Last week the put-in team was expected to land at the Pine Island Glacier field camp [see Google maps], but was unable to make a successful attempt since they couldn't find the runway. It turns out that the overwinter snow accumulation had buried all the runway markers.
Without a marked runway, the Air Force requires several extra bureaucratic hurdles for an 'open field' landing. They are already concerned about the condition of the runway, with possible soft snow that won't support the cargo planes.
To prepare for poor snow conditions, the first few planes are going in lightly loaded and are carrying JATO rockets to help with take-off
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