Thursday was supposed to be a really special day here at GRIP, with camp receiving its first NYANG LC-130 aircraft, callsign Skier 41. However, as always when operating in the Arctic, unforeseen obstacles can occur – this time Skier 41 had a mechanical issue that prevented it landing on our carefully prepared skiway, and we had to make due with the impressive sight of the skier making two low level overflights of our skiway. The new GRIP crew members onboard had to return to Kangerlussuaq for the plane to get repaired. Luckily this could be accomplished in short order, and Friday the same plane (tail-number 01) flew as Skier 51 to GRIP, this time making a nice landing as the first LC-130 plane on our skiway. Hence, we welcomed 7 new crew members in camp: Chantal, Rahul, James, Julien, Grant, Kevin and Charlotte. Also, we said goodbye to JP and Sverrir, both leaving camp for Kangerlussuaq on skier 51 after generously sharing their decades of experience in ice core camp logistics to give this GRIP season a good start!
Receiving skier 51, was indeed a great relief, as it brought much needed fuel as well as critical cargo here to GRIP. Now we just keep our fingers crossed that the flight scheduled for Saturday will work out just as well. Celebrating the successful Friday Anders made a delicious 2 course dinner for all of us, including the Danish dessert risalamande!
What we did Thursday:
- Made ready for receiving skier 41
- Established radio communication with skier 41
- Watched skier 41 do two low level overpasses of the GRIP skiway
- Continued clearing snow of big winter sledges
- Build new retro pallet for skier 51.
- Started grooming big snow drifts out of camp
- Had a mini movie-night with JP screening documentaries from the old GRIP and DYE-3 camps
What we did Friday:
- Received skier 51 with 7 PAX, two pallets of cargo and 3000L of fuel
- Said goodbye to two PAX as well as 2 snowmobiles and 4 sledges flying retro with skier 51
- Briefed new crew members on camp safety and practicalities
- Started breaking down the two pallets of cargo.
- Secured food from pallets
- Groomed skiway, taxiways and apron in anticipation of Saturdays scheduled skier mission.
- Corrected skiway markers blown out of shape by skier 51
- Got a place to sleep for everybody in camp by the end of the day
Weather Thursday: Ground fog in the early morning, quickly dissipating giving way to a sunny day. Temp from to -31C to -20C. Wind 0-8kts, mainly from S. Friday: sunny morning giving way to increasing cloud cover with overcast and intermittent slight snowfall in the evening and afternoon. Temp from -31C to -16C, with wind from S all day, increasing from 5 kts to 10 kts.
FL, Bo Vinther
