Niels unpacking the new snow radar.

May 17-18: We had a flight and received the science team for the first traverse.

Weather is strange these days. It is warm and there is a constant wind from the SW, and the wind speed varies a lot over the day between 5 m/s to 13 m/s. However, the wind direction is consistent and luckily along our skiway. So, we received Skier61 at Noon on Saturday with passengers and cargo for the science traverse. We say hello to: Helle, Susanne, Steff, Mario, Samira, Kevin and Niels. Due to the high temperatues, the skiway created friction, so the plane was not able to take back any outgoing cargo. We did get the necessary landing-weight upgrade to the skiway for receiving our Pistenbully on the next flight, which is scheduled for Tuesday. With the new arrivals, the dome is a bit cramped with people sleeping on the floor upsTairs, but this is only temporary, as the traverse is scheduled to leave EGRIP in one weeks time.

As we had a flight on Saturday, the usual Saturday evening was postponed to Sunday, where Josephine and Niels were cooks. We spent a nice evening together with quizzes, talk and games.

We are now 17 people in camp.

What we did Saturday and Sunday:

  1. Received Skier 61 with passengers and cargo.
  2. Unpacking arriving cargo.
  3. Grooming skiway after the flight.
  4. Celebrating probably the last Saturday evening at EGRIP on Sunday. Niels and Josephine were cooks.
  5. Preparing food for science traverse is almost finished.
  6. Pulled all big sleds from winter hills to camp and cleaned them.
  7. Planning and preparing the science traverse.

Weather in the weekend: Apart from a few short periods of almost white out, mostly sunny with few scattered clouds. Temp. −16°C to −8°C. Wind: 10 − 25 kt from WSW. Visibility: Sometimes reduced by blowing snow, otherwise unrestricted.

FL, J.P. Steffensen

Kevin and Steffen unpacking the shallow ice core drill
Probably the last group picture from EGRIP
Niels and Josephine cooking for Saturday evening.