Whitenosed

GETTING BLUENOSED IN GREENLAND'S ROOST

The Ravens Roost

When the list, was finished, and I had a hangover, I got a certificate. Now I am a Knight of the Blue Nose. I am not able to remember much from that evening.
But is was fun......

By Fred Reed Soldiering SONDERSTROM, Greenland

- High, barren hills of the arctic desert loom over this tiny half-American, half-Danish
base, hills speckled with brave but foolhardy scrub vegetation and occasional musk-oxen. These latter mostly snort, peer about nearsightedly and look stupid, which for all I know they are. Or, maybe they just aren't interested. It gets chilly here, and in the summer the sun never goes down. From the hills the base looks temporary and flimsy. The runway, used by the big C-130 transports that supply scientific groups on the ice cap, looks small in the vastness. The social hot spot of Sonderstrom is the Raven's Roost, the shaky bar and restaurant of the 109th Tactical Airlift Group of the New York National Guard, out of Schenectady.
The 109th, whose guest I am, has come here to ski. The skis, however, are on the airplanes: The C-130s have to land on the open ice, there being no snow-free ground where the scientists are. Digging down to bare earth to bulldoze a runway would be difficult, since the ice cap is 10,000 feet thick. Several times a year the 109th comes to carry many tons of food and supplies to the otherwise inaccessible regions. The Roost is comfortable without being excessively elegant. Beer, which the guys bring with them, is 50 cents. Every night the unit barbecues chicken or chops, sits around hoisting brews and talking shop. Tonight -- night here looks like 5:00 o'clock in the afternoon -- I shot the breeze with the cook at the grill out back while an arctic fox circled ten feet away. Then catastrophe struck. Suddenly, a sergeant announced that it was "bluenose time."
Tradition insists that newcomers to Greenland, which I was, must be bluenosed. Uh-oh. About five of us neophytes, including a young schoolteacher from Alaska, were duly lined up at the bar. Bluenosing consists of the recounting by one of the unit of the tale of some fellow who allegedly traveled around Greenland by sled. Whenever he reached any destination in this tale -- and Greenland, it turns out, consists mostly of destinations -- those being bluenosed have to toss down a shot of schnapps. Remember, I didn't want to do this; I was forced. I didn't mind as long as the purported traveler went only to major cities, since there are few. The towns didn't bother me too much, although the shots of schnapps were beginning to add up. Soon, however, the traveler was visiting obscure camps, former camps, bushes, rocks, and molecules. Anyway, I had a wonderful evening -- I'm sure of it, because the air crew told me so in the morning. When we turned in it was, as always, 5:00 o'clock in the afternoon.

The Raven calls

Here are some more pictures from the Ravens roost

109th Airlift Group

Well since my father started to fly in Greenland, he has used the 109th Airlift Group.
They are based in NY, Scotia.
The command a large numbers of LC-130H, that is a converted version of the normal C-130, with skis on. That enable them to take-off and land on sea ice, and on any snow surface.

They practice flying and landing in Greenland, based in Sondy, Kangerlussuaq, in the summer. And in the winter they fly on the

Antarctic, supplying the American operations.
Since the are in Greenland, in the summer NGRIP and VECO uses them for transport of people and equipment to science project on the top the Greenlandic icecap.
Every person attached to this outfit, are highly professional, and gets the job done.
They will help you in any way, you need.

Below I have some pictures.

A LC-130H landing in Sondy.

A LC-130H preparing for take-off, at North-GRIP. The surface has been compacted by machines. You can see the hole plane is on skis!