11 July 2014 We are at Summit! .... by the Aput Group

Today was the big day. The day that all of us remaining had been waiting for since the start of the Project: our trip to Summit! The scientists talked about Summit like it was some mythical place, a land of never-ending candy, deep ice cores, and below-freezing temperatures. Honestly, the Aput group, which means snow in Greenlandic, did not know what to expect.

To get to Summit, we boarded on a United States Air Force LC-130. The American students had ridden one to get to Kangerlussuaq, but for the Danish and Greenlandic students, it was an entirely new experience. It was surprising how loud the plane ride was. Fortunately, we got ear plugs. The Air Force pilots were really accommodating. For instance, they flew really low – like helicopter level – to the fiord as we were leaving Kangerlussuaq. That lead to some amazing pictures. Also, they allowed us to climb up to the cockpit and take pictures. Once we crossed the Greenlandic ice sheet, all you could see was white with some blue melt ponds.

Prior to Summit, we had been reminded constantly about the possibility of acute mountain sickness, or altitude sickness. Altitude sickness occurs when you climb altitude really quickly and therefore do not have time to acclimate to the changing conditions. As you rise in altitude, the oxygen molecules are less compact due to less partial atmospheric pressure. In fact, Summit is over 3 kilometers above sea level! That is quite a jump in altitude. We had been chugging water for days to avoid the symptoms of altitude sickness: headaches, nausea, and fatigue, among others.

Landing in Summit went smoother than expected. When I got off the plane, I did not feel any effects of altitude sickness, but I was reminded to take it easy. At first, the snow’s reflection blinded me. Because snow is white, it reflects most of its incident light, thus having a high albedo. It was a short stroll up to the Big House, but it felt much longer because of the low oxygen levels.

I was surprised by how much of a team effort Summit was. Everyone had a job to do, even us! We helped bring up the food cargo from the plane. After lunch, we scurried over to Tent City and met up with our bags. Surprisingly, inside the tents was very toasty.

Our group’s favorite part (and honestly everyone’s favorite part) of the day was the food. It was excellent, definitely living up to the hype we had heard earlier. Furthermore, lunch and dinner provided ample time for us to sit down with the scientists and just talk. I previously thought that all scientists wore lab coats, recited the digits of pi for fun, and had graying hair, but these scientists were real people. They were funny and encouraging. Their lives were not that different than our own, except that they were conducting ground-breaking research! And I think that is what makes Summit so special! The various personalities make the station come alive.

Words of the Day Snow – sne – aput – llueve

Tent – telt – tupeq – campo

Food – mad – nerisassat -- comida

Weather Report:

Temperature: -12°C, 11°F

Pressure altitude: 10439 feet

Pressure: 685 mb

General conditions: Blue skies, few hazy clouds