Nothing of strategic import has occurred today. Progress and conditions were much the same as on many other days of the present stint. So, instead of the usual boring progress report, here is a summary of our `Program of Studies´ for an average trekking day:

0600 Wake up. Our Suunto watch-alarms scream.
0602 Measure wake-up pulse rate. This is part of the medical research program for which we are guinea pigs.
0617 Pulse-rate measurements complete.
0620 Turn on stoves to melt snow for day's food and drink. One man leaves tent to check weather, and to air Marmot sleeping bags. While keeping close eye on stoves, we do our morning wash-and-dress routines.
0700 Water boiled and poured into thermos flasks. Eat porridge.
0720 Put on outer ski clothing and ski boots.
0730 Empty tent. Pack sledge.
0750 Fell tent and strike camp.
0800 `Wagons roll´
0800-1400 Ski. Cycle: 1 hr skiing; 5 mins rest.
1400-1425 Lunch. Pour hot water from thermos flask into lunch bags. Eat.
1425-2100 Ski. Talk about food.
2100 Pitch camp.
2100-2400 Prepare evening meal; melt snow for water; write and send satellite messages, including this diary; dry, air and service gear and equipment; tend to personal evening chores. Equipment repair jobs or poor satellite-phone links often delay `lights-out´ by up to an hour.
2400 Bedtime. Falling asleep is no problem.

For the daily program just described, active skiing time has been 13 hours; plus a total of 1 hr 40 mins spent on lunch-break and leg-breaks. From the above, you can see what our core mission is: SKIING!

As the final stages of our dash to the Pole approach, it may well be necessary for us to update this diary less frequently, or at least to shorten the length of individual diary entries, or to omit sending fresh photo images. We hope our readers will understand and forgive.

All is well with the Expedition.