On the Saturday morning we met outside Nybyen at 0800 to head up onto Longyearbreen glacier where we would be performing the practical part of our test. The path leading up to Longyearbreen was formed of packed snow over rocks, however, at points the snow was well above my boots. When we got to the site of the exercise we were all separated into three groups. This meant that the group I had been in all week and the group that the boys had been in all week were put together allowing me to work with them for the first time. There were three tasks that we would have to do over the course of the morning; Emergency camp and first aid, glacier rescue and, avalanche rescue.
Our group was then sent down the ridge to a plateau where we would be tested on first aid and setting up a tent. The group was separated into different sized groups me and the boys being in one of the smallest groups. Stuart was handed the rifle and told that he was on Polar Bear watch while the rest of us were setting up camp. This left four of us to set up the tent. We quickly got the tent out of the big orange emergency kit and set about putting it up. We were given a snowmobile to use as a wind break and an anchor and as the wind was coming down from the glacier we made sure the door was facing the glacier. I really had fun with this task as I was able to take control of the situation and organize the group. As Stu elegantly put it, “Day 7: The subjects’ moral seems to be boosted by the fact that she has someone to shout at.” The tent was assembled quickly and efficiently as the group worked really well together. We used the rocks and the snow around us to hold down the tent as we did not have enough snow pegs and the tent was very stable. I told Andrew to get all of the equipment into the porch of the tent so that it would be ready for any injured people from the first aid group to arrive while I and Elaina set up the stove to be taken into the tent. Once the stove was set up and inside the tent Andrew and Oda started to set up the trip wire around the tent. Stu arrived a little later after handing off Polar Bear watch to someone else. We were then told that we had done very well and set up everything quickly and that we were to now take down the camp and get everything back into the emergency kit and be able to close it. Starting at the back of the tent and moving towards the wind we removed all of the poles and pegs. Stu and I folded up the tent and got it into the bag while I instructed the others to start trying to get everything back into the box as neatly as possible, as that is the only way that it can all fit back in. We had a quick debriefing and a cup of hot chocolate and were quickly sent off to the next station.
Glacier rescue. For the glacier rescue we were separated back into our original groups. As I had taken charge at the last station I volunteered to be the victim so I slid down the steep slope to await my rescue. There was always someone shouting down to make sure that I was okay and they quickly got the ropes rigged up so that Siena could be b-laid down to me. To simulate a real rescue I had to pretend to be unconscious so after being put in the ‘diaper’ with a blanket around me I lay down in the snow to be pulled up with Siena. The team at the top quickly rigged up a 6:1 pulley system and the ascent commenced. When we got to the top we were instructed that we were to do the rescue as many times as we could so we sent Karina to be the victim with Elaina to be the rescuer. At this point I was very cold having been lying in the snow so I sat on the snowmobile with the blanket to warm up. I once again took up my position as chief yeller and shouted down to Elaina every time we were going to be pulling her and Karina up. When they got to the top we were shown different ways of anchoring the rescuers on the surface so that they would not fall down the cravass as well. My hands, having stupidly only been in silk liners, had become freezing and I was unable to undo my bag let alone get my hands in my gloves so with the help of Stu I tried to get my hands warm again, him constantly berating me during this time. Finishing with Glacier rescue we headed over to the last station.
Avalanch rescue. For the avalanche rescue the group was split into two. We were shown the two avalanche areas and instructed that there were two victims in each area and that we had to get them out as fast as possible. Picking up an emergency beacon and turning it to search mode we all followed the signal quickly to the first victim. Using the avalanche probes we were able to find where he was and determine how deep he was buried. Setting up the shovelers we quickly dug him out locating his head and clearing his airway of snow. Leaving someone with the victim we headed off to find the second victim. There was a glove lying in the snow and setting up a line of avalanche probers we slowly but surely located the second body with the use of the signal beacons as well. This one was buried slightly deeper so we had a lot more snow to dig out before we could get to him. Having rescued both victims and re buried them for the next group we headed back down so that the instructor could show us what it felt like to hit a body when avalanche probing. They had constructed a hole in the snow where he could lay down and walking along the top of the ridge we could use the avalanche probe to see what it would be like to go through the snow and find a body. After the second group had reburied their victims we swapped round and once again rushed off to save them. The first victim was very shallow and I quickly followed the signal to find him letting the diggers know that he was only 20cm down and they had to be careful they did not harm him. The second victim was not dug out so easily, once we had located him we found that he was roughly 2 meters down and that would mean we would have to move 3m back from his position and dig towards him. This meant shovelling a lot of snow and it would take a long time. The group was organized well and we were able to set up a chain so that we could dig him out, however, one of the instructors was very pedantic and was picking fault with everything we were doing. After being thoroughly shot down we got back to work digging out the victim Stu located his head and stayed with him while the others were trying to dig out his body. Both of the rescues were completed in less than 18 minutes which is the critical time to find an avalanche victim so overall we did well. As we had finished early we were allowed to play around in the snow to warm up. The boys and I took this to mean, picture opportunity and a chance to act like penguins and slide down a glacier on our bellies.
After all of the groups were finished we congregated at the top of the ridge where we would get the opportunity to view a helicopter rescue. What made it particularly spectacular was the fact that the sky was lit by the northern lights as we were seeing a helicopter send down someone on a vertical line to the victim. The noise and downdraft created by the helicopter was immense and even affected us 1km away. Stu unfortunately did not bring his big camera with him so we only got pictures a few pictures.
After this we headed back to Nybyen to get the coaches down to UNIS to take the written part of the exam, which was really easy and did not require the two and a half hours we were given to complete it.
In the evening we were given pizza and beer staying in UNIS to have the weekly gathering. The night was spent talking to new friends as well as dancing singing along to Queen and generally confusing the Norwegian with the absurdity of our conversations. As we thought it would not be hard to tell that we all knew each other very well. The long week and tiring day ended in a happy and relaxed drunken state and hopes of what the term had to offer. That is after our bloody exams this week.
Always nice to see a Gorillapod in full on huggy mode
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