It is that time of year in the Arctic - time for Whaling !
Step 1 - Break Trail for 5 - 20 miles out on the ocean ice pack. We have to chop, pick, break up the ice to form a smooth trail for all the equipment to be brought out to the lead opening.
Presently
Just in front of that snowmachine, you can see one of the markers placed on the ice. This lines up with others that are spaced out, to keep a visual record of which way the ice is moving.
Presently at this point in time, we have been out here almost daily for two weeks.
The days are cold, crisp, and refreshing. At the house of Whaling Captain - Eugene Brower - Sleds are dug out of the snow, cleaned off and make ready to head out to the ocean ice.. to ... .. BREAK TRAIL !!
This is it, hard back breaking work, for hours & days upon end, It is no easy task to break trail. I am going to show you .. the entire hunt. from breaking trail, setting up camp and living out on the ocean ice, also inside the umiaq, day by day.
We were requested to specificly join this crew, we received invites from The President of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling commission who is also a board member of the Internation Whaling Commission - Euguene Brower !
Day one was a 'test' to see and determine what type of workers the captain has on his crew.
Today, back out on the trail, they have a 15 foot high pressure ridge to go through, The Captain said, no sense going around it,
lets just remove the whole thing and go right through it !
It may surprise you as to why this incredible immensive amount of work is done. Why not just go around the obstacles ?
As I show you these images, then you will understand why. The ice is a very dangerous environment to live. far out there, you better know exactly what your doing and why, things can change out here rapidly, this is the main reason for going through obstacles, rather than around them. A (wide) straight trail is the quickest way off the ice, in an emergency!
That will happen, many times, it depends on the wind ! East wind is good, whether it be north east or south east, As long as those conditions exist, you are relatively safe. But if that wind shifts to any type of West wind, then it is time to pack up and evacuate the ice. IN Pont Hope it is different, North wind is good / safe, South wind is dangerous. Once that wind, starts to push that ice.. ... you will see the results here, in great detail.
Pressure ridges are formed by the crushing advancing ice, Some of these ridges can reach heights of 50 feet. This is the thickest ice, it is packtogether and very solid. this is another reason to go through these ridges rather than around them, a snake like zig zag trail, is slow and time consuming and the ice is much thinner, Large areas of pressure ridges is are the safest thickest ice.
Cracks occur on the smooth parts of the ice. The one thing you must be aware of, is the ice, breaking in back of you, in the old days, once you were gone, you never came back. Many stories are told of hunters lost when the ice cracked miles in back of them, by the time they found out, it was much too late. Now with search & rescue and helicopters, that type tragedy is amost non existent.
Photos and perhaps the video of this job will be available tonight when I process the images the boys create using my eyes, today ! I say (my eyes) becuase I have spent 20 years teaching them, how to see, how to compose, so in essense they create in the exact same manner in which I have created over the last 40 or more years.
Searching - to find the best path. The huge ice piles are many miles out on the frozen ocean ice pack.
My sons informed me they have a 15 foot high pressure ridge to break through and remove, before and after photos will be posted tonight, and hopefully a video showing the amazing amount of work involved in breakin trail.
The campsite(s) will be set up, many miles out there, where the lead forms. Where does that happen ? It is different each and every year. It depends on the thickness of the ice, the wind, and of course the temps
When you work hard, you sweat, if you remove your hat while sweating, your hair instantly turns into iced up frost !!
there is much about the ocean Ice that I do not understand. But after being on more than 7 whale hunts I have learned a few basic things about the ocean ice. It is always moving, cracking, & breaking. markers have to be placed way out there, and other markers to line up to see which way the ice is shifting after many days. Even though they cannot see 'open' water from here, it is easy to discern, just by looking at the clouds in the sky. The darkness of the open water will create very dark looking bottoms on theclouds in the sky. The reflections from the ice make the clouds look much whiter on the bottom of their puffs than open water does.
But for now, find a place to set up a camp site in the Captains favorite area(s), based on wind conditions, and distance to the place where the lead opens. For now, finding the right way to break this trail so as to get the job done
Day one was to test the crew, a lot of work had to get done on that first day, so there was little time to stop and use the camera. Work, hard work, chopping ice and moving ice and clearing a path, to transport materials. This pathway through the ice must be smooth, these machines have to make many trips back and forth, this creates excesive wear and tear on the equipment if it has to encounter 'rough' areas. A five mile ride will take hours at very slow speds of carefull navigation.
I also have
Videos right here now for you to view !
Now I can bring YOU out to that ocean ice to see first hand the work involved to break trail !
30 below zero and long days of extremely hard difficult work-with no pay, just the right to eat !!
I will show you the extremes in the temps and the difference in the manner of dress. Out here. it can turn vicious in no time, you must be prepared for what ever happens !
VIDEOS (http://majikimaje.com/VideoSoftDVD/BreakingTrail.htm - broken link)
ENJOY !! hopefully there is lots more to follow for the entire hunt !!
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