3/5/01
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3/5/01 |
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| Crevasse near the drill rig. Water was pumped up (from - 200 feet) to supply fluid to the drilling operation. There were long periods of no water, only very dense slush. We would then sit in the cook tent as much as possible. Bader was very restless and unhappy because of our lack of progress. Every once in a while someone would go out to see if any water could be gotten. This would go on for many days. Once while we were having a long lunch and drinking tea with 100 proof rum to rest our nerves Henri Bader went out to see if there was any water in the slush to permit further drilling. He stood on the bridge and dropped a snow ball into the crevasse to find out if he could hear a splash (most unlikely). He fell in. Anders went out after we finished drinking to look over the drill rig. After some time he wandered near the crevasse and heard some faint noise. Then he want to the bridge and saw Henri Bader lying far below. He ran back to the cook tent and we rushed out to the crevasse with the little wooden bridge as shown. Bader had, by incredible luck, landed on a snow bridge on his belly about 20 feet down. I climbed on the wooden bridge (a packing case for drill stems) and lowered a rope to Henri. He fixed it around himself and we pulled him up. He was swearing at me and damning me because I was knocking snow down on him. Bader had lost his balance and fallen flat on the snow bridge. He had lost his gloves. He was in the crevasse for about one hour. He had a Swiss army knife attached to his belt with a chain. While on his belly he could fetch the knife from his pocket and used it (unopened I believe) to cut hand holds on the side of the ice so that he could bring himself to a standing position to cling to the crevasse wall. That is how we foundhim - a very close call. The bottom was 200 feet deep and full of slush. We had earlier lost one or two sledges of specimens and gear in a crevasse that was covered at the top by a thin snow bridge. No one was lost but all gear and sledge were gone. Summer field collection of rocks was lost. |