For the first week at Summit, the new science techs shadowed the experienced science techs around the research station, gradually taking on their responsibilities. At the end of the week, a pair of aircraft were called in to carry the outgoing crew back to civilization. The new techs scrambled to ask their last few questions, the departing staff packed flight lunches, and the mechanics prepared fuel sleds and powerful diesel heaters to service the aircraft. A call came over the radio as the first aircraft approached, and a red skid-equipped Twin Otter landed among the dunes of the ungroomed runway north of camp.
We worked behind the wing, in the piercing -70°C cold of the prop blast, unloading styrofoam boxes of fresh vegetables to a pair of snowmobile-towed sleds. We pulled the precious boxes back to the main kitchen structure, ferried them up the metal stairway, through the building vestibule with its heavy freezer-style doors, and inside to the warm living space. The departing Summit crew's baggage was moved onto the sleds, towed out to the aircraft, and loaded inside. Jason and I pulled away to the large gradual dune near the shop, and watched Matt and the departing crew walk out to the the aircraft and climb through the door. Seconds after the hatch closed, the pilot throttled up, the skids broke free from the ice, and they disappeared on the end of a lingering contrail. We repeated with the second plane: food in, friends and baggage out, then the prop noise dwindling to nothing.
We took some time to recover and attend to our other duties, then gathered the next morning to inspect the haul of fresh foods that we hoped to stretch towards a resupply date two months distant. It was a jovial scene as we unpacked box after box of fresh produce, and filled the shelves of our walk-in refrigerated storage room, the freshie shack. We did some research on root cellaring techniques, and tried to create ideal keeping environments for each produce type. We'll have lots of fresh food for the next couple of weeks: after that, our diet will depend on how well we can maintain our produce.
The previous crew had been supplied with fresh vegetables in November, and after four months, the freshie shack was bare. The first photo captures the bleak state of the shelves at the end of their stay; the following photos show the same shelves now replete with fruit, vegetables and fresh dairy.
