Qamatuks, Zastrugi, and Pukak

Today's BUSY Schedule:

6:30 Wake-Up

7:15 Breakfast

7:45-8:15 Team Meeting

8:15-12:00 Weigh tree branchlets

12:00-12:30 Lunch

12:30 - 1:30 Data Entry

1:30 - 4:30 Field Work - Snow Pits

4:30 - 5:30 Data Entry/Check Blog

5:30 - 6:45 Dinner/Teacher Meeting

7:00 - 8:30 Evening Lecture (Snow Types & Snowpack)

8:30 Write Blog

Our Earthwatch team puts in full days of work here. This morning, Hilary(my new friend from London) and I worked together weighing some of the 500+ tree branches and recording the weights on data sheets.

Today was our first day outside in the field. After lunch, we went out to a test site to dig a total of 6 snow pits. We recorded lots of measurements on data sheets for each pit. All the data had to be entered into a computer spreadsheet as soon as we returned. It was a beautiful day that the locals called "hot", a balmy minus 7 fahrenheit. I was geared up with 6 layers of clothing, covered from head to toe, including hand warmers in my mitts and toe warmers in my boots. (I was able to stay warm...thanks to my friends who loaned me great cold weather gear!) The layers of gear is quite heavy and makes walking through several feet of snow very difficult. There is a marching technique for walking in the bulky boots that will help me keep from sinking in with each step...but I haven't mastered that step yet! I tend to sink in to my knees or deeper with every other step. At least I'm getting a great workout, and you will get to see some fun pictures tomorrow.

Student Challenge:

Today's challenge is to learn some new words: qamatuk, zastrugi, pukak. Post a comment to the blog to define each of these words. (Remember to put your name in the comment box and click on Anonymous before you post it.) Tomorrow I will post pictures of each one!