Too Much Snow!
One of the frist tasks the team undertakes when it arrives at the Pricness Elisabeth Antarctica at the start of each season is removing snow from the station. During the eight months the station is uninhabited, a lot of snow piles up in front of the station. Removing al lthe snow is a process that takes several days adn the efforts of all the team each year.
As Antarctica is climactically a desert, very little of the snow that accumulates around the station is actually from new precipitation. Most of it is blown by the wind during storms.
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With favourable weather, the team gets straight to work digging out the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica from the blanket of snow that covered her during the austral winter.
© International Polar Foundation
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The station's hybrid Komatsu excavator, which is parked in the winter park when the station is uninhabited, is the first vehicle to attack the metres and metres of snow that has accumulated around the station so the team can get inside the station.
© International Polar Foundation
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Now it's time to get on the roof of the station's annexes with some snow shovels to clear away snow!
© International Polar Foundation
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Going at the snow from above and below.
© International Polar Foundation
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Now the snowcat has joined the cleanup effort.
© International Polar Foundation
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Teamwork makes the work go a lot faster!
© International Polar Foundation
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After several hours the BELARE team has made a lot of progress!
© International Polar Foundation
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An aerial view of the station taken by a drone gives you an idea of the amount of snow clearing work needed to get the station up and running.
© International Polar Foundation
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After a few days the entire area in front of PEA has been cleared and flattened so it can be used for parking vehicles.
© International Polar Foundation
