The week was full of safty drills and safety auditing.
Safty is an extremely important issue at Pole.

For other emergency cases in the field.

In the drill camp the toilette seat is at least heated.

It is a good sign if the drill camp disappears under fog, meaning "we are drilling".

On the same day as drilling started we started filling our IceTop tanks
with water. Here one sees the transport tank, our 'water buffallo'
moved by a bulldozer towards an IceTop station.

Casey does the last cleaning of a tank.

I am watching the water level during the filling. you see on the left the hose
coming from the water buffallo. Keeping valves and hoses from not freezing
is most important in this business. Although we have developed techniques
of avoiding freezing it can always happen again - unfortunately already the next day.

The sun dogs on Sunday morning, a typical South Pole phenomenon.
The 22 degree sun halo touches just the horizon, telling that we are not
far from the maximum sun elevation of 23.4 degrees on Dec 21.

Ice crystal on the windows of the PHS , the power house from were
we get our water.

While we are listening in the galley to the Sunday Science Lecture on the antarctic
ozon hole, somebody undresses outside. It turn out that they were making a movie for the
SPIFF, the South Pole International Film Festival, coming up in January as every year.

A driller relaxing after a busy week with the startup of drilling.