It’s that time of year again…I am back at Summit Station for another winter season. The past couple months have been a nice break during which I explored Southwestern Greenland (see my previous few posts) and enjoyed early fall back in Colorado. This year there are just four of us here for the winter from mid-October thru February 2018; A skeleton crew of a manager, mechanic, and two science technicians to maintain the station and support a few instruments and scientific projects.
In September the NY Air National Guard and their LC-130 ski-equipped Hercules aircraft left Greenland to return to New York. The planes require a thorough once over before heading southward to support the United States Antarctic Program based out of Christchurch, New Zealand. So deploying to Summit in October is an entirely different story. In the summer season (Apr-Aug) we travel to Schenectady, NY where we board the Hercs and fly to Kangerlussuaq, and then onward to Summit. During the rest of the year we fly to Reykjavik, Iceland then to Akureyri, Iceland. In Akureyri we spend a day or so ensuring all our cargo is in place and reviewing our plans for our arrival.
Boarding the Twin Otter in Akureyri, Iceland
Akureyri Church
From there we board a Norlandair Twin Otter and fly to Summit Station, stopping at Constable Point near Ittoqqortoormiit to refuel. This is a long day of flying however, and foul weather in any part of the flight path can delay or cancel the flight. This time around we were delayed 4 days in Akureyri. While this is frustrating for the outbound Summit crew it allowed us to enjoy the beautiful northern town, enjoying fresh baked goods and coffee at cafes, soaking in the hot pools, and exploring Northern Iceland.
Historically we have chartered two flights to allow for a week or so of “turnover” – one flight from Akureyri to Summit to bring in the new crew, and another flight a few days later to bring out the old crew. This year was a little different. With experienced and returning crew members, as well as reduced budgets, we only had a single flight. Four of us flew in with our luggage, a little cargo, and a few crates of “freshies” and the four on station flew out on the same plane. Flying from sea level to 10,500ft we were highly aware of the risks associated with altitude illness and eased into our rounds and routines. Thankfully we were lucky and everything has gone fairly smoothly. We are now settling in and getting up to speed preparing for the long, cold, and dark winter ahead.
The past two years I have been here for the autumn season, seeing the daylight hours gradually shorten and the darkness grow. This year, arriving in October, it’s almost startling to see how dark it is at night already! We still have a few hours of daylight with the sun rising at 830am and setting at 4pm, and we have seen a few auroras! Hopefully much more to come…
High Five Turnover!
Auroras over the Big House
AntarcticArctic 
Hi Marie, talked to your mom a couple of days ago and had to check on the internet to see what you’re doing. Fascinating. Linda Ulrich