End of Oppy, Lets Get Sloppy!

This past Friday saw the official end to Operation Nunalivut here in Alert which had ballooned station residency numbers to the metropolistic size of 250. Not knowing exactly what the goals of the Op were nor caring much about them, I'll instead go over what it meant to us local yolkels. As residence quarters were maximized inside the station, a large number of cots were set up in the gym preventing its use for our usual 3 games of floor hockey a week, restricting our use of the weight room to 8 AM to 8 PM and filling the gym with an odour one can only describe as "wtf is that smell?".

As the station barber I saw a dramatic increase in demand for haircuts with line ups forming before I even opened the shop. This would become problematic as my habit of not waking up until someone phones me to open the shop on Sunday would soon catch up with me.

The operation also presented an opportunity to create some friendly rivalry between locals and personnel from the Op via sporting activities. Originally I had planned to organize several activities spread throughout the month pinning Alert vs. Op Nunalivut. However, once everyone had landed and we were able to get in touch with Op command, we were told they would be available for only 1 day out of the month for activities. Making the most of a bad situation, the MP designated the Sports Rep for the Op and myself came up with some activities to fill the afternoon.

First up, were the Inuit Games. Led by an Inuit Ranger from the Op and assisted by some of the local Inuit boys on station, Alert and Op contestants were pitted against each other in feats of strength and flexibility including finger pull, arm pull and high kick. In all events it appeared as though it would be no contest for Team Alert as we dominated the Op in each activity with our local champion Jamie winning the all-Alert final rounds.

Next was the Alert Puzzle Race. Teams of 2 were given 5 locations throughout the station where a group of letters could be found. The goal was to obtain these letters from all locations and then meet in the Wolfs Den to solve the puzzle by re-arranging the letters into a word which is the same in both French and English. Along with Sabrina, I raced to each location and grabbed the letters, putting my Scrabble skills to use as I saw each new letter. Unfortunately, it was a requirement that both partners be present at the Wolfs Den before the puzzle could be solved. As Sabrina's leg span and smoke-riddled lungs were no match for my own I found myself in the room with 2 other teams, puzzle already solved in my head, waiting for her to arrive. Just in the knick of time, when it appeared as though another team would solve the puzzle, Sabrina arrived and I quickly laid out the letters forming the word "PERFORMANCE". This gave Team Alert its second victory in as many activities over Team Op.

Next up was an impromptu game of soccer as conditions proved a little too windy for the scheduled match of Ultimate (wikipedia informed me that it is no longer called ultimate frisbee due to legal issues raised by the Frisbee company...who knew?). Things started off well for team Alert, jumping off to a quick 3 nothing lead in the first half. However Team Op would bounce back with 3 goals of their own followed by an exchange of goals in the final minutes of the game. With seconds left in extra time I was the perpetrator of a devasting own goal while attempting a clear attempt in the slick snow, resulting in a 5 to 4 come from behind victory for Team Op.

After dinner was the marquee event of the day, a snow hockey game outside where we had played soccer earlier. Looking to add some pizazz to the event, I recruited Dave and Justin to aid me in using food colouring to paint hockey lines. Like the best laid plans of mice and men, however, this plan went awry as shortly after the lines were completed it started to snow. By the time it was game-time snow had completely covered all markings thus proving my efforts futile. Despite the wasted time in preparation the game was a success with Team Alert taking game 1 and team Op taking the second. Due to unanimous exhaustion and time restraints before the final activity of the day, the match was declared a draw.

The final event was the weekly Pool tournament, open to members of the operation. In my exhausted state I saw to it that I was quickly eliminated in the tournament and returned to my room for an early rest. I'm not sure who ended up winning to be honest. In any case the activities were well received and the most was made of a limited time-frame.

Another bright spot of the Op was the arrival of the Danish Snow Dog team, an elite group of military personnel from the Netherlands tasked with maintaining the sovereignty of Greenland. Unlike the comfy operation which we have here in Alert this team of 16 goes on 2 year tours at a time travelling by dog-sled in teams of 2 with the goal of visiting all outposts placed along the eastern coast, each one being visited once every 5 to 10 years.

The dogs made for terriffic company as many members of the station paid them a visit at their luxurious quarters outside the station in the bitter cold. After feeling how thick the fur of the dogs was it came as little surprise that they were able to withstand the brutal climate of the Arctic.

As I mentioned earlier the Op finally came to an end this past Friday and to celebrate we organized a Pyjama Party-themed TGIF. Activities at the momentous occassion included Slipper Toss, Feed the CO, Bathroom Relay and of course, Pin the Kokanee on the SWO. Needless to say good times were had by all as members of the station heavily affected by the Op were able to unwind.

Byron

Worlds Most Northern Barber