After months of planning, the 2012 Polaris Project Expedition begins tomorrow. Participants from all over the United States will converge on JFK Airport in New York (some people from the West Coast will actually be on red-eye flights to JFK tonight), where we will board a flight to Moscow tomorrow afternoon. A few more participants from Russia and Europe will join us in Moscow, and on Thursday evening we’ll take an overnight flight to Yakutsk. Two more participants will join us in Yakutsk, and finally on Friday afternoon we’ll arrive in Cherskiy (if all goes as planned!). This is one of the most grueling 4-5 day trips imaginable, but it is also a magnificent bonding experience right at the start of the expedition. Today will be spent packing and repacking, worrying about what is being forgotten, and generally beginning the transition from our predictable everyday lives to something very different! In a month everyone will be somehow different than they are right now, we’ll have learned a great deal about how the Arctic system works, and hopefully several people will have taken their first bold steps toward being Arctic scientists. Onward!
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paul.mann says
June 25, 2012 at 3:43 pmAs another member of the Woods Hole contingent traveling out from Boston to Cherskiy tomorrow, I can attest to the last minute ‘panic’ that we are now going through worrying that we have forgotten something crucial. This is despite months (at least) of careful preparation and planning. Above all the advice for students is: don’t forget your passport!
Pretty much everything else we should be able to solve en-route. See you all tomorrow.. really looking forward to meeting you all!
Paul
Ludda Ludwig says
June 25, 2012 at 6:15 pmI’ve been checking the weather forecast for Cherskiy, and it looks to be a beautiful 50 to 60 degree range, much preferable to 90 degree weather in Minnesota this week. I can’t wait to be back in Siberia!