Iben, Dennis, Sverrir, Jianzhong and Eliza are building a pallet with cargo for Kangerlussuaq..

Weather forecast for Friday is bad. We move one plane to Thursday.

In this line of work plans change constantly. Originally, we had two planes scheduled for Friday; but this morning we received a bad forecast for Friday weather. Beginning Thursday evening we will have a regular blizzard Thursday night and most of Friday. Winds up to 50 knots and across the skiway and snow have been forecasted. We have therefore asked for a plane tomorrow, and hopefully the next one on Saturday. Luckily, the 109th have been able to grant our request.

Eleven people will leave on the plane tomorrow, one day ahead of schedule, and this causes a special atmosphere in camp tonight. There is a lot of quiet conversation as the people leaving tomorrow are enjoying a last evening in camp. Several have also been out walking as the weather right now is absolutely splendid with no signs of upcoming trouble. In preparation of the blizzard, we have been cleaning up in camp, collecting all loose items and removing boxes and crates from the snow. Tomorrow, we will secure all tents and buildings.

What we did today:

1. Processing: 28.05 m or bags 350-400 (220.00 m).
2. Drilling in one shift. 3.26 m drilled until 19.00.
3. One shift logging of ice cores. Logging depth: 319.43 m.
4. Ceilometer (Cloud measuring laser) now active.
5. Work on electrical installations in science and drill trenches.
6. Built one retro pallet for plane tomorrow.
7. Cleaning up in camp in preparation of bad weather Thursday evening.
8. German snow sampling.
9. Japanese aerosol sampling and snow experiments.
10. Water vapour sampling, methane sampling, boundary layer and meteorology station working.

Ad.2: Drillers report (by Trevor Popp): The addition of the one dead weight (70 KG) increases downward velocity in the drill liquid by 50%. The final test today was performed with the new EGRIP electronics coupled to the two meter core barrel and one dead weight. After weeks of troubleshooting by JC with support of Bruno (in camp) and Bent (in Copenhagen) we made a nice run, producing a full core barrel of excellent core quality and a full chips chamber with packed dry chips. The extra power and torque given by the new electronics seems to improve chips transport. A happy last night for Jens Christian.

Weather today: Sunshine. Temp. - 8°C to -21°C. Wind: 3-6 kt from SW. Visibility: To horizon.

FL, J.P. Steffensen