Connor & Vanessa: Travel and First Impressions
Hey guys, it’s Vanessa! Our journey began on the 10th January. Connor and I flew at different times, which means that I had a sleepless night filled with excitement and Connor a whole day.
I met up with Lucy at Gatwick Airport to catch an early flight to Oslo in order to enjoy the city a bit. After several delays and waiting due to snow, we arrived in Oslo and went our separate ways until the next day, the big day.
The five of us (Sam, Connor, Lucy, Felix and myself) found each other in the early hours of the 11th Jan to eagerly await the boarding and take-off of our plane. Whilst Felix, Sam and Lucy were happily re-united with their friends, Connor and I were nervously looking around at all the unfamiliar faces.
Our plane made a stop in Tromsø, which by the way looked absolutely beautiful from the plane with its multicoloured near sunless sky. Once the plane took off again, more mountains appeared, civilisation disappeared and the darkness crept closer. The excitement kept building the closer we came to our desired destination. As soon as the plane touched down, everyone threw on their winter clothes and was eager to get out. It was weird to walk into complete darkness at 14.00. The airport shuttle was more than stuffed with students that were buzzing with energy despite their lack of sleep. The five of us split up upon our arrival at the barracks. Connor and I were reminded a lot of first year as we walked into the barracks full of new faces, numerous people shyly hiding in their room or aimlessly wandering about in the corridor. Luckily, no fight broke loose over who got the biggest cupboard as that is all pre-assigned.
Hello everyone, its Connor here to tell you all a bit about our travels up here and first impressions of Longyearbyen ! My travels started very early on Saturday morning beginning with a bus ride from Buchanan bus station to Edinburgh airport where I met Sam. In all honesty I slept the majority of the flights so there isn’t really any interesting travelling tales other than I fell asleep when the sky was still light and awoke to some loud music and looked out of the window to find we were in complete darkness. Our flight from Edinburgh to Rygee (near Oslo) lasted just under 2 hours with little excitement other than the pilot had to attempt the landing twice due to the windy conditions. The first time he tried to land, the plane hit the runway but immediately had to take off again which quite comically resulted in a man sitting near Sam asking him if he wanted to join him in a prayer as he thought we weren’t going to make it out alive. Of course by this point I was blissfully unaware and just trying to take some pictures from my seat while Sam and most of the other passengers felt slightly unsettled. You can see my attempt at trying to take a really artistic photo below (haha what a fail!):
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| Snowflakes forming at the plane window (~1pm) |
We eventually arrived at the airport and after a short wait we boarded a bus that transported us straight to Oslo airport. As our next flight wasn’t until the next morning, both me and Sam had to spend the night at the airport which was of course one of the worst nights sleep I’ve ever had. The morning after was incredibly surreal as I was awoken by as small child who was kicking a lemon of all things around the airport which was of course launched in my direction. It did however make me appreciate my bed even more when we finally arrived at the barracks. The barracks are surprisingly cosy and remind me a lot of the hostel back at SAMS so I don’t feel incredibly out of place. The only issue I’ve had was that I had no quilt or pillow when I first arrived so I had to sleep in a sleeping bag for the first few nights, but thats all been sorted out now! Other than that I think Vanessa has summed up our first impressions pretty well, so I’ll leave you now with a picture outside Oslo airport and what I attempted to claim as my bed at the airport which had already been claimed by another child(Ughh kids these days).
Outside of Oslo airport (left), attempt at a makeshift bed (right).
The Safety Course
Lucy & Vanessa: Plunging into the icy cold water of Longyearbyen’s water supply!
During the Safety course we had to practice self-rescue out of icy water, which inevitably meant we had to get in there. The day started early with everyone attending lectures in sleeping mode, which did not last long.One thing that has really stuck in mind is that walruses are not as cute as they look, they are actually pretty badass. If you are not careful, they will pierce you with their tusks and suck out your flesh. Happy days.
After a couple of hours of lectures on sea ice properties the moment of truth came nearer. We were brought to Logistics to be briefed on what exactly we had to do once in the water and how to use the equipment provided. A scenario was set up with one (unlucky) person ending up as the victim floating helplessly in the water. After stripping down to our base layers, we put on the provided snowmobile suits and upgraded wellies. All of us were herded into the bandwagons and shipped out to the ice hole; the ride was anything but smooth.
Once at the site, the exercise began (dramatic music)!!!
After the victim ‘fell’ into the water, he was rescued and brought to safety. Then the real fun started, we had to jump in and perform self-rescue using ice picks in the dark.
Luckily, all of us survived without any minor or major injuries.
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| Connor saving himself |
Felix: Avalanche Safety
Half a day of our Safety Course was dedicated to survival in avalanche terrain. This was split up in a theoretical lecture about factors making avalanches more likely and a practical session outside. Two instructors who volunteer for the Svalbard’s avalanche rescue team conveyed very well how hazardous avalanches are. The map of avalanche events between 2006 and 2009 in the surrounding of Longyearbyen illustrates this very well too:
Markus Eckerstorfer (2013)
In order to be prepared for the worst case scenario, we practiced searching for avalanche victims using beacons and probes, as well as shoveling through the typically wind-pressed Svalbard snow. This experience made all of us aware about the threads of avalanches and certainly more cautious when we go out to play in the snowy mountains this term.
Sam: Glacier Rescue & First Aid
Hey, Sam here. As you already know I travelled to Longyearbyen with Connor. My night in the airport wasn’t quite as eventful as poor Connor’s, meaning I was feeling OK the next day. It feels great to be back and seeing many new faces around town - or what can be seen through the many layers of wool . The safety course has been pretty intense by any standards, leaving most of us pretty exhausted. Two exciting segments of the course were Glacier Rescue and practical First Aid training. The Glacier Rescue course taught us how to set up a pulley system using a limited amount of equipment, enabling the rescue of some poor chap who’d fallen down a crevasse. It was quite a complex system to learn in 2.5 hours however with some previous expertise both groups performed the rescue well with both an unconscious and conscious patient. During one rescue I made the mistake of placing a metal carabiner in my mouth whilst I tied a knot in -20°C. I promptly removed said carabiner from my mouth along with a fair amount of skin from my tongue, leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth - literally. Practical First aid training was just as eventful. When the basic First Aid techniques had been covered we moved onto more gory exercises, one of which involved stuffing a bandage into a smoked pork joint to stop a heavy bleeding (see picture of Felix employing perfect technique). As the sticky red food colouring oozed between my fingers and the smell of smoked pork filled my nose I began to feel a bit sick. After wrestling with the joint for some time the ‘wound’ was dressed and finished. Can’t say I’ll ever look at a Sunday roast in the same way again!
Connor: Rifle Handling
Out of all of the training regimes in which we had to complete as part of the safety course, rifle handling was definitely one of the most exciting and heart pounding highlights to the week. The exercise was initiated by boarding a bus directly outside of UNIS which transported the groups up to the rifle range that was located just outside of Longyearbyen. While I was on my way to the shooting range, our bus got stuck on a slope due to the thick ice and snow which covered the mountain, meaning that my group had to walk the rest of the way. All that was running through my mind at that moment was; what if a polar bear wanders near the group or how ironic would it be if we met one 5 minutes before getting trained how to defend ourselves against them ? I guess this initial thought of worry is only natural when its your first time on the open field with no instructors near by ! Nevertheless, we all made it in time and immediately went through theory exercises on: gun safety, different parts of the gun, the polar bear and its environment and tactics utilised in the case of a bear encounter - all of which lasted a couple of hours. Following the theory work, it all started to seem that bit more real as we then learned how to load and half load the rifle. All of the group were lined up and individually given a rifle to use for the rest of the day. I remember very clearly feeling extremely nervous and a little stunned at the same time when I first held the weapon, in all honesty it was not as heavy as I had expected it to be ! We then went on to practice the loading techniques with a buddy as to ensure we managed to complete the task safely and with no mistakes (luckily for me I was paired with someone who had attended UNIS last semester so he knew exactly what he was doing). Eventually it came to the point which we had all been preparing for - the all important shooting! After we donned on our hearing protection, loaded our rifles and got into position, the instructor yelled to shoot at the target which was roughly 30m away. The first shot of the rifle was an indescribable feeling, but any doubt which I had previously lingered was hastily removed as I became slightly trigger happy. My experience was particularly memorable through the smell that the ammunition gave off when fired which was similar to a bonfire and also the firing technique of a Russian girl towards my right side, who shot the snow directly in front of us which sent some debris upwards (crazy Russians! What are they like?). We began shooting from a lying down position first, which was then followed by the kneeling position and although I wasn’t the worlds best shot, the experience was one of the highlights of the week.
