One of my duties on the SANAE 51 team is to look after the climbing and rope-work equipment and to ensure that the team is adequately prepared to use it, should the need arise. This is done by regularly performing drills and by holding exercise sessions, in which the team re-familiarise themselves with basic knots.
All the team members received basic rope-work training in Cape Town before we left. However, one has to absorb quite a lot of information in the three weeks leading up to the departure and it is easy to forget what you have learnt during this short time.
In addition to basic rope-work training, I also received certification in Fall Arrest. This allows me to scale the tall radar towers safely and perform maintenance on the antenna elements. So it is likely that I will have to climb more regularly than the rest of the team, which is probably why this responsibility fell to me.
One of the perks of this position is that I get to be involved in the training of take-over personnel, who may need to leave the safe surrounds of the base. This means that several excursions to areas in the neighbourhood, that can accommodate this training, will be in order.
One such trip was to a mountain peak called Klein Bergie. Those of you who have read a little bit about the vicinity, in which the SANAE IV base is located, may realise that this is a rather odd name for a mountain, since most of the area’s landmarks have Norwegian nomenclature. I was told that the Norwegians did not give this mountain a name, when they explored this area for the first time, because they thought it too insignificant. The South Africans then came along and, in a moment of pure creative genius, gave it the name Klein Bergie (Small Mountain). The only problem was that there were two small mountains, one on either side of Vesleskarvet, on which SANAE IV is built. No problem, they just called the other one Klein Koppie.
The reason for this particular outing was to train some of the Geographers, a journalist and the environmental officer in basic rope safety and self-arrest techniques before they ventured out into the field to collect samples. We had already had our first practice session on the ship, during which we taught them all the knots that they would need. This was then followed by a video presentation and finally field training.
Self-arrest is when you use your ice-axe to stop yourself from uncontrollably sliding down a snow covered mountain-side. It is a rather uncomfortable and painful exercise and one that you can only really practise by sliding uncontrollably down an actual mountain-side. Controlled accents and descents are done using ropes secured into the ice with ice stakes. We also practiced walking on ice in crampons and ascending steep slops on foot, without climbing gear.
All in all, it was a great day. The weather was fantastic and we all learnt a great deal about how to handle ourselves outdoors on the ice. A few bumps and bruises were a small price to pay for an experience of a life time.
Back row: Johan H, Jon, Johan D, Thomas, Renier, Barend, Christel
Front row: Jako, Ruan
Photographer: Kristen (Thanks for the pic!)
Click to enlarge