We are packing equipment down and staging it for loading on traverse train; but we also expect 12 persons from the 109th to repair the air craft parked here. When they come, they will stay here for some days. To avoid overcrowding the dome, we have built two heated weatherports with ten beds.
The traverse team is at Summit Station, where the station crew has been really helpful by providing the power the traverse needs. Our crew has also been invited in for some meals. As it is a bit uncertain when a plane arrives to Summit for crew exchange and sending out ice samples and drill and with a replacement generator, the crew has decided to stay near Summit and conduct radar search at GRIP by travelling over to GRIP during daytime. Once the radar image is reliable, they will use the Pistenbully to dig for the top of the borehole casing which is expected to be 2 m down in the snow.
It has always been the plan that crew exchange and cargo transport should happen at Summit Station; but the traverse was only supposed to stay at Summit for a short stay. Circumstances have changed after the break down of the main generator, so the team is grateful for permission to stay close to Summit Station.
What EGRIP did today:
- Weatherports for ten people now completed.
- Groomed skiway and taxiways.
- Re-opened cook’s freezer.
- Building plastic sled no.2.
- Removed snow drifts from camp.
Weather today: Broken to scattered thin clouds, in the evening overcast. Temp. –17°C to –14°C, 2 – 6 kt from WNW, visibility unrestricted.
What traverse did today:
- Traverse stayed at Summit.
- Planning to go to GRIP with radar to search for bore hole.
- Planning to pack and stage ice cores and other cargo for plane back to Kangerlussuaq.
FL EGRIP, J.P. Steffensen
