European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 24, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 stars and stripes june 2007 passing time in Thule adventure trips abound for weekend warriors by Ben Murray stars and stripes Thule air Greenland the weekend Here begins like it does in Al most any on saturday people Wake up a Little groggy from the night before at the and flip on the throw some Cereal in a they put on comfortable clothes and go Over the list of chores and activities that will make up the next 48 an inventory in almost any runs the Gamut from mowing the Lawn to going out for a at Thule air base in far Northern there Are no lawns to no mall to shop at and no night to go out in this time of when the clock Clicks Over from Friday to Satur Day at the Sun is nearly As High Over the base As it had been at to most it can appear that theres Little to do with two Days of free time in a weather Bat tired glacial Valley High above the Arctic treeless and but residents of Thule have a Long list of diver Sions to keep them Busy when the weekend Rolls from organized clubs and skeet to occasional dogsled rides offered by nearby Greenlandic first and Foremost among pastimes is Thule tripping a general term used to describe Field trips to Points of one of the most popular is a climb of nearby mount a Tabletop Mountain that rises out of North Star Bay with shale flanks and a nearly vertical track leading to the sum accessed at the very top by climbing a the Mountain is the site of a Long practice Thule tradition to ferry a Stone from the Bottom to the where climbers write their name on it and add it to a pile several decades in the other activities include trips to the Edge of the Greenland ice just a Short drive from the where trippers can climb onto the rim of one of the planets biggest ice or hike to ice caves and skiing one called vortex consists of a massive ice and is a popular place for sled said Amanda who has been on several Thule trips sleds can be rented from the local arts and crafts photos by Ben and stripes to make it to the Summit of the mount Dundas 600 feet above the surface of North Star Bay near Thule air staff John Comer uses a rope to climb the trails steepest the Valley also has a number of manmade attractions dating to the heyday of Thule in the when the base was a heavily manned and protected radar base and staging area for Strate Gic bombers Halfway Between Washington and you can go up there and see the relic part of Thule said Mark Deputy commander of the 821st air base for it can be hard to leave the Comfort of a warm dorm to walk on the Edge of an ice Sheet or stand in the cold and scan for seals amid gnashing in almost any town Back people would rather have a warm Day and a Ball game than a 40knot wind and a distinct Chance of frostbite on a walk to see a Greenlandic but Many people Here volunteered to come to Thule to do precisely and revel in the Chance to see sights Many people Back Home will never have the Chance to said one master ser Geant after a trip up mount you can sit on your ass and watch or you can come out do and then go Home and watch he email Ben Murray at  Florian watches As coworker Alex Mitchell hurls a Stone off the Edge of a Cliff near a former air defense site called d launch in Ben and stripes Mark a Crew chief and space console operator with the 12th space warning Squadron at Thule air works monday at the terminal for the satellite and missile tracking isolated unit watches Over from above Greenland troops keep things running smoothly in space by Ben Murray stars and stripes Thule air Green land Odds Are theres barely a service member in Europe or Iraq who has Ever met one of the 30 or so people who make up the operational staff of the 12th space warning they dont know the but they know this their satellite phones their atm cards get them Cash from kaisers laut to and the Blue Force tracker systems in their humvee can show them where they Are to within a few the 12th Sis geographical about As far removed from other units As it can possibly positioned on a Hilltop in North Ern hundreds of Miles above the Arctic the reach of its Howe goes a Long the 12th Sis is part of a satellite and space debris tracking net work that keeps tabs on every manmade object in the skies above charting its height and said 12th Sis the 12th Doest track every object in the sky All the but it is part of a global network that and acts like an air traffic control system for the ensuring the knows the Posi Tion of every the system helps maintain the order crucial to keeping Satel Lites in orbit and Lin Coln if no one tracked the no one would know when two were on a path to col or one malfunctioned and began to Lincoln the military and Economy cant afford that kind of carelessness because almost every thing these Days Communia weather sur phone Calls is All routed through if the space objects Arent tracked youre not going to have that space Lincoln so the network that the 12th Sis belongs to watches every thing from communications Satel Lites to softball size pieces of de Bris More than Miles above comprising a Catalon of about he see space on Page 5 Lune specials Atlanta 305 Newyork 295 395 Phoenix 395 los Angeles 399 san Francisco 399 Miami 305 travel Jun 1 Jun 2007 great to All payment in us by air Egypt 8days Russia 8 Days i it v week  train packages Coil for Lait minute specials top touristic Tel