78.64622 deg S

35.64052 deg E

3619 meters above sea level

Maximum & Minimum temperatures: -21 to -38 °C

Having completed our drilling at site 32B yesterday, we began our trip to Plateau Station this morning. With clear skies and a smooth snow surface, we were able to make good time across the ice sheet. Today is the International Polar Year’s “Ice Sheet Day” celebration (www.ipy.org). As one of the key International Polar Year Antarctic expeditions for Norway and the U.S., we used our satellite telephone to join in the Ice Sheet Day session at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. We gave a summary of our expedition, which is one of the longest single-year traverses in Antarctica, and shared the exciting news that as we now approach the historical Plateau Station, we are almost halfway to our destination at South Pole. Today was also the birthday of the lead expedition scientist for the U.S., and so at dinner we toasted both to Ice Sheet Day and to Mary’s birthday.

- Mary

Driver’s view (Photo: Stein Tronstad).