The first team of traversers (Morgan, Jim, Brian, and Nina) have made it to the new campsite! We have begun to set up camp and to groom the Basler runway for tomorrow’s flying traverse. Grooming is essentially combing out the snow to make a smooth runway with no large bumps or other sudden gradient changes, and we do it with a special dragging attachment on a skidoo. Brian took runway grooming to the next level and spent ~5 h grooming–thanks Brian! Hopefully the weather will continue to be beautiful and the Basler cargo flight and the journey for Traverse Team 2 (Cindy, Ellen, Con, and Johnny) will be go as planned. Hope to see the Basler crew and the rest of our team soon! I’ll leave you with this image of Wild Antarctic Unicorn helping us with our science. Unicorns love space rocks and science, and are very meticulous workers, it turns out.

–Posted by Nina from New Camp City, Miller Range, wee hours of 29 December 2015