We have been pinned down in the tent all day, as a nasty storm is raging outside. We woke up to the tent flapping pretty severely but thought little of it, other than the prospect of putting miles behind us on the smaller kites. Erring on the side of caution, we decided to wait and see how the system would develop. Within an hour, the winds had intensified gusting to sixty plus miles per hour. The spin drift would soon cover the sledges and the side of the tent, giving a whole new dimension to bathroom duties! Upon stepping out, the force of the gusts makes walking on the hardened ice precariously slippery. Besides, the drifting wet snow will quickly make a walking snowman out of you. That and the hazardous wind-chill makes for a better choice inside! Here however, the tent walls are flapping with such force that air displacement inside generates its own internal wind system! If this were a movie set, I would imagine technicians hitting the walls of the tent all full force with tennis rackets, while blowing ritter fans from all directions! Eric and I play chess, read and rest. This hasn’t let up all day. As the light drops and the temperatures with it, this should make for a rock’n’roll night! These southern Greenland storm can pack a punch and last a few days. My concern is that once the system blows over, it could well be followed by dead calm–and thus no wind. Then we’d back to the baker oven… Wait: whose idea was this?
May 20, 2010 8:58pm