Sovereignty patrol goes where most fear to travel

JOHN THOMPSON

The Canadian military’s most ambitious sovereignty operation to date in the High Arctic has run into some bumps – literally.

But despite rough sea ice that cracked qamotiks and pummeled snowmobiles, three Canadian Ranger patrols involved in Operation Nunalivut successfully met up on Lougheed Island, 1,065 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, on Monday evening.

It’s the first time different patrols, travelling hundreds of kilometers across the ice from different directions, have tried to meet up at the same spot.

Soldiers accompanied each patrol, while Twin Otters provided fuel, food and other supplies during regular drop-offs during the journeys.

On Tuesday, Lt. Col. Andrew Artus, the military’s chief of staff for northern operations, visited the troops on Lougheed Island by Twin Otter to congratulate them.

As for the broken sleds and one blown up engine, he said they helped demonstrate the troops could adapt and overcome problems.

“It challenges us to respond to what happens. From a military perspective, that’s good,” Artus said.

The rough conditions slowed one snowmobile patrol, which departed from Mould Bay on Price Patrick Island, 200 kilometres east of Lougheed, to a 20 km/hr crawl.

Another patrol approaching Lougheed from the west, leaving from Isachsen on Ellef Ringnes Island, fared better.

“They blazed across… and arrived three days in advance of when we thought they would,” said Capt. Conrad Schubert of the Canadian Rangers on Tuesday.

Schubert has overseen communications between five patrols fanned out across the High Arctic. One problem he’s had to contend with is spotty satellite phone connections, which frequently cut out at high altitudes. That’s because the satellites they communicate with orbit at far lower latitudes.

“The systems aren’t really designed for up here,” he said.

As Schubert spoke on Tuesday, he was busy preparing to move the operation’s command post from Resolute’s Co-Op garage to Polar Bear Pass on the northern tip of Devon Island.

During their patrols, Rangers have inspected abandoned weather stations and oil exploration sites to discover if they could provide shelter during future operations – like the potential scenario of a jetliner crashing over the Arctic.

They discovered the runways were intact, but most buildings had already been torn down. The clean-up of abandoned sites is usually considered a good thing – but in this case, “it’s a bit of a disappointment,” Schubert said.

The route of one patrol could have made history. They crossed the western peninsula of Melville Island, which the military believes no one has done before.

For Rangers like Master Cpl. Clyde Kalluk, of Resolute, whose patrol arrived “tired and pooped” on Bathurst Island after travelling about 250 kilometres northwest of Resolute on Thursday last week, the operation was a chance to teach southern soldiers about Arctic survival, and an excuse to get out on the land.

“It’s an adventure,” Kalluk said. “We’re going to places where no one’s been to. It’s going to be something else.”

All patrols where back on schedule at press time for Nunatsiaq News this week.

The operation ends this Saturday, when all five groups are scheduled to meet at the abandoned Polaris mine site, north of Resolute. Nunavut’s commissioner, Ann Hanson, is expected to attend.