The ICE2001 crew at the high drill camp of Prospector-Russell Col has nearly finished setting up the equipment to begin drilling and recovering the 200 metre ice core. There is a problem with the winch motor braking system. A long delay is not expected. The crew at PR Col has skills that go well beyond science and mountaineering. Problems with the drill, not unexpected under these rigorous conditions, should soon be overcome. Radio communication with the designer in Ottawa may help.

Meanwhile, the team at the Quintino Sella Base Camp, no longer on standby to load the heavy drill equipment on the helicopter, have already begun their slow journey up to King Col. As they travel, they will dig snow pits for samples as they did at the QS camp and on the trip to the lower QS glacier. This includes hand drilling down to extract 10 metre cores.

ICE2001 would like to acknowledge the contribution made by students from the University of Ottawa and their professor, Dr. Peter Johnson. As part of their own research this summer, they flew in for a brief stay to one of the many icefields of the St. Elias Range. While there, they collected snow samples, that were turned over to the ICE2001 team. This included samples of the prominent dust layer, deposited in April and which is easily identifiable in snow pits throughout the region. For glaciologists, the material of such a dust yields valuable analytical information. It is also important because it forms a single, unmistakable marker in the snow profile and will serve as a reliable date marker in recording subsequent snow accumulations.