Cadets 'survive' Labrador winter

Last month 24 Army Cadets from all over Atlantic Canada found out what it would take to survive a Labrador winter for eight days.

The eight-day expedition is called Exercise Sub-zero. It teaches cadets winter survival techniques such as temporary shelters, how to prepare for and deal with the cold and temperatures, and how work as a group.

The trip through the Labrador terrain had the cadets snowshoeing, hauling toboggans and carrying rucksacks.

The course has been running annually for seven years but this is the first time the exercise was held in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Capt. Dearick Smith, Atlantic Canada Regional Support Unit, said the exercise ran out of Nova Scotia in the past but unpredictable weather conditions like fluctuations in snowfall and freezing rain made it difficult to adjust to the course to the conditions.

He said the search for an ideal winter location started two years ago and Happy Valley-Goose Bay was sitting at the top of the list.

"It met the most important criteria, lots of snow and coldness, and lots of terrain," he said.

But the weather conditions in Labrador this time of year wasn't what Capt. Smith was expecting. He said they had to purchase different equipment and reconfigure trail routes three times. He still thinks this was a successful and worthwhile trip.

"We are happy with everything except the rain, and you can't control that," Capt. Smith said.

Working with the cadets was Capt. Adam Gale, training officer for the exercise.

Capt. Gale said a lot of preemptive training was done because he wanted to make sure the group understood the basic survival aspects.

But most importantly working as a team, he said,

"In most real life situations when a group fails, it's because of the group itself, because they didn't have the skills."

His work focused on dealing with the weather, shelter and navigation.

Dealing with the weather conditions was the biggest challenge faced by the group, he said.

The wet and damp conditions, Capt. Gale said, is a perfect setting for hypothermia to set it.

He said the group focused on quick short-term shelters that could be prepared in an hour to escape the cold. They learned how to build lean-tos, tree pits and snow trenches.

A GPS can fail, Capt. Gale said, so he brought his group back to the basics of map and compass.

"We want them to leave not having to depend on the latest gimmick," he said.

Finding a source of heat, Capt. Gale, said should it be the last part of preparing for a night outside.

He said focus on the task at hand gets lost when a fire is started because people want to get warm and this can cause a group can fall apart.

"What we really want people to do is keep moving, get your shelter ready, get yourself prepared and then you can think about something like a fire."

With this being the first year for the exercise in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, there wasn't a lot of emphasis put on the gathering of food.

Capt. Smith said once a better footing is established with the course in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, they will look at incorporating ice fishing and rabbit snaring.

Overall Capt. Gale said he was really impressed with the group because the conditions were cold and damp but they kept moving, covering over 20 kilometres on snowshoes pulling heavy sleighs, while carrying rucksacks.

"They were tested as a group, mentally and physically, but they did it and in a very good time," he said. "These cadets preformed better at a level I wouldn't expect most adults to perform at in the woods."

Elwood White of St. John's was one of the 24 Army Cadets selected to partake in the exercise. He thought the trip was challenging and fun.

He said the group spent one night outside and when they stopped to prepare for the night, it was cold, but after they got to work digging out trenches for their tents and got a warm meal into them, it wasn't too bad.

After the group decided to call it a night they crawled into their tents. Elwood said it was cold but before too long everyone's body temperature started to warm the tent.

The biggest thing Elwood learned during his eight days of survival training was teamwork.

"If you have teamwork things will get done a lot more efficiently and easier," he said. "If everybody tries to do it everything by themselves nothing is going to get done."

Andrew Felix from Corner Brook enjoyed the exercise as well. He said the hardest part of the trip was trying to keep dry in the conditions but as long as the group kept moving they were OK.

"It was fun, I met new friends and people that I knew from before, every time you do something like this it brings people together," he said. "It's a great program and I would recommend it to others."

reporter@thelabradorian.ca