Polar Medicine Course/Polar Expedition

[Ken Ho]

I'm thinking about doing a Polar Medicine Course.
It will involve doing all that stuff that they did on Top Gear before they went to the North Pole, including sleeping in a snow hole, dog-sledding and being pushed into an ice-hole. They say fitness is optional, then suggest that being able to hike 20km with a loaded pack twice a week or more is a good guide.
The reasonable cost includes accommodation, but I'm not sure if that means that they dig the snow-hole for me or not.
It would be in preparation for being an expedition medical officer in both polar and Antarctic regions, as a break from the humdrum of usual practice.
Has anyone done anything like this, or done a polar trip ??
I have an ambition to heli-ski Alaska for my 50th birthday, so getting experience in extreme conditions is a bonus.

I have to say, that just considering the course structure refreshes my respect for Richard Hammond.

[Jim S]

Tangential but I think this is going to be way different form AK Heli.

What year do plant to go for AK heli? Funny that I was thinking this week that my next trip to the Chugach could be next year but I might also go on my 50th. I've been twice.

[bluesdoc]

Go for it, Ken. Very adventurous and challenging sounding. Ah, to be young again with a body that actually works..... :facepalm Use it while you can. I used to be the healthiest guy I knew. Triathlete and all. Then age and lyme....... :( But oddly enough, for an almost 64 y/o dude, I look good...... go figure...... :rolleyes:

jon

[Scott Miller]

I have no advice to offer, other than to read Shackleton's books, but if you're this far into it, you must have done that already.

[crazyForce]

My brother-in-law and his wife worked as cooks for Antarctic expeditions twice at 3 months each time. Your experience may well be very different from theirs. They described making few close friends, as they were among the only folks there who were not alcoholics. That included the scientists and the support staff. Of course, heavy and constant drinking were among the only available past times, and consumed most of the earnings of their colleagues. They were allowed out of the compound for group hikes only twice each time. As trained/educated photographers they took some great photos.
They loved the adventure and challenge of it, and ended each tour(?) with a vacation in New Zealand.

[Ken Ho]

Tangential but I think this is going to be way different form AK Heli.

What year do plant to go for AK heli? Funny that I was thinking this week that my next trip to the Chugach could be next year but I might also go on my 50th. I've been twice.

Yes, very diffferent, but still cold and extreme.
Not sure what year to go to AK. Not even sure if it's a summer or winter thing, as I've not really done any research yet. My sum total knowledge comes from teh pics you have posted, and my heli experience in New Zealand a few years ago.
We have just booked 3 weeks at Whistler for next Feb/March and I'll do the Extremely Canadian Steep Ski-ing course properly while I'm there. Once I get through that, I'll have a better idea about how ready I might be for Alaska. I'm 46 now, and my goal is to do it before I'm 50, ideally with my wife in tow. She is presently refusing to consider the idea. She skied all the blacks and most of the double blacks at Beaver Creek/Vail this year though, so I'm sure she will come around. Those runs are all pretty soft though, I know that. It's a big step up to the double blacks at Whistler, and I expect Alaska to be another step up from that.

[Jim S]

AK is actually not that cold compared to skiing in CO or the Northeast of America. I as surprised.

AK heli is tailored to the lowest level skier in the group. Whch can be a real drag if you are very good and have Joe the Businessman who skis 30 days a year and has watched to many Warren Miller Films. Terrain can range form easy, cruising powder fields all the way to fall and you will unquestionably die. With a range in between of course.

It's not as strenous as skinning and hiking for b/c; the only thing that you need to prepare for IMHO are longer runs than most resort skiing. And be prepared to throw it all away: you can easily go for a week or two and have no heliskiing due to weather.

My first week in AK was the best vacation of my life.
My last week in AK two years ago was the worst vacation of my life.
No kidding.

[Ken Ho]

My brother-in-law and his wife worked as cooks for Antarctic expeditions twice at 3 months each time. Your experience may well be very different from theirs. They described making few close friends, as they were among the only folks there who were not alcoholics. That included the scientists and the support staff. Of course, heavy and constant drinking were among the only available past times, and consumed most of the earnings of their colleagues. They were allowed out of the compound for group hikes only twice each time. As trained/educated photographers they took some great photos.
They loved the adventure and challenge of it, and ended each tour(?) with a vacation in New Zealand.

Thank you for that insight. I have a friend who has done a bunch of the polar stuff over the last few years, and his first trip was on a re-supply vessel to a research station in Antarctica. He said the researchers were very boring people to travel with. He has since done a bunch of tourist trips which he enjoys a lot more.
Just doing some research last night, there is a 12 mth job in Antarctica with researchers, of a 5 week polar trip with "carefeee, adventurous young people". I think it's a no-brainer which one would be a better option.

The course itself is run at the North Cape of Norway, so just getting there for that from here in Australia is a major exercise.
However, nothing ventured, nothing gained !!

[Ken Ho]

AK is actually not that cold compared to skiing in CO or the Northeast of America. I as surprised.

AK heli is tailored to the lowest level skier in the group. Whch can be a real drag if you are very good and have Joe the Businessman who skis 30 days a year and has watched to many Warren Miller Films. Terrain can range form easy, cruising powder fields all the way to fall and you will unquestionably die. With a range in between of course.

It's not as strenous as skinning and hiking for b/c; the only thing that you need to prepare for IMHO are longer runs than most resort skiing. And be prepared to throw it all away: you can easily go for a week or two and have no heliskiing due to weather.

My first week in AK was the best vacation of my life.
My last week in AK two years ago was the worst vacation of my life.
No kidding.

Nothing is colder than Col;orado. It was -15C most days we were there, except when it was -20C.
I'm kinda a Joe BUsinessman, in that I ski a couple of weeks a year, and I have watched too many ski movies. But I go hard when I ski, and know the difference between powder and hero snow. There was a lot of hero snow in CO and the run gradings were soft to the point of silliness at times. The thing I really noticed at Beaver was the lack of off-piste ski-ing. Vail was a lot better, but not much to call really steep.
I'm more inclined to the "fall and die" type runs. Length is something we are used to from Whistler. We routinely ski Peak to Creek or Peak to the midstation in one go, which is about 8km, I think.
We train all year for our ski trip.

[Ken Ho]

Go for it, Ken. Very adventurous and challenging sounding. Ah, to be young again with a body that actually works..... :facepalm Use it while you can. I used to be the healthiest guy I knew. Triathlete and all. Then age and lyme....... :( But oddly enough, for an almost 64 y/o dude, I look good...... go figure...... :rolleyes:

jon

I've always looked after myself, and apart from a fall in shallow water a few years ago, have been lucky enough not to be otherwise injured or catch anything horrible.
I do value that though, and know that it may not always be the case, so I'm determined to do as much stuff as I can.
Can't see the point in waiting until the Grim Reaper is calling before thinking about a bucket list.
My whole life has been a bucket list.