EastGRIP - Field Diaries 2016

EGRIP final pull-out and camp close

13 August 2016

As usual on the day of final pull-out, a hectic activity in camp began as soon as the message came that the LC-130 had launched from Kangerlusssuaq.

EGRIP wintercamp

12 August 2016

A very busy day in camp were all items are packed and stored on their overwintering spots.

Skidoo SnowBlowing

11 August 2016

The surface is now tidy and all equipment is packed on sledges. The snow blower is being moved to it’s storage place in the garage.

Packing the camp for winter

10 August 2016

Again a packing day. All equipment is now arranged on sledges or stored in the garages. Only two weatherports remain up and most camp personal has moved into the Dome to sleep.

Vapor tower goes down

9 August 2016

Yesterday the vapor tent with the PICARRO was packed, today the vapor tower went down. Sverrir assisted Diana with the crane of the PistenBully to take the tower down.

Goodbye Day

8 August 2016

After a morning with low clouds and groundfog the weather cleared around 14:00 and Skier 13 arrived at EGRIP at 14:10. Aslak, Bo, Cunde, Steff, Josefine, Mika, Markus, Nick and Oliver will leave us.

Skidoo Ring Riding

7 August 2016

We did not manage to get the planned mission to EGRIP this Sunday and instead we arranged a skidoo ring riding contest after dinner. Two teams were formed and with 8 in team Randi and 7 in team Mika.

Preparing the scene

6 August 2016

We have an old picture from Dye3 1976 where Sigfus and Steff are using the shallow drill for the first time. Several parts of the drill including the winch, tower and some of the drill parts are still operational.

‘Saturday night’

5 August 2016

As we expected the next mission on Sunday we moved ‘Saturday Night’ to Friday. We used the day to continue to prepare the camp for winter and at four o’clock we all took a shower and prepared the dinner.

Packing cargo

4 August 2016

The amount of equipment to either ship back or to store on overwintering sledges has built up. In the next week all the equipment on the picture will be organized and removed.

Grooming the skiway

3 August 2016

The first mission is on Sunday August 7th so it is time to groom the skiway. The last mission was July 21st and during the last two weeks we have had little snow and some wind so we have small drifts on the skiway.

Winch is moved down into the drill trench

2 August 2016

The day has come where the tower and the winch for the deep drilling operations has to be moved down the ramp to the drill trench.

Snow blocks from the trenches

1 August 2016

The weather and the clouds have been very beautiful the last days. On the picture the snow blocks cut in the trenches with chainsaw since July have been collected on the surface.

Timber sledge for overwintering

31 July 2016

We are slowly preparing camp for close down August 13th. One of the first projects has been to lift all the timber to the overwintering sledge.

A new snow height sampling method

30 July 2016

The bamboo forest for snow height measurements gives sore backs. Diana, Mari and Emilie has invented an alternative way of measuring the snow height comfortably laying in a sledge.

EGRIP international knitting club

29 July 2016

Saturday night is getting closer and strange activities happen. Mari, Emilie and Randi has formed an international knitting club and it is clear the products are related to a secret Saturday stunt.

French dinning

28 July 2016

For once the weather was not perfect (as can be seen on our webcamera broadcasting a picture every 10 min: http://phone.egrip.camp/current.jpg).

Snow on Garage Floor

27 July 2016

While Steff and Trevor are reaming the pilot borehole to a larger diameter the main work force of the team have been improving the floors in the mechanic and the carpenters garage.

Drone in action

26 July 2016

Today Aslak launched the drone Cumulus One from the camp with warm batteries. The drone ascended to 500 m and flew a grid of 14 5 km lines with 200 m spacing over camp.

Core buffer – mission accomplished

25 July 2016

After lowering the floor with 30 cm we have leveled the floor and placed a shelve system for the ice cores in the room.

Moving snow

24 July 2016

The most important tool of a glaciologist is a shovel. This statement has been proved again.

Saturday night group picture

23 July 2016

We had a wonderful Saturday night with a very good menu made by Nick, Oliver and Emilie. At midnight the traditional dancing started and the Dome rocked all night.

Trapped air bubbles in the ice core

22 July 2016

Today we have drilled ice cores with enclosed air bubbles. Our first results revel that the close off depth is around 62 m and end of today we reached the depth 87.09 m.

Bill Nye Good Bye

21 July 2016

Bill Nye Good Bye

Climate communication

20 July 2016

TAfter three days with the Tällberg group, Juan Enriquez gave a 10 min presentation on how the message on climate change could be communicated.

The first deep ice core

19 July 2016

Today we reach the great day where Steff and Trevor drilled the first ice core

Dialog at EGRIP

18 July 2016

We have had wonderful dialogs with the Tällberg group and the Bill Nye group.

Visitors at EGRIP

17 July 2016

Today Skier 81 came to EGRIP with 28 people to camp.

A visit in the vapor tent

16 July 2016

Today Josefine made us a very nice brunch after our “Friday-Saturday” yesterday.

Group picture from the new middle floor

15 July 2016

As we have the next big exchange period on Sunday we decided to have ‘Saturday Night’ on a Friday.

The hidden trenches

14 July 2016

Looking to the West of camp you see a small entrance, two small tents and a lot of bamboo pole flags.

Final touch in the inclined trench

13 July 2016

Yesterday, we measured the distance between the drill floor and the bottom of the inclined trench to be 6.83 m.

The front door

12 July 2016

The Dome is opening towards the new front door.

New extended floor

11 July 2016

One of our tasks is to extend the middle-level floor around the side of the Dome so it continues over the front door.

TETRIS Lane

10 July 2016

This is the last day digging and placing beams in the logging corridor in the trenches.

Saturday night again

9 July 2016

An absolutely beautiful day with sun and no wind.

Polar bear footprints approaching EGRIP

8 July 2016

Today was is the day of investigating what had happened yesterday.

Polar bear at EastGRIP

7 July 2016

In the morning a polar bear approached the EGRIP camp.

Surface Snow Measurements

6 July 2016

One of the snow surface measurements made is the specific surface area SSA of snow.

Cutting snow blocks

5 July 2016

It has been an ongoing theme during the EGRIP season: cutting endless amounts of snow blocks with chain saws to form the trenches.

Kiting in the wind

4 July 2016

It has been an ongoing project the last week to make a kite to pull a man on a sledge ...

Live streaming France-Iceland

3 July 2016

After a great Saturday evening we had an late start with an amazing brunch by Josefine

Bowling on the floor in the drill trench

2 July 2016

This Saturday evening a bowling tournament was planned in the drill trench...

Ready for a 12 km skidoo trip from camp

1 July 2016

The ice margin on the side of the NEGIS ice stream is very special with...

The beauty of clouds

30 June 2016

We had a rather windy day today with wind bursts up to 20 kn...

A perfect wooden floor

29 June 2016

One of the tasks we have for this period is to make a plywood floor in the drill trench...

The last mission in this flight period

28 June 2016

Skier 21 arrived at 10:00 am to a perfect sunny day with a good...

Master defense at EGRIP

27 June 2016

A quite special day with a formal Master defense at EGRIP...

New people in camp

26 June 2016

A really sunny and clear day with temperatures up to -7 °C...

A busy day in camp

25 June 2016

Luckily, weather improved today so we could receive the skier...

A completely white day

24 June 2016

As it was ‘Sunday’ today, we started a bit later than usual. Activities for preparation of flight missions...

Saturday night on a Thursday

23 June 2016

Due to Midsummer and expectations of a hectic weekend with several flights, we have moved Saturday night to today Thursday...

A new hill in town and a Greenland Geyser

22 June 2016

This coming weekend we expect several flight missions to camp with new people and cargo...

Two drilling operations in one day

21 June 2016

At the Swiss drill site, the drill went 21 m deeper today breaking yesterday’s record by a factor of 10...

First successful drilling at Swiss drill test site

20 June 2016

Over the last week, Jakob and Barbara have been fighting various issues at the Swiss test drill site....

Inclined trench bottom reached

19 June 2016

Today the excavation of the inclined trench terminated at a depth of 7.1 m...

EGRIP phone home

18 June 2016

A few decades ago, communication to and from camp was mostly by radio contact to our office in Kangerlussuaq.

Different types of snow

17 June 2016

The soft snow falling on the surface of the ice sheet undergoes a fascinating transition until it is buried deep in the ice sheet as solid ice with air bubbles.

Skiers for Science

16 June 2016

Every morning the last 5 days a group of three skiers went out to sample surface snow...

Out of camp

15 June 2016

The good weather continued and allowed for outdoor work. After lunch, a group of four went 12 km to the NW of camp to drill an 11m shallow core.

House warming in ‘the Water Vapour Tent’

14 June 2016

The camp enjoyed a normal working day for the first time in a while without any air traffic.

Monday the 13th of June

13 June 2016

The Twin-Otter passed over camp for the last time with Nettles group this morning, and so the camp population is down to 15.

Sunny Sunday

12 June 2016

Following the tradition, camp had a slow start Sunday morning...

From white to blue sky

11 June 2016

Fortunately, the wind speed came down during the night, so we now have better outdoor working conditions. In the morning, we had ground fog, however, so the Twin-Otter was grounded.

A white, warm, and windy day

10 June 2016

It has been snowing most of the day, the wind has picked up, and temperatures have been up to -5 °C.

A major crew exchange

9 June 2016

Today we received a Skier with 8 new people arriving to camp and 4 leaving, bringing the camp population to 21 persons.

A successful visit by a member of the Danish government

8 June 2016

The planned visit by the boss of all Danish researchers, minister for Research and Education Ulla Tørness went well.

Camp is preparing for the last two flights and last crew exchange in this period

7 June 2016

The last two flights for this period are scheduled for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

EGRIP airport closed due to weather for half a day

6 June 2016

This morning we woke up to a completely cloud covered sky where the colour of the sky is the same as the snow surface.

A busy day in the airport

5 June 2016

With the Twin Otter stationed here and with LC-130 flights from Kangerlussuaq, we have coordinated the flight schedules.

A Saturday evening with a birthday celebration

4 June 2016

Many things were accomplished today, and at the same time we were able to spend a Saturday evening together.

Many new hands and new projects

3 June 2016

With the plane yesterday came drillers and drilling equipment, and for the first time this year, ice drilling equipment is being setup.

What a difference a day makes

2 June 2016

The blizzard from yesterday disappeared during the night. Only the wake of the blizzard was seen around camp in the form of snow drifts.

The wind came!

1 June 2016

In the morning, we had a mild breeze from the East.

While we are waiting for high winds

31 May 2016

The forecast of today and especially tomorrow warns about high wind speeds, and again this has stopped us from folding the balloons. We are afraid they will run away from us.

How to make ends meet

30 May 2016

We have postponed folding the balloons and stowing them, because of strong winds forecasted. Instead, we focused on laying cables and grooming the taxiway and apron.

Busy Sunday

29 May 2016

Today, weather improved, and we could continue outdoor activities.

EGRIP on a day with mostly in-door activities

28 May 2016

In was really cold to workout side today, but a few things needed to be done due to increasing snow drift.

EGRIP on a snowy day

27 May 2016

The weather has turned bad. For a couple of days we have had increasing cloud cover and increasing snowfall.

Balloon trench construction complete!

26 May 2016

Today was the big day! We began deflating balloons in the morning, and by 1100...

Good bye to our PARCA friends and Hans Christian

25 May 2016

This morning at 0810, the PARCA team left us on the Twin Otter, and Hans Christian went with them...

Our visitors are already leaving tomorrow

24 May 2016

The PARCA team have been very efficient. Today, they flew to one site to maintain a station and they were back early afternoon.

We have visitors

23 May 2016

Today the Twin Otter arrived again, but with a different team.

Now the balloons are inflated and buried

22 May 2016

The weather continues to be cooperative, and today was a really good day for blowing back the trenches...

Working in the ice mines

21 May 2016

From early morning until Noon, almost all hands were on deck to cut, dig and haul snow...

We postpone the balloon circus for one day

20 May 2016

This morning, Joel made an excellent suggestion: “Why don’t we remove all excess snow from tunnels and the already made trenches while we have a Pistenbully in the open trench to push the snow away?”

Stage two of snow cave construction is well in progress

19 May 2016

Excavating trenches is now so much of a routine that it ...

Tunnel break through on a beautiful day

18 May 2016

Today the weather was excellent, sunshine and very little wind. It was a good day to work outside.

Traverse is back and clearing the construction site for preparation of next stage

17 May 2016

At the appointed time at 0800 this morning, we had telephone contact with the traverse.

Casting of underground caves a success!!

16 May 2016

Today was the anxiously awaited – and somewhat feared – day of revelations.

Departure of the traverse

15 May 2016

Our carpenter, Christian, needs beams to continue his work on the covers of the 6m deep vertical shafts to the future trenches...

Saturday evening with a German twist

14 May 2016

A roster has been made to keep the pressure in the balloons high enough. Each hour, a person has to go out to the pump...

The day after the party

13 May 2016

As nobody had slept very much last night, the whole morning felt like after a lively party.

Full action: Thursday morning to Friday morning 0630

12 May 2016

Now the big task is done: All balloons are now buried under several meter snow, and the snow surface is flat again with only a few ventilation shafts and hoses sticking out of the snow.

Now it is true: Tomorrow we build a balloon animal

11 May 2016

I was a bit too hasty yesterday when I claimed we were ready to put the balloons in.

Tomorrow we build a balloon animal

10 May 2016

The excavation has now reached the floor of the future trenches.

It is beginning to become exiting

9 May 2016

In the excavation of the trenches, we are now in a phase where we have to be precise in our work.

Construction of the science trench has begun

8 May 2016

We have now begun the largest construction effort this month: The excavation of trenches and subsequent construction of snow roofs...

First real Saturday evening at EGRIP

7 May 2016

Saturday evening is a special occasion. People try to finish their tasks at 1600 and then...

Eastern half of the future EGRIP camp now has electrical power

6 May 2016

As power and heating is now available in the weatherports, people can begin to move into them.

Progress on a beautiful day

5 May 2016

This day has been beautiful in a double sense. The weather is absolutely
splendid and the weather forecast is good as well...

Never a dull day

4 May 2016

There is always something to do in camp, not only planned tasks; but also bothersome jobs and surprises.

EGRIP put-in 2016 now completed

3 May 2016

The last plane of the put-in period has come and gone.

First new structures built in camp

2 May 2016

Weatherwise, the day today was more normal for the season with a light wind and not above -20 °C.

Second plane on the skiway.

1 May 2016

We were a bit anxious this morning as we received a plane with fuel.

We received the first flight on the prepared EGRIP skiway

30 April 2016

Although the high winds from yesterday continued into the night, we were not too worried ...

We are prepared for the planned flight tomorrow

29 April 2016

Our airport (skiway and apron and all markings) is ready to receive the planned flight tomorrow.

EastGRIP 2016 is open!

28 April 2016

The first team of seven field participants arrived at EastGRIP yesterday at noon.

Third hand news from EGRIP

27 April 2016

The put in team of 8 people departed Kangerlussauq at 09:40 local time.

Arranging cargo and getting ready

26 April 2016

The first team of 7 field participants and 2 field operation managers have been gathered in Kangerlussuaq since monday...

The field office opens

22 April 2016

The 2016 EastGRIP season has now started.