Do you wanna build a snowman ♫

This weekend has been jam packed with activity. We started off seeing the new star wars film; for some it was a new experience, but most of us were seeing it again. The 3D-glasses were somewhat more sophisticated than the ones at home.

We had a few additions to the Aber team. We took up half a row to ourselves!

Possibly the most draining experience so far (the team get very excited), we decided to build a snowman. Well it isn't a snowman, they say it's a 'snowbear' but to me it appears to be a snowslug... I'm not sure.

Some reindeer were spotted, but I wasn't available to snap any pictures. Hopefully I'll see some while carrying my camera. To put the chances in my favour I am now carrying the camera everywhere I go! On the plus side I have gotten some relatively nice photos of Nybyen. 

Bonus: Miriam playing in the snow

Ryan 

p.s. okay byyyeee♫

Exams are done!

There has been some radio silence for the past three days. That is because we had uni exams to revise for. It's a lot of work up here if you're an Aber student; a weeks worth of survival training topped with two exams is not the most relaxing way to start a trip. However all is well, and we're still alive though admittedly still a little disoriented from the experience :p. 

We had a couple of drinks, a burger and just chilled out for the rest of the day.

If you're into the Northern Lights I have some recommended reading (yay).

This is a biography of a Norwegian physicist Kristian Birkeland (1873-1917) written by Lucy Jago. The Northern Lights: The True Story of the Man Who Unlocked the Secrets of the Aurora Borealis tells of how Birkeland offered the first scientific explanation of what the aurora is, prior to this the Northern Lights were often explained to be the souls of the dead. Following his travels in pursuit of understanding the Lights you learn of the struggles scientists at the time had to face. Not only that, Birkeland had his own trials and tribulations that he had to endure. In his efforts, Birkeland loses friends, colleagues, family, and is robbed of the opportunity to win a Nobel prize.   

The story is not only educational, but incredibly fascinating. Well worth the read if you have a taste for  the non-fiction :)

Birkeland is lovingly remembered by the Norwegian people, he has been placed on the 200 kroner bill. Which is by far my favourite piece of Norwegian currency. (Look at that snowflake!) 

Ryan

Survival training: The Final Day!

Today was split into two parts:

The first was the practical application of everything we were taught throughout the week. Part two was an exam followed by student council elections and a free meal.

I (Ryan) will cover the first half.

We were told to meet directly outside our accommodation for today. This I thought was a treat as we didn't have to trek 45 minutes to UNIS. What I didn't know was that instead we were going to trek in the complete darkness over icy terrain, so many people slipped over.
After being split into groups we were sent to different stations that had a scenario where we would have to execute are training.

Eager to get the last day finished

There were 5 stations:

• First aid
• Emergency camp making
• Avalanche rescue
• General Equipment use
• Glacier rescue

After which we had a helicopter demonstration.

Once the practical side was completed we were all shoved into coaches and shipped back to UNIS for the exam.

Ryan

When we arrived back at UNIS we had a short break to warm up before we sat a short 1 hour exam which was a mix of multiple choice questions and scenario questions. After the exam we elected our new student council and were give some clubs to join if we wanted.

Most importantly we got a free meal and drink and had a gathering afterwards. Friday gatherings are very popular with the students for a nice drink and get together one a week after lectures, this was the first although it was on a Saturday thanks to the safety course. We'll have to see what our lectures and field work brings.

Miriam

Survival training: Day 5

Call the medic! First aid training today. We were taught a variety of things, from CPR to making a stretcher out of backpacks.

I'll save you!

After we were given a tour of the building, and had the luxury of going home an hour early! Some well earned rest before the hardest last day.

Still the snow was pretty heavy on the walk back. We had to take a break and hide behind an abandoned cabin for 5 minutes to recover from the barrage of snow.  

Ryan

Survival Training: Day 4

Day four for me was avalanche and sea ice training.

The avalanche training was mainly how to spot areas that could possibly be dangerous, in terms of avalanches a gradient between 30 and 45 degrees is the main range for avalanches. You also have to take into account recent snow, temperature fluctuations and wind among other things. While doing this course we learned that the quicker you find the victim the better (obviously) but while at the 15 minute mark you would have a 92% survival chance, by 35 minutes that value has dropped to 32%. This 30 minute window means you need to be fast and efficient. This is where the practical part came in;

The practical aspect of  the training was learning the most efficient method of fast digging in groups and how to search a avalanche visually for clues for the victim. Most of the time groups of people who have gone out into the field have beacons which come in very useful in this situation as they can be set to either transmit or search mode. The beacons are set to transmit automatically, so if someone is buried they are already transmitting their position and can be found by the other beacons in search mode. We practised finding buried beacons to see how multiple signals can interfere.

The sea ice training was the most anticipated for many students as we had to jump into cold water. The theory part of this course explained how to look for problem ice and how to traverse ice safely. The staff often used stories from previous situations to make sure we understand what can happen and how easily accidents can occur if you are not suitably prepared or careful. The practical portion of this was to jump into a hole in the freshwater lake and then get out using ice picks. We were dressed in snow suits that were able to repel water for a short time and jump in. The water didn't get into the suits until half way across the hole but the adrenaline helped most people get across and out before the cold really set in. The ice picks were difficult to use in the hard freshwater ice and it was hard to pull yourself out quickly. After we were out we ran to the vehicle and waited for everyone to finish so we could leave and get warm.

Before we jumped into the hole we did a scenario where a victim fell into the water and had to be rescued by another person. While we worked as fast as possible to get our victim out he was still in the water for 3 minutes and on the ice for longer while we stripped off the snowsuit and wrapped him using the Hiblers technique. These practicals are useful for physically teaching us how to react in a situation and how fast you need to act to save someone. They are very interesting but exhausting. Only 2 more days to go!

Miriam

Bang Bang! Survival training: Day 3

Nice early start again, my favourite! Today wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be. The thought of losing my fingers to frost bite and dreams of getting my head wedged between two slabs of ice were just exaggerations of the trials ahead. 

We started off in the shooting range for rifle training. Kieran lovingly filmed me today because I forgot to put an SD card in my camera (whoops! I'll get this right eventually.) We were taught all the parts of the gun and how to: load, half load, and shoot them safely. Videos will follow. 

So here my rifle sight had come loose. This meant I needed a whole new rifle. While we all waited for my new gun to arrive I decided a quick pose was in order. The awkward part was when I got the new rifle and had to load it again in front of everyone really quickly, but at the same time doing all the safety checks. My hands were so cold! Later on we were all taught how to shoot flares to scare off polar bears. The rule is: if the bear comes closer than 35 meters you have to shoot to kill. Not the nicest of images, but that's how you save lives.

On the way home we got a sneaky picture in with Kierans fancy camera, He was showing off the GPS feature. (I think he secretly wanted to take a selfie)

The final part of today was how to put a camp together. We were shown how to light a mini stove using one of these bottles of liquid fire.

I'm quite the poser

After we were finished outside putting up the tent and trip wire made for bears (which apparently only work 50% of the time!) we came in and had a nice warm cup of hot chocolate, which I think was well deserved. 

Just in from building tents

Been a tiring day so I'm off to bed now :)

Ryan

Live update! Survival training: Day 2

Up at 6:30, not really eager to leave.

Waiting in the cafe for the next part!

I have just been briefed on how to survive  walking on a glacier. There are many ways to die! 

The problem when you fall down a crevice is your head! Turns out as you fall down your head gets wedged in between two walls of ice, not pleasant. We're taking a break currently, but next we are going to see the rescue equipment and practice saving people who have fallen into a glacier  

We were taken into a room called logistics. It is essentially an enormous warehouse filled with equipment for rescues in the Arctic. The box on the left contains all the gear needed for a glacier rescue, assuming someone (me in this case :p) has fallen down a crevice. The scenario was played out on some cargo containers; the 'victims' stand at the bottom of the container while the team set up the pulley system. The rescuers send down the 'rescue pants' that I had to be pulled up by... it was not a pleasant experience  for my tender zone.

I didn't have my good camera with me so there are only grainy pictures.

Setting up the pulley system

Rescue box has been opened!

Our team was the fastest saving the victim!

It wasn't all painful though. We were able to see some sunlight behind the mountain.

This photo was taken at 11:30

Not a big fan of the blogger app, so I won't be live updating any more.

Ryan

Survival training: Day 1

So the first day was all inside, we listened to talks from the governor of Svalbard and the chief of police as well as an environment talk followed by an initial safety talk and clothing advice.

The environment officer gave us lots of information about the archipelago and all the rules they have to follow as much of it is protected in some way or another. Some of these rules included:

- not leaving litter to not harm the environment
- not to touch or take anything that could be cultural heritage (basically any old building or mine)
- don't take any fossils you find, or mess with nests/ lairs
- at certain times of the year some places you have to be careful when visiting so as not to interfere with any breeding birds

We were also spoken to by the chief of police who told us about all the search and rescue operations they do every year and gave us some examples of some of the rescues.

The first aid/safety talk was mostly scenarios of things that could and have gone wrong in the past including images of frostbite injuries and sites of avalanches and crevasse accidents ad where they occurred.

The whole point of they day was to make us aware of the dangers of Svalbard and show that the hands on training could save our lives. The day started at 9am and went until around 6pm so it was a very long day, but tomorrow we'll be doing two four hour hands on exercises 8-12 then 12:30-4:30.

We've been separated into 7 groups of around 16/17 people so we can all have a go at all 8 exercises and on Saturday we have a practical scenario exercises and written test. I'm in group C with Lucy and we're doing Rifle Training and Emergency Equipment/Camp i'll write another post with how it goes tomorrow

Miriam

Let's talk about UNIS

The red dot is Svalbard's location 

The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) is the worlds most Northern higher education facility. Located 78º0' N (on the purple line) and 13º39' E on the red dot. 

UNIS was founded in 1993, its purpose to provide university level education in Arctic studies and produce cutting edge research in the field. 

Since its foundation UNIS has become a noticeable force for Arctic research, attracting over 500 students a year from over 40 countries! The research is split into four main categories: Biology, Geophysics, Geology, and Technology. As of 2012 a total of 941 papers were published from UNIS; a visible academic evolution can be seen as there were only 4 publications from 1994. Today the rate of research being completed is still accelerating.

Biology
This is one of the most pivotal and wide ranging subjects at UNIS. With subjects ranging from taxonomy to climate impacts on marine animals. The biology department can be considered the most successful in terms of academic output, being responsible for 35% (as of 2012) of all the published papers by UNIS.  One focus topic for the terrestrial biologists are the Svalbard reindeer, with their work being appropriately dubbed 'Svalbard reindeer project'. The project has provided insight into how large herbivores survive in extreme conditions. The project has been moved out of UNIS, however the institution still plays an important role.
More info can be found here: https://www.ntnu.edu/cbd/projects/reinclim 

Geology
60% of Svalbard archipelago is coated in glacial ice making UNIS and ideal location to study glaciers in all their majesty. There is a large selection of glacial types in Svalbard, with an extensive amount of Calving glaciers. The Calving process has been linked with the rates of sea-level rise, however is still poorly understood. Computer models about these glaciers have been developed in UNIS and have been adopted world wide, this leading research may eventually be used to produce more accurate predictions about global evolution.
Another topic of interest is permafrost. Permafrost (also known as cryotic soil) is a thick subsurface layer of soil that has been frozen for at least two years. Permafrost landforms are very useful when determining thermal properties of the land, which can approximate landscape sensitivity. UNIS has collaborated world wide with its research leaving a large footprint in this field.

Arctic Technology
This department is dedicated to helping the local industry of Svalbard thrive. Either by making the work easier, or making the surroundings safer.
A good example of making the area safer is the project 'Planning of optimal design for roads in relation to avalanche risk and instability under temperature fluctuations around 0°C' supported by SNSK and led by Jan Otto Larsen. The project was designed to create a safe road through a mountain to a mine.

Geophysics Saving the best for last :)
Because of the location, Svalbard is optimal for measuring phenomena occurring in the magnetosphere. In the two decades since it was founded, the space group has become internationally recognised with a focus on optical instrumentation for auroral and mesospheric studies.
In 2008 an aural observation facility was built. The Kjell Henriksen Observatory (KHO), named after Prof. Kjell Henriksen, who was responsible for the old auroral station in Adventdalen. The station has been used by 16 research groups to measure a plethora of properties in the northern lights.

Aside from the scientific potential, Svalbard is incredibly beautiful. The nature and scenery attract tourists from around the globe. Unfortunately it is the same attractive environment that is hostile and dangerous. This means all of the students are required to complete  a survival training course, one week long.  

Our metal gets tested tomorrow!

Ryan