7 June 2017 Preparing to Work at a Remote Site

Today was our acclimation day. We were asked to take it fairly easy today to make sure that our bodies had fully adjusted to the higher altitude. Luckily, all of the members of our team are doing well with minimal effects.

The Sun is seen shining through one of the antennas at Summit Station, Greenland.

Preparing to Go Out in the Field Tomorrow

Besides acclimating, we used today to get ready to go out and set up our drilling site tomorrow. We are hoping that we will have collected some of the ice core samples by tomorrow night.

In order to drill in ice that has not been affected by human activity, we will be heading to a spot about 6 km from the station. We will be travelling back and forth using snowmobiles with sleds dragged behind them. Since most of the team had little experience in driving snowmobiles, we went through training on how to use them. This included explanations of the machines and chance to take test rides. If you haven't used snowmobiles before, they are a lot of fun!

Researchers Ian Baker and Eric Wagner prepare to take a test ride as part of their snowmobile training.

Another important aspect of working away from the station is that we need to be prepared to respond to emergencies. The key to this is communication. So, we will carry VHF radios, a satellite phone, an emergency beacon, and a marine radio. The station manager gave us training on using all of these.

This communication equipment will be carried by the team while working away from the station.

The team also needs to move a good deal of equipment from the station to the drilling site. This includes the drill, the boxes, bags, and tubes used to store the ice core samples, tents, a generator, emergency survival gear, and lots of miscellaneous equipment. We will be taking out three sleds loaded with equipment on our first run out. We will have more equipment to bring on later trips, but we can at least get the most important items out there to start.

These sleds are loaded with some of the equipment that will be needed at the drilling site.

Every morning, there is a staff meeting at 8:00 in the Big House. The Big House is the main building on station. It is where everyone goes to eat and provides a space for meetings and other group activities.

The Big House at summit station is the hub of activity.

Our plan tomorrow is to leave right after the morning staff meeting. We are hoping to get the tents, processing area, and drills set up in the morning. We will return to the station for lunch. Then, with any luck, we'll go back out to the drilling site in the afternoon to actually start drilling core samples. We will bring these back to the station where they will be stored in a covered trench in the ice so that they do not melt.