PolarManual.pdf

Edited by Rachel Duncan

4th Edition

ISBN 0-907649-91-2

London 2003

Published by the RGS-IBG Expedition Advisory Centre

Royal Geographical Society

(with the Institute of British Geographers)

1 Kensington Gore

London SW7 2AR

Tel: 020 7591 3030

Fax: 020 7591 3031

eac@rgs.org

www.rgs.org/eac

Front cover image: © Stephen Jones, North Pole Last Degree Expedition 1999.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..........................................................................................

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................

1. THE POLAR ENVIRONMENT ............................................................................. 6

1.1 Definition of the polar regions ...........................................................................................

1.2 Special aspects of the polar regions ...................................................................................

1.3 Common climatic features .................................................................................................

1.4 Climatic differences ...........................................................................................................

2. PLANNING ......................................................................................................... 12

2.1 Fact finding ........................................................................................................................

2.2 Access, permits and paperwork..........................................................................................

2.3 Equipment ..........................................................................................................................

2.4 Communications, safety and backup..................................................................................

2.5 Scientific projects ...............................................................................................................

2.6 Arctic communities, parks and reserves.............................................................................

2.7 Humans and the Arctic .......................................................................................................

2.8 Environmentally responsible expeditions ..........................................................................

2.9 Environmental Impact Assessment ....................................................................................

3. CAMPCRAFT, EQUIPMENT AND CLOTHING ................................................ 19

3.1 Campcraft ...........................................................................................................................

3.2 Tents ...................................................................................................................................

3.3 Sleeping bags......................................................................................................................

3.4 Footwear.............................................................................................................................

3.5 Clothing ..............................................................................................................................

3.6 An expedition’s kit selection..............................................................................................

4. FOOD AND COOKING ...................................................................................... 31

4.1 Menu...................................................................................................................................

4.2 Nutrition .............................................................................................................................

4.3 Packaging ...........................................................................................................................

4.4 Emergency rations..............................................................................................................

4.5 Water intake .......................................................................................................................

4.6 Stoves and fuel ...................................................................................................................

4.7 Preparation and cooking.....................................................................................................

4.8 Hygiene ..............................................................................................................................

4.9 Case study ..........................................................................................................................

5. TRANSPORT AND TRAVEL ............................................................................. 39

5.1 Air transport .......................................................................................................................

5.2 Logistical considerations for air transport..........................................................................

5.3 Snowmobile travel..............................................................................................................

5.4 Small boat travel.................................................................................................................

5.5 Kayaks ................................................................................................................................

5.6 Sledge-hauling....................................................................................................................

5.7 Kites/sails ...........................................................................................................................

6. NAVIGATION..................................................................................................... 56

6.1 Maps ..................................................................................................................................

6.2 Compasses .........................................................................................................................

6.3 Altimeters ..........................................................................................................................

6.4 Global Positioning Systems (GPS)....................................................................................

6.5 Sextants .............................................................................................................................

6.6 Local knowledge ...............................................................................................................

6.7 Finding your way...............................................................................................................

6.8 The environment................................................................................................................

6.9 Fog and whiteout ...............................................................................................................

6.10 Marking of routes ............................................................................................................

7. COMMUNICATIONS ......................................................................................... 64

7.1 Written messages...............................................................................................................

7.2 Visual and audible signalling devices ...............................................................................

7.3 Radio .................................................................................................................................

7.4 Satellite communications...................................................................................................

7.5 Power supplies...................................................................................................................

7.6 Suppliers of radio equipment.............................................................................................

8. SAFETY ............................................................................................................. 72

8.1 Snowfields, glaciers and icecaps .......................................................................................

8.2 River crossings ..................................................................................................................

8.3 Emergency shelters............................................................................................................

8.4 Tundra ...............................................................................................................................

8.5 Ten rules for survival ........................................................................................................

8.6 Objective dangers ..............................................................................................................

8.7 Animals .............................................................................................................................

9. POLAR MEDICINE ............................................................................................ 79

9.1 Medical Preparations .........................................................................................................

9.2 Field arrangements ............................................................................................................

9.3 Medical problems specific to Polar Regions .....................................................................

10. PHOTOGRAPHY UNDER POLAR CONDITIONS.......................................... 87

10.1 Extreme cold....................................................................................................................

10.2 Selecting cameras ............................................................................................................

10.3 Winterising equipment ....................................................................................................

10.4 Procedures and precautions .............................................................................................

10.5 Pictorial effects ................................................................................................................

10.6 Exposure ..........................................................................................................................

11. APPENDICES .................................................................................................. 94

11.1 UK Polar Expedition Resources and useful websites......................................................

11.2. Regional information on polar areas: .............................................................................

I. Arctic Ocean/North Pole ..........................................................................................

II. Arctic U.S.A. ..........................................................................................................

III. Arctic Canada ........................................................................................................

IV. Greenland (and Iceland) ........................................................................................

V. Svalbard (Norway).................................................................................................

VI. Russian Federation ................................................................................................

VII. Antarctica .............................................................................................................

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My thanks to the editors of the first edition of the Polar Expedition Handbook Geoff Renner and David

Rootes, were cheered by the response shown in the ready promise and timely arrival of contributions.

Latterly Crispin Day, Roger Daynes and then Rachel Duncan and Stephen Jones have attempted to bring

the handbook up to date, re-arranging, deleting and adding chapters. It retains its flat format with no

attempt at a hierarchy of subjects. The handbook can be dipped into at any stage and each chapter points

to other sources of information.

This latest much revised and pruned edition has been so, partly because much of the original material is

now readily available elsewhere or was not specifically polar in nature. The list of people who have

contributed in one way or another grows ever longer and their names are listed below. Although they may

not immediately recognise their contribution, thanks are due to all as without them this Polar Expedition

Handbook would have been impossible to produce.

We would all like to thank Kate Hartley and Tony Sylvester of the British Antarctic Survey for typing

the original manuscript and preparing the diagrams preparation:, and to the delightful and inspired

cartoon studies by Jean Vaughan.

For the specific chapters thanks must go to the following who contributed to a greater or lesser extent at

different times:

Original Foreword:

Wally Herbert.

Polar Environment:

Ian Ashwell, Crispin Day, Rachel Duncan, Tudor Morgan, Dave Rootes,

Marcus Beddoe.

Planning:

Crispin Day, Dave Matthews, Dave Rootes.

Campcraft, Equipment

and Clothing:

Roger Daynes, Rachel Duncan, Lewis Jones, Stephen Jones, Dave Matthews,

Cameron McNeish.

Food and Cooking:

Rachel Duncan, Lewis Jones, Ian Milne.

Transport:

Air: Stephen Jones, Anne Kershaw, Lewis Jones, Snowmobile: John Hall,

Ian Lovegrove, Oliver Shephard; Small boats: Dave Rootes ; Sea Kayaking: Nigel

Harling ; Sledge-hauling: Roger Daynes, Dave Fletcher, Dave Matthews ;

Kites/Sails: Crispin Day ; General: Tudor Morgan, Geoff Renner .

Communications:

Freddie Church, Morag Howell, Stephen Jones, Anne Kershaw .

Navigation:

Stephen Jones, Geoff Somers, Charles Swithinbank .

Safety:

Tudor Morgan, Dave Rootes, Marcus Beddoe.

Medical:

Derek Bielby, Bryan Dawson, John George, Chris Johnson, John Rayne.

Photography:

Ray Collier, D Eisendrath, Kodak, Edwin Mickleburgh.

Science chapters now omitted: David Drewry, Julian Dowdeswell, Tony Escritt, John George

Brian Needham, Geoff Renner, David Walton, Jonathan Walton,

David Wynn-Williams.

The evolution of this handbook has been protracted in places and this edition is by no means final. It is

intentionally loosely bound so changes can be made easily. Please contact the Editors or the Expedition

Advisory Centre if you find obsolete information.

Rachel Duncan

INTRODUCTION TO THIS EDITION

This manual does not try to be comprehensive but aims to be a starting point for those planning

a trip to a polar environment. It tries not to duplicate existing publications available although

inevitably does in parts. Other key reference sources which complement this manual are listed

at the end of each chapter and in the appendices.

To save on printing costs and bulk, the decision has been taken not to include chapters

outlining specific science projects. There is a short section in the planning chapter, but as with

all scientific expeditions, ideas for research projects will involve reference searches which may

include the first edition of the EAC Polar Expeditions Manual. For the same reason this

manual does not cover the generic aspects of any expedition such as fund-raising, choosing a

research project, young people on expeditions, etc.

INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EDITION

by Geoff Renner and David Rootes

“People, perhaps, still exist who believe that it is of no importance to explore the unknown

regions...Man wants to know, and when he ceases to do so, he is no longer Man.”

Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian Polar Explorer

Each of us has that exploratory urge, in some well hidden, in others their life's work.

Not everybody is prepared to pass freezing nights in abject discomfort in order to go beyond

the frontiers of civilisation; and why should you? Glaciers and snowfields of the polar regions

are not the preserve of the professional explorer alone and discomfort is not a prerequisite of

adventure. The Polar Expedition Manual has been compiled with this last sentence in mind. It

is intended to supply encouragement and assistance to those who wish to visit the polar

regions, Arctic and Antarctic. Its aims can be stated quite clearly:

• To provide sources of information for small, relatively short polar expeditions;

• To give an indication of the planning required;

• To highlight the need for training for safe travel in the polar regions;

• To give pointers to scientific guidelines for polar expeditions.

The contributors to the Polar Expedition Manual have wide polar experience, based on

many journeys to, or years of scientific endeavour in, the polar regions; their encouragement

and advice should not be taken lightly. Distilling such knowledge and experience into the

written word is not an easy task and all would advise you to seek further reference and

discourse to help plan an active and safe expedition. There is no substitute for speaking to

those who have been there and done something similar.

The polar expeditioner is on the threshold of a stunning era. University, school and

private expeditions have been heading north for many years, and much good work has resulted.

For political reasons more than a third of the Arctic has been inaccessible but expedition

planners can now take every opportunity to "open-up" the Soviet north – from Kola to

Kamchatka. The second destination, where access, if not the cost, is improving is Antarctica

and the surrounding islands.

The choice is almost too much!

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