Inclined trench bottom reached

The team involved with digging the inclined trench as seen from the bottom of the trench

Today the excavation of the inclined trench terminated at a depth of 7.1 m. To clear the deepest part of the trench 7 people were involved in throwing snow blocks up the steps of the trench and bringing them to surface on a sledge.

The next steps will be to install a ventilation system, a channel to collect drill liquid dripping from the drill when it comes to surface, and not the least a fence around the trench preventing people to fall into the trench by accident.

Sarah gave us a full American Sunday brunch all-inclusive and Jacob baked his famous Sunday bread.

At the Swiss drill site, it is soon time to test the fast-access mini drill that has been modified since the initial tests made at the Renland icecap last summer. We’re all crossing fingers that it will turn out successful.

What we have done today:
1.    Finalized digging the inclined trench in the drill trench. 7.1 m depth
2.    Getting ready for the first drilling attempt at Swiss drill test site.
3.    Continued mounting ice core buffer in far end of science trench
4.    Resampled snow surface profile in the clean snow area

Weather today: Broken clouds at different levels. Temp. -14  °C in the morning increasing to -5  °C in the afternoon. Wind 10-14 kt from SSW.

FL, Anders Svensson