Storytelling night. Bruno (to left) is telling stories from his travels. Ilka, Fumio, Matthias, Nanna, Valerie and Jianzhong are listening. Sepp is doing his own stuff in the background.

A lot of activity in the trenches.

A lot of people are now active underground. The two warm laboratories have been assembled so now people are not only setting up tables and saws and equipment in the snow cave, but also inside the laboratories. At the same time, the ice core loggers are receiving a few cores to hone their logging skills. Still there are many small details that need to be adjusted and modified before the assembly line is ready for a larger ice core production. Our cook has received a new stove with a “proper” oven. She delighted the entire camp by serving crispy pizzas at supper time. I still wonder at the revolution in camp life that our new satellite link has made. Everybody has an active cell phone (on the web) and everybody can maintain contact with family and friends. Still, people are playing games and cards and chat in the evening. Tonight Bruno entertained with stories from his flying as a pilot.

What we did today:

1. Stored frozen food in temporary storage in front of food tent..
2. Drilling 5 runs.
3. Working on infrastructure in science trench.
4. Two Viessmann cabins have been assembled. They are now being outfitted.
5. Making 75 m cable tunnel between main generator and carpenters garage.
6. Made box for garbage collection on a pallet.
7. German snow sampling.
8. Japanese aerosol sampling and snow experiments.
9. Water vapour sampling, methane sampling, boundary layer and meteorology station working.

Ad. 2: Drilllers report: Continued liquid drilling, 5 runs with HT drill. 4.5 m core produced. Training new drillers. Troubleshooting the fluid treatment plant and the FED apparatus. Mounting EGRIP 2 m drill+ electronics for test runs tomorrow.

Weather today: Sunshine. Some thin clouds in the afternoon. Temp. - 14°C to - 28°C. Wind: 10 - 17 kt from WSW. Visibility: To horizon.

FL, J.P. Steffensen