23 December, 2001

Question of the day: Which kind of ice is easiest to traverse when skidooing uphill? a. scalloped ice

b. packed snow covered ice

c. blue ice

(Answer appears at the end of today's journal entry.)

Just a short note for today. Today was Jaime's and Linda's second day "on the job", so we continued with more moraine searching and introduced hillside searching. 17 meteorites are discovered today (including 2 by me).

It has been a good search day in spite of the slippery ice slopes. My heart no longer stops when my skidoo starts sliding backwards. It's happened enough, that it doesn't bother me anymore (ok, maybe a little). But, I now know what to do when it happens.

Answer to today's "Question of the Day": The correct answer is "b", packed snow covered ice. Scalloped ice is not too bad, but it can be very bumpy. Blue is is the worst. It is extremely slick and slippery.

Try this!

You will need: sandpaper (to represent packed snow covered ice) wax paper or laminated slick paper (to represent blue ice)

a piece of sculpted carpeting (hi and low) or an old washboard (to represent scalloped ice)

small matchbox or box (to represent a skidoo)

Use a large piece of cardboard propped up against a chair to create a slope. Tape (duct tape works well) the sandpaper, wax paper, and carpeting to the cardboard. Then, try "driving" your "skidoo" slowly down each slope. On which is your skidoo most likely to lose control?

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