86.80033 deg S, 54.45187 deg E 3151 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum Temperatures: - 27 °C to - 36 °C We continued packing, washing and gradually things came in order. We worked more on our joint presentation that will be held at South Pole tomorrow. Also, flight operations started and John and Jan-Gunnar were busy organizing with ALCI and Troll Station. Late in the day, the Basler that is going to fly us to the Pole was reported on its way and expected to land around 3 a.m. local time tomorrow, i.e. New Zealand time. Half of the group continues directly to the South Pole while the rest will be in Camp Winter for another day or so. The Prime Minister of Norway, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, as the first Norwegian Prime Minister in Antarctica, landed...

Anti whaling activities in the Southern Ocean headlined this morning's daily onboard newspaper "Australia Today". The paper comprises four A4 pages printed from News on Board services via TEAMtalk Satellite. Anything from our part of the world, the Southern Ocean, generates animated conversation. Two Sea Shepherd Conservation Society members from the ship the 'Steve Irwin' boarded the Japanese ship the Yushin Maru No 2 to deliver a letter to the captain advising him that he was illegally killing whales in the Southern Whale Sanctuary. They were promptly taken into custody on the ship, where they remain. Notions of law at sea were bandied about at lunch along with the practicalities of regulation, prosecution, anarchy and foolhardiness. Opinion was divided....

86.80033 deg S 54.45187 deg E 3151 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: - 21 to - 30 °C A fundamental approach is to direct all vehicles and modules against the direction where we expect the storms to come from. We consulted the meteorologists at South Pole before we placed our sledges and modules side-by-side with some 50 meters distance between them. Also, to avoid snow drift it is important to get equipment above ground. Most of our gear is carefully strapped down on sledges and thus fine. However, we had to build a berm for one of the vehicles. We decided to use empty fuel drums as the platform (see photo). Thus, we secured the drums and made a decent platform for the TL-6 vehicle in one go. - Jan-Gunnar ...

The Norwegian Ski Adventure Story –Celebrating The International Polar Day on December 13 2007 The museum celebrated the International Polar Day as a part of a school week at the centre. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday was allocated to secondary schools. The schools had lectures about the situation in polar areas and how people can have influence on the climate. Beforehand, the students were challenged to decorate a Christmas tree with garbage to focus on our consumption right before Christmas (see picture). The students also watched the movie by Al Gore: ”The Inconvenient Truth

86.80033 deg S, 54.45187 deg E 3151 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: - 22 to - 33 °C We are now in a situation where it is impossible to get all our equipment to the South Pole this season. The alternative to go onwards with two vehicles and light loads, even receiving assistance if this light traverse experiences problems, was considered unfavorable. We would then have ended up in a situation where our vehicles and equipment were located at two different places at the start of next season. Thus, we have decided to establish a winter camp here. Personnel, scientific samples, instruments and all other gear that can not stand the cold winter will be airlifted to South Pole with a Basler aircraft from Antarctic Logistics Centre International...

86.80033 deg S, 54.45187 deg E 3151 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: - 23 to - 34 °C We spent much of the day exploring alternatives for completion of the first traverse season. A US tractor traverse has been turned around on its way from South Pole to McMurdo Station, and arrived at South Pole late this evening. This traverse will stand-by at South Pole for a few days to assist us if we experience further break-downs on our last stretch. Due to the situation we have received permission to travel through the Clean Air Sector, a specially managed area in the vicinity of the South Pole, in order to shorten our remaining distance. It is clear that we can not pull all our equipment with the two operative vehicles and thus some equipment will ...

86.80033 deg S, 54.45187 deg E 3151 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: - 25 to - 35 °C Today we experienced a break-down of the transmission transfer-case on Chinook. This means that Chinook shares the same destiny as Sembla and is not operative anymore. Functional spare parts are unfortunately not available. Thus, we are not able to pull all our equipment to the South Pole without receiving support. Currently, we are exploring the possibilities to receive support from the United States Antarctic Program (USAP). - Jan-Gunnar Photo: Sastrugis – Nature’s beautiful creation (Photo: Jan-Gunnar Winther) This contribution is from the log of the Norwegian-US Scientific Traver...

13 Jan 2008 86.05767 deg S, 55.06667 deg E, 3251 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: - 25 to - 36 °C It was with mixed feelings that we finished the last science stop. On one hand, it was good to know that a very successful field program was completed. On the other hand, it was a bit sad to know that the field season comes to an end soon. After lunch we packed up. A lot of reorganization was needed since only three vehicles are operative now. After dinner we started out on our non-stop driving to the South Pole. All vehicles performed well and the spirits were once again high – “only” 600 km to go… - Jan-Gunnar Photo: Last night when all four vehicles were operative (Photo: Jan-Gunnar Winther)...

12 Jan 2008 3251 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: - 26 to - 36 °C We received a very pleasant visit of an international VIP-group this morning. This group is supported by Antarctic Logistics Expedition and led by a Swedish explorer. They landed at our traverse with a Twin Otter on their way to the Pole of Inaccessibility. The group consisted of VIP persons from Australia, Canada, Dubai, Germany, Russia, Scotland and Sweden. Later this afternoon the transmission transfer-case on Sembla broke. Since we have no spare parts Sembla will be placed on a sledge and riding ...

11 Jan 2008 3273 meters above sea level Maximum & Minimum temperatures: - 26 to - 38 °C Roald Amundsen left his spare tent at the South Pole after his visit there in December 1911. The father of Finn Ronne, whom one of our modules is named after, made this tent for Amundsen. The tent Amundsen used on his way back from the South Pole is exhibited at the Fram Museum at Bygdøy in Oslo. Most likely his spare tent is located under about 15 meters of snow. However, due to airdrops during the building of the first South Pole Station in 1957 there are many other items buried in the snow in this area. At the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Stockholm in 2005 the tent of Roald Amundsen was protected based on a proposal from USA and supported by consensus among ...