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Once the initial shaft was dug, the tunnel was constructed using a chainsaw to cut blocks in the face, a spade to wedge and break them out, and then a small sledge to haul them back to the main shaft, where they where lifted out using a tripod and pulley system and hauled away on a large sledge by Muskeg. Several folk skived off a bit of snow digging on their day on gash duty by tipping the blocks into the melt tank. When finished the tunnel was over 150 yards long. (One of my letters home says we were at 130 yards and still digging, and the temperature was 15 degrees warmer than the surface). In 1969 it held 42 dogs over the winter. Below are a photo of the tunnel and another showing the removal of the ice blocks on the surface.
[25 November 2010]
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