Field Training and The Framnes mountains - Part 2 (part 4 of 4)
Tuesday 7th December 1999

... continued

Evening at Fang Hut (the leftmost box at the bottom)

The next day we practiced our crevasse rescue techniques. Walking over crevassed ice involves a lot of preparation in roping the team up and having the correct equipment. Skill in the technique of self arrest, anchors, pulleys and knots is also very important. A team usually consists of three members, all wearing climbing harnesses and roped together. Each member carries a range of mountaineering equipment from pulleys, hammers and ice stakes / anchors. With a team of three people, each member walks sufficiently apart from each other so that if one "punches through", the others can self arrest and stop them from falling in. The rope between each person has to be almost tight so to reduce the shock loading on each other. Once the person has been secured, the ice axe forms a good anchor, and from there a simple pulley system can be constructed to pull the person out of the crevasse. If the person is dangling by the rope in free space in the crevasse, then they can climb up the rope using a technique called "prussicking".

For the practice, we pushed a 30kg tent off the edge of a 40 metre high snow cornice (basically a cliff edge) with one end of the rope tied to the tent, and me on the other end at 10 metres from the edge. As the tent fell, the rope uncoiled and I felt the jolt of the weight of the tent. I then dived over, plunged my ice axe into the snow, and held the weight of the tent. This test was quite easy compared to having to hold another person, because the tent was not very heavy and my weight is more than double that of the tent. I then went through the necessary steps to secure the rope, and then haul the tent back to the edge. I really enjoy crevasse rescue as I have learned very many new rope techniques and tricks that I will be able to apply in other areas.

Roger (in red) part way through putting in a snow anchor. The edge of the cornice is where the rope goes over, to a 40 metre drop.

After a lot of fun rescuing a tent, we headed back to station. On the way, I rode in the back of the Hagglund behind the radar screen. Matt, the instructor, then stopped and told me how to use the radar. I then put a blanket over my head so that I could only see the radar screen and too simulate the amount of visibility you have in a blizzard. Next we drove around in circles to disorientate me and then I had to give verbal directions to Matt on how to follow the drum line. On the radar screen the drum line shows up as a series of dots. You have to continuously adjust the range of the radar and other settings to bring the Hagglund close to each drum.

I did this for at least 3 km, and managed to come to within 5 m each drum! Guiding a Hagglund via radar would have to rate as one of the more challenging tasks since you have to trust the radar and your skills in operating it. I will definitely look forward to actually having to use it in a real blizzard! Finally, it was late afternoon when we arrived back at Gwamm above Mawson where we spent nearly 30 minutes doing a couple of 180 degree slides down the ice.

Well, that's all for my field training! I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the descriptions. Cheers, Kym

back to part 1, part 2, part 3