The last week of the year at the South Pole was as busy as ever, with all kinds of activity, especially with the IceCube Upgrade. The Upgrade crew has been making good, steady progress despite earlier delays with both cargo and personnel. Clear skies, heavy machinery, and large cable spools are an indication of what was going on last week. Team members successfully pulled the first batch of Upgrade surface cables up into the IceCube Lab—not a simple task, which takes lots of preparation. Eventually, those cables will connect to field hubs that contain data acquisition devices. Holiday celebrations were also in full swing last week, with a gingerbread house competition, a nice Christmas Eve dinner, and the traditional Race Around the World. Runners often don costumes for this event, and IceCube winterover Ilya was one of them this year, dressed up as the IceCube Lab!
