Fieldwork for June 2015 is now complete, and prior to posting details of our largely-successful trip, I want to first acknowledge these two guys. Through two weeks of not-always-ideal weather at Quelccaya, including six trips to the summit and 6+ meters of digging, no one could ask for more competent and enjoyable assistants/companions. Carsten loves to point out that there are very good reasons why so few automated weather stations (AWS) exist in glacier accumulation zones. This is true, and the Quelccaya AWS would almost certainly not continue functioning so well - and for so long - without the involvement of these two!
The following points provide a glimpse of the critical role played by Carsten & Koky at Quelccaya, this year and in previous field seasons.
The work. Repeatedly ascending to 5,700 meters is the fun part of our fieldwork. While at the summit - through the full spectrum of Andean winter weather - our work is strenuous and stressful. Among the tasks required in raising the entire AWS tower and electronics by 3 meters are lifting four different enclosures with >100 Ahrs of batteries, swaging dozens of cables together for structural integrity (see red tool Koky is holding), climbing and balancing on the 5 meter-tall tower while using various tools in one hand, and thinking clearly enough at 500 hPa to solve a diversity of mind-bending problems that invariably develop. In the snowpits, collecting and recording details of nearly 100 samples is laborious, while measuring density can be downright exhausting (see Snowmetrics tool Carsten is holding); for the first time, one sample this year exceeded 600 kg/m^3. Yet in all aspects of the work, these guys remain dedicated to completing every task precisely!
Being in the field. Keeping glacier fieldwork both safe and fun is not always trivial. However, Carsten and Koky's depth of experience - and their fitness - minimize the impact of problems and discomforts which arise. Both recognize that occasional frustrations are to be expected; once challenges are overcome, they move on. And although all of us would be perfectly happy working up there without Bob Marley, Koky's incredible music archive makes the effort a tiny bit more fun.
The science. Science, after all, is the raison d'être for being at Quelccaya - and this is always at the forefront of our thoughts. Despite jokes about how much easier our lives would be if we had concentrated on modeling climate rather than measuring it, we are all addicted to the process of doing science in the field - reveling in the the excitement which sometimes results, and accepting the inevitable difficult and tedious moments. In reality, many aspects of the science are done either prior to fieldwork (e.g., designing and planning measurements/sampling), or upon return when data processing and sample analyses are done. During intervals of breathlessly digging snow, or gradually freezing while making motionless observations of bird behavior while they prepare to roost inside the glacier, Carsten and Koky always persist cheerfully. With fieldwork, one never knows when an unexpected situation or observation might prove valuable, whether in interpreting a landscape feature or providing insight into the various processes by which snow accumulation is transformed into a climate record. Our science benefits by having six eyes and three brains on the job!
So, Carsten and Koky once again earn a gigantic "thank you" for their efforts this year. We also thank those behind the scenes, including our entire logistics team led by Benjamin Vicencio, the creative wizardry of modelers with whom we work (M. Vuille and J. Hurley), and others who have helped to keep this project going over the years (R. Bradley, L. Thompson). Finally, we are grateful for both financial and technical support from NOAA ATDD/GCOS as well as NSF.
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