RECOVERY MISSION -- WEEKEND UPDATES

This much-anticipated string of updates, delayed by weather and other issues, was written by safety team leader NICK BRATTON



August 30, 2013

Base Camp

Our team emerged this morning from a two-day hibernation in

high spirits. However, the same cannot be said of our wind-worn equipment. The 80 mph piteraq battering camp since

Saturday claimed one sleeping tent and inflicted heavy damage on another. While

the winds remained above 30 mph today, skies were clear and we were able to

resume our activities at the dig site.

Given our dwindling days on the ice and unpredictable

weather, today Major Jeremiah Ellis put into motion the initial stages of our

departure plan. In anticipation of

having a helicopter at our disposal to reposition equipment, a crew of strong

backs labored to free our fuel drums from their icy imprisonment.

When the helicopter arrived bearing supplies,

it did not have the accessories necessary for moving fuel drums, so it departed

with our trash and some Hotsy pressure washer parts for repair in Kulusuk.

Meanwhile, reprising her original role with North South Polar, geophysicist Jaana Gustafsson patrolled the glacier with her ground-penetrating radar to expand the survey area. Anthropologists Mindy Simonson and Dr. Laurel Freas explored two new holes with the camera as persisting winds scoured the dig site with airborne ice crystals.

A new construction project arose from adaptations to our search tactics. In consultation with master mechanic WeeGee Smith, the anthropologist team decided yesterday to attempt to locate more conclusive evidence of the aircraft using a new approach. WeeGee would expand an existing hole to a four-foot diameter and descend into the depths of the glacier to investigate a point of interest. In order to accomplish this feat, WeeGee proposed construction of a gantry – an elevated frame from which to lower him into and retrieve him from the glacier with rope and pulleys.

North South Polar revealed its latent engineering talents, taking WeeGee’s concepts and seizing power tools with gusto. We measured, sawed, and bolted throughout the afternoon, finishing our sturdy structure moments before the call for dinner crackled over the radio. The gantry and hole would be covered by a dome tent, allowing WeeGee to operate in inclement weather. The photo shows Project Manager Joe Tuttle joined by Safety Team Leaders Nick Bratton, Frank Marley, and Brian Hornerdemonstrating the strength of the finished product.





More unpleasant weather is just around the nunatak.

High winds augmented by one to three inches

of freezing rain are due Sunday, so we are returning to Kulusuk on Saturday to

wait out the storm.

WeeGee will use the

visit to repair some Hotsy components.

ICE CHIPS: Communications specialist Isaac Moreno sustained

a calamitous avian mishap last night. In

his haste to respond to a late-night page from headquarters, Isaac heaved

mightily on his sleeping bag zipper, tearing a long hole in the fabric. An explosion of down filled his tent. For a

full hour Isaac attempted to clear his tent of fluffy, floating plumage. Apparently this is a difficult undertaking,

especially in the wind at 2 a.m.

Fortunately a cup of hot chocolate revived him in the morning as he made

light of his feathered flurry. With a

replacement sleeping bag Isaac has returned his tent to its stylish state.



* * *



August 31, 2013

Kulusuk, Greenland -- Sitting around the tables of the

hotel’s dining room it’s hard to believe that a few short hours ago we were

rushing to strike camp on the nunatak.

We survived the wrath of the piteraq only to learn from the Danish

Meteorological Institute and the U.S. Navy that more adverse weather was headed

our way.

Having assumed the mantle of the blog from Mitch, I am

discovering how difficult it is to write about subjects other than the

weather. Our activities revolve around

the forecast; each morning we hang anxiously on every word Project Manager Joe

Tuttle exchanges with his Danish friends on the satellite phone. For the last few days we’ve been hearing

intimations of the return of high winds, only this time bringing its friend,

freezing rain. Or maybe snow. They weren’t certain. But the forecasts agreed: something was coming.

Deciding that discretion is the better part of valor, we

undertook a protracted helicopter evacuation to Kulusuk under the direction of

JPAC. In four separate flights aboard an

Air Greenland A-Star we moved the team to the security and comforts of the

hotel, each flight arriving two and a half hours after the previous.

Since there isn’t much going on in Kulusuk tonight, I have

taken the creative liberty of re-writing one of my favorite poems: Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. For your literary pleasure, I present

“Xanaduck”

In Koge Bay did Gustafsson a stately sleeping tent decree:

Where holes into the glacier ran

And WeeGee worked with steady hand

Above the frozen sea.

At base camp winds blew all around

And tents were anchored to the ground;

Unshaken these bold and driven wills,

Where weaker women and men would flee;

The bergs of ice, the fractured hills,

And naught a spot of greenery.

But would our probing wish be granted

Within the frigid glacier cover?

As under heavy toil we panted

To lift and move and melt undaunted

And taste the Mountain House’s savor.

Yet with our howling Hotsies steaming

Down our necks piteraqs were breathing.

A mighty wind from the north was forced

Amid whose swift and ruthless burst

Crushed several tents in ferocious gale.

How could our tiny band prevail?

Somewhere nearby a Duck had ever

Since ’42 lain under the river

Of ice meandering with glacial motion.

Towards the fjord this river ran

Bearing three heroic men.

History gave our team the notion

To seek beneath the ice and star

These heroes from a distant war.

* * *

September 1, 2013

Kulusuk, Greenland

The lassitude and heavy weather descending upon the hotel

has made for a slow and restful day. The

most activity anyone mustered was to catch a lift into the village with Jesper,

the hotel manager, to pick up snacks at the general store. This recovery day gives us an opportunity to

review photos and post a selection taken in the preceding weeks. They tell their own stories.

(PHOTOS TO FOLLOW)

* * *

September 2, 2013

Kulusuk, Greenland

Sunshine greeted us this morning as the clear, radiant

arctic light cast the craggy island countryside into sharp contrast. The weather on the glacier continues to be

harsh: forecasts call for winds up to 70

miles per hour and rain. Our team will

remain here until Thursday when winds are projected to recede to a pedestrian

35 miles per hour.

This was a day of excursions. After spending all day yesterday cooped up as

sheets of rain assaulted the hotel it was time to venture into the sun and

explore. Communications specialist Isaac

Moreno and forensic photographer Brian Kimball headed up the shore toward a

collection of towering icebergs for a closer look. Anthropologist Mindy Simonson made friends

with Zita, a beautiful white sled dog kept near the hotel by Karsten, the local

aircraft mechanic. Project manager Joe

Tuttle also took a tour along the inlet to check out the herd of icy giants

looming off the shore. NSP Team Lead Lou

Sapienza strolled into the village to peruse the handcrafted wares at the

souvenir shop, returning with a sculpture made from a whale’s tooth.

Safety Team Leaders Frank Marley and John Bradley,

Geophsyicist/Epicurean Jaana Gustafsson and I undertook an ascent of a nearby

peak. Jaana and I ascended the casual

north ridge while John and Frank made what is possibly the first American

ascent of the west direct gully. The

views from the summit were spectacular.

Sadly, Jaana is leaving us tomorrow, reluctantly flying back to

Stockholm. Everyone on the team will miss

her endless energy, exemplary work ethic, and magical ability to elevate

Mountain House to new culinary heights.

Jaana has been instrumental in the history of this undertaking, as it

was her radar survey in 2012 that identified the spot where we found evidence

of the Duck.

While the rest of the team was either soaking up the sun or

enjoying restful interludes in the hotel, Master Mechanic WeeGee Smith was

exerting his willpower on a leaking Hotsy coil with a welder in the airport’s

maintenance garage. The good news: his repairs resulted in the coil withstanding

170 pounds per square inch of water pressure without leaking. The murky news: when operating on the ice, the Hotsy pushes

water through the coils at 4,000 pounds per square inch. While I have confidence in WeeGee’s handiwork,

we have learned that Greenland has its own way with our equipment.



Thanks to all the loyal readers who have been following the

adventures of our expedition from around the world.

We appreciate your comments, encouragements,

and well wishes.

Knowing that you are supporting us from afar helps us keep focus on the job at hand.

We’re going to need all the help we can get

as we enter the final leg of the mission.

W hile the winds are predicted to ease off later this week, our return to the ice will be greeted with a few days of freezing rain.

But until then, there is more sun to enjoy in

Kulusuk.



