Look, Ma, No Trees!

God only knows what was going through the mind of early explorers who first braved the dangers that the remote arctic climate has to offer. “I think I’d like to get a summer home up here” was probably uttered less than “I hope the polar bear I’m looking at now met the seal I saw earlier” which in turn was likely thought of even less than “How the $#&% can anything survive up here?!”

Although Ugg the caveman may tell you otherwise, settlements as northerly as Alert have only started to become a reality in the last half century. The Canadian Forces Station of Alert has been pieced together over that time with new additions and improvements being undertaken all the time. During the summer months (a balmy 5 degrees Celsius tells you it’s time to break out the sun-screen and enjoy the 24 hour sunlight), the CFS station can be home to in excess of 100 residents; typically around 50 during the winter months.

The station as it exists now is quite the opposite of roughing it, with a gymnasium, 2-lane 5 pin bowling alley, theatre, computer labs and all the other benefits of electricity and running water. As comfortable as it is on the inside, there definitely won’t be any awards for architectural ingenuity. The outside of the station, in my opinion, resembles a large stack of railroad boxcars, very large ones, stacked and adjoined to one another as necessity dictates.

Though the station is now for all intents and purposes, fully modern, it did not come without several hardships and tragedies along the way. There have been several planes which have crashed while navigating toward the station, some as close as 100 metres away from the existing runway.

Thanks to Alert not being involved in any outdoor city beautification projects, I was able to see the remains of two of the planes which went down between the 50s and 70s (or so I was led to believe, take this as a Wikipedia-like disclaimer as to the validity of the information contained in the blog herein).

These first three pictures were taken from the plane which crashed near the runway. According to the story they were attempting to land during unadvisable storm conditions.

A crash site amidst the station between a pair of gravel roads is the next which I visited. The story behind this plane is again poor weather and navigation equipment being down. As this plane is nowhere near the runway it gives an idea of exactly how miserable visibility can get at times up here.

Despite the susceptibility of all living things in this climate a number of life forms do manage to survive. As of this point the most I’ve seen are very small flowers and a couple of birds.

I’ve heard stories of seals, wolves and lemmings all being present as well. No sightings thus far but I’ll keep you posted.

While on my miniature hikes to the crash sites I was more interested in the landscape than any of the history or animals that might be present. As this video illustrates, walking along the shale coastline sounded (and felt I imagine) like walking on a huge pile of your grandma’s finest china. It was awesome!

I suppose no tour of living quarters, no matter how poorly written and misinformed, would be complete without a glimpse of the accommodations themselves. As I mentioned earlier, over the years living halls have been added to the station. I am currently housed in the Chimo Hall of the station. Here’s a glimpse of my already untidy abode (approximately 15’ x 15’):

Next time on BAA: A special visitor, animal sightings and more!
Same BAA time, same BAA channel!

Byron
Ice to see you!