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At EGRIP: Mario and Paul are cleaning up our lumber sled and finding materials for a ladder to the dome.

June 3: A rather dramatic day.

The days started fine. Weather was good, and people at EGRIP were eager to get going. And many things were done. However, at the first cup of coffee in the morning, news from our traverse group came in. They had lost power from their main generator. A number of phone calls and In-Reach emails later, the traverse decided to go straight to Summit Station for resupply of fuel and petrol. In a day or two, the traverse will then proceed to GRIP site (27.5 km from Summit) and search for the GRIP borehole. At EGRIP everything went fine. We have built two weatherports as we expect 12 guests from the 109th who come to repair the aircraft at EGRIP.

On traverse, the team suffered a set back, as the electric generating unit of their diesel generator developed a short during start this morning. They had to switch to their backup petrol generator; but they did not have enough fuel to complete the traverse to GRIP. The traverse instead drove directly to Summit Station, where they arrived at 2020 local. At Summit they could get petrol, and the traverse will probably wait there a day or two, until a plane from Kangerlussuaq can bring in a spare diesel generator. The spare was tested in Kangerlussuaq today. There will also be a small crew exchange at Summit, and the ice core and snow samples will be sent out. Then the traverse will proceed to GRIP site and find the borehole. All are well on traverse – now at Summit Station.

EGRIP had regular communication with the traverse via several devices.

What EGRIP did today:

  1. Built staircase to dome door.
  2. Erected two Weatherports.
  3. Groomed skiway, taxiways and apron.
  4. Re-opened access to ramp storage.
  5. Opening of cook’s freezer half done.
  6. Removed snow drifts from camp.
  7. Coordinating and communicating with FOM office and traverse team.

Weather today: Broken to scattered thin clouds. Temp. −15°C to −12°C, 4 – 6 kt from S, visibility unrestricted. What a difference a day makes.

What traverse did today:

  1. After overnight at WP240 (73.2469 N; 38.7296 W) the main generator on start burned the coils.
  2. As the amount of petrol is low, completing the traverse to GRIP on the petrol generator is not an option.
  3. Traverse proceeded directly to Summit Station (72.5833N; 38.4667W). Arrived at 20.20 Local.
  4. Working on possible solutions to get new generator from Kangerlussuaq and petrol from Summit.
  5. The traverse will continue to GRIP in one or two days.
  6. Regular contact with EGRIP and Kangerlussuaq via Iridium and In-Reach.

FL, J.P. Steffensen and TL, Helle Kjær