14 April 2012 First Day in Kangerlussuaq (Kanger for short)

We’ll be on the ground in Kangerlussuaq in about an hour. I look out the window and all I see is this featureless blanket of white. That’s Greenland down below. An Ice sheet nearly 2 miles thick.

I woke up before 6:00 AM this morning to get ready for my 9:00 AM flight out of Copenhagen. Showered, packed, and had some breakfast at the hotel, and caught a cab to the airport. Everything went smoothly until I arrived at the ticket counter. I made it this far with my three bags, a larger suitcase, a carry on smaller bag with camera gear, a back-up computer, etc., and my main computer bag. It ends up that Air Greenland only permits you two bags one check in and one carry on. And the carry on needed to weigh less than 9 Kg. We had a problem, my main bag was already over weight, and my smallest bag was over the carry on limit by 6 Kg, and that wasn’t counting my third bag.

So they called the supervisor and her first statement was, “I’m sorry sir but Air Greenland is very strict on the baggage limits going into Greenland.” So I started with my counter offer, “This is all important gear that I have to have with me in Greenland, and I can’t board the flight without it.” That went back and forth a bit and we finally made progress when I said that I was flying into Greenland to join the NASA IceBridge research team. The supervisor said they would need official proof that was what I was doing, and at that point I improvised ☺ . Enough said. I had to move a bunch of my stuff from my computer bag to my large suitcase, and pay a hefty fee (sorry Janet) because my large bag was now way overweight, and I had let them gate check my other smaller carry on bag. But thanks to the folks at Greenland Air and a bit of creative negotiation, I made it on the flight with all my luggage.

I arrived at Kangerlussuaq (or as most people call it Kanger) five hours after departing Copenhagen. The folks from IceBridge were their to greet me at the airport and take me to my room at the Kangerlussuaq International Science Support (KISS) Building. After unpacking I went exploring a bit on top the ridge overlooking the community. During the Cold War with the Soviet Union Kanger was a US Air Force base, but today it primarily services science research teams coming to study the Greenlandic Ice Sheet.

In addition I also had the opportunity to spend a bit of time onboard the NASA P3 aircraft that I’ll be on Monday. The flight ended early today due to a suspected leak in engine #1, but it looks like the problem has been taken care of and we will be back online Monday morning.

Tomorrow is a down day, so no flying. Tomorrow a group of us plans to head to the face of the GlacierA mass of ice that persists for many years and notably deforms and flows under the influence of gravity. that once filled this valley.