Iceland Tracking Center Stays Open

More than a week ago North Pole Flight Command announced that the Regional Tracking Center located in Vik, Iceland was re-opening.

Yesterday the anticipated eruption of a volcano located more than 130 miles away from the Vik Center happened.

The North Pole State Department is working with Icelandic authorities through this situation. Local authorities as well are in touch with leadership staff at the Regional Tracking Center there. They have determined that no evacuation is necessary.

They will continue to monitor events but it is not anticipated there will be any reason to close the center.

The Vik Center will operate with the assistance of the remote office set up in Norway weeks ago, as well as in coordination with the SS Donner, now stationed in the North Atlantic.

We are fully staffed and processing tracker reports at a normal level.

We do not anticipate any disruption to our normal operations. We thank those elves in Sector 3 who have expressed concerns during this period of breaking news. We’re okay.

About this Elf: Elf Rolf Janssen

Elf Rolf is a native of Austria. As a young man he moved to Russia and was a refugee of that country in 1915 when he found his way to Santa’s employ. Skilled in carpentry, Rolf was given duties in Santa’s workshop where he worked for many years. Charged with building the first airplane Santa ever flew in 1927 — thanks to his wood working skills — Elf Rolf was transferred to the Research and Development Department where he served for many years as a sleigh designer and eventually as a flight test pilot.

Rolf took a departure from that work in the mid-1960s when he pursued a degree in computer science, a pioneering field for the North Pole. He returned in 1968 and for years served in data processing before being transferred to the North Pole Tracking and Flight Command Center as an IT specialist. He was instrumental in helping Santa to set up a network of satellites that have become the backbone of North Pole information systems to this day.