drill test site.
5. Powering and digging out tent used for the EGRIP surface processes program
6. Getting installed and admiring the underground tunnel excavations

Ad. 1: Received frozen food and shipped out empty drums.

Weather today: Mostly sunny but with some cloud cover to the east. Temp. -8°C to -20°C. Wind 4-6 kt from W turning to S. Visibility to horizon and good contrast. A good day for receiving air planes and working outside.

FL, Anders Svensson

Trevor and Dennis pointing to the exact position of the future deep hole.