From the warmth and comfort of a hotel room in Akureyri, Iceland, I'm staring at my pile of cold-weather gear. Heavy bibs, balaclava, leather mitts. Rugged, well-insulated, reassuring. But I'm also glancing over at a weather report that shows a temperature of –44°C and winds of 15 knots. The report is from Summit Camp, a research station that sits, isolated amid hundreds of miles of ice, near the 10,600 ft high-point of the Greenland ice sheet.
We're a crew of six. Two heavy equipment mechanic/operators, three science technicians, and a station manager. These folks have a lot of experience working in the polar regions. We'll rely on one another to keep the station warm, powered up, and clear of snow. We'll conduct the science that brings us all here. We'll melt water, make food, and keep company. And we're our own best resource in any kind of emergency. Three operations specialists who manage camp logistics are traveling up for the crew-turnover. Beyond the folks on station, there is a much larger group that keeps the remote station fueled and ready for science. The whole thing is pretty impressive.
We're in this coastal town in northern Iceland, waiting another day for the weather to improve. When the wind across the Denmark Strait dies down, we'll load up a pair of Twin-Otter aircraft and head to the Greenland coast for fuel at Constable Point. From there, it's up to Summit Camp on the ice sheet.
