"Snow pits!"
Days on the ice: 5 weeks....35 days!
Time left: 5 more weeks!

For the past week and a few more upcoming days, I'm doing a small side project up here - 6 snow pits that are 1 m deep, measuring about 1-2 years worth of snow and comparing the snow pit locations to see if the measurements are consistent. SO, 2 pits are in camp, 2 are 10 km from camp, and 2 are 20 km from camp! As you can imagine, things get a little more complicated when venturing away from the shelter of camp...

The packing list for a 10 or 20 km pit:
- 2 snowmobiles (check fuel, oil, coolant, and engine before using)
- 1 or 2 sleds to drag behind snowmobile
- 1 survival bag (tent, stove, food, etc)
- 1 Iridium satellite phone
- 1 radio (works up to about 10 km)
- 2 GPSs
- extra batteries
- food and water
- sampling equipment (bottles, scrapers, clean room suits, logbook, and more)
- warmest clothing available - windchill can be pretty cold while snowmobiling!

After checking through the list, I set off with a helper (so far, Mike from U-Washington or Gene from Georgia Tech) driving off into the distance and using a GPS to guide our way. Here's a shot of Mike driving at my side...it is a little crooked since I was taking the picture while driving my snowmobile...sort of hard to do.


Once we are 20 km out, we call in our coordinates using the Iridium phone. Then, we don our clean room suits and begin digging away. I've now mastered the depth without a measuring tape...if I can physically get out of the pit than it isn't deep enough. Mike took a wonderful video of me doing a running start, grabbing at the top of the wall, loosing my grip, and sliding back into the hole.


3 or so hours later...we have finished sampling at increments down the snow pit wall, fill in the pit, and pack up for the return trip. We're usually a little giddy after finishing up...probably a little too much labor at high altitude. Mike took this shot of me ready to head back on my snowmobile...behind me are ice core boxes insulating our samples.

After a 45 min drive back to camp, we have a late lunch (around 3 pm) and either collapse for an afternoon nap or force ourselves to work. Today, I was valiant and dragged our samples out to the satellite camp after the return. On the way into dinner, Gene was an angel and gave me a lift the half-mile in...hee hee hee. Whoever said chivalry was dead? Apparently, I'm the equivalent sled-weight of "1 ice core box with empty bottles and 1 pee jug".


4 snow pits down and 2 to go! Hoping to do another 10 km on Wednesday and a 20 km on Thursday or Friday. Then, we're doing a pre-July 4th party!