In 1963–1964, a land based Soviet Antarctic Expedition team travelled across the northern part of the dome at an elevation of over 3,600 metres (11,800 ft).

[1] Owing to its location on the Antarctic Plateau and the high elevation, Dome Fuji is one of the coldest places on Earth.

The climate is that of a cold desert, with very dry conditions and an annual precipitation of about 25 millimetres (1 in) of water equivalent, which falls entirely as ice crystals.

Deep ice core drilling at Valkyrie Dome was started in August 1995, and in December 1996 a depth of 2,503 metres (8,212 ft) was reached.

[3][4] The core quality from the Dome Fuji Station is excellent, even in the brittle zone from 500 to 860 metres (1,640 to 2,820 ft) deep, where the ice is fragile during the in situ core-cutting procedure.