# Op Nanook 2011



## opcougar (19 Jul 2011)

Who is doing it this year? I have a tasking and I'll be in resolute bay start to end of August

A few questions.....

1. I plan to bring my dslr camera, what is the place like for photography?

2. I have seen people wear shirts/caps of nanook in the past, do they sell these stuff in a kit shop there?

3. Is there ATMs for cash or do I have to bring cash?

Am also told there is no gym facility, am hoping there are places I can go running

thx


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## aesop081 (19 Jul 2011)

opcougar said:
			
		

> 1. I plan to bring my dslr camera, what is the place like for photography?



Theres not much there. There a few buildings, a small airport and an old crash site.



> 3. Is there ATMs for cash or do I have to bring cash?



Bring cash.



> Am also told there is no gym facility, am hoping there are places I can go running



Take a look at Resolute on Google earth. I'm not sure you understand where you are going.


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## aesop081 (19 Jul 2011)

Photos of the Hamlet:


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## opcougar (19 Jul 2011)

cdn aviator...thx for that. Any chance you can post hi-res version of the pics above? 

Just want to show it to the family so they know where am off to and what it looks like

thx


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## Oldgateboatdriver (19 Jul 2011)

As for running: bring boots that will support your ankle, so you don't sprain it.

The method is easy: Do not run away from the edge of the water (you can get lost 10 minutes out if you do not know how to orient yourself in those areas). You run along the water for half the time you planned to run, then turn around and come back, keeping the water on your opposite side.

Mind the polar bears - talk to the locals first before venturing out.


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## Rheostatic (19 Jul 2011)

Plenty of high-res photos here, just search "Resolute Bay": www.combatcamera.forces.gc.ca


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## GAP (19 Jul 2011)

Oldgateboatdriver said:
			
		

> Mind the polar bears - talk to the locals first before venturing out.



They like lying behind rocks near the shore to get out of the wind and it's easy to run into them.... :nod:


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## dapaterson (19 Jul 2011)

GAP said:
			
		

> They like lying behind rocks near the shore to get out of the wind and it's easy to run into them.... :nod:



Just bring along a friend you know you can outrun, so by the time the polar bears are coming after you they'll have just eaten and be slower.


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## opcougar (19 Jul 2011)

I have my garmin gps watch for running

What is the food like up there, typical mess food?


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## aesop081 (19 Jul 2011)

opcougar said:
			
		

> What is the food like up there, typical mess food?



Sounds like you are expecting a military base to be there when you arrive. You are in for a surprise.

On another note, this is as fancy as it gets up there :

http://www.atcosl.com/ATCO-Lodge/resolute-bay-narwhal-hotel.htm?gclid=CPmVq--PjqoCFcrDKgod7EeRyA


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## Loachman (19 Jul 2011)

opcougar said:
			
		

> What is the food like up there



Those polar bears are probably wondering the same thing, as well as your arrival date and the time of day that you prefer to run.


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## WingsofFury (19 Jul 2011)

Loachman said:
			
		

> Those polar bears are probably wondering the same thing, as well as your arrival date and the time of day that you prefer to run.



Should we tell him what the sunrise and sunsets look like??  :nod:


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## WingsofFury (20 Jul 2011)

Ok ok...I'll do it...

24 hour sunlight.  Have fun!


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## Zoomie (20 Jul 2011)

Expect to live in a tent.  You will eat box lunches and other delicacies.


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## Loachman (20 Jul 2011)

Zoomie said:
			
		

> Expect to live in a tent.



Polar bears like this...


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## Old Sweat (20 Jul 2011)

Loachman said:
			
		

> Polar bears like this...


It's sort of like a giant wrap.


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## WingsofFury (20 Jul 2011)

Old Sweat said:
			
		

> It's sort of like a giant wrap.



Would this be a good location to use the term open air buffet?


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## Old Sweat (4 Aug 2011)

WingsofFury said:
			
		

> Would this be a good location to use the term open air buffet?


And after deciding not to feed the bears, this story from Canada.com is reproduced under the Fair Dealing provision of the Copyright Act.




Canada deploys unmanned drones in Arctic military exercise By Matthew Fisher, Postmedia News August 4, 2011 5:02 PM 


Canada is deploying unmanned surveillance aircraft to the High Arctic for the first time, as part of the largest military exercise ever in the Far North.


Catapult-launched Boeing ScanEagle unarmed drones similar to those used by the Canadian army for surveillance in Afghanistan are to assist in a major air disaster scenario in an extremely remote area near Resolute, which is about 3,000 kilometres north of Ottawa. They will also assist in a major maritime disaster exercise being overseen by the Canadian Coast Guard in waters between Canada and Greenland.


"It's precedent setting. There will be small UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) in the High Arctic," Defence Minister Peter MacKay said in an interview. "They are a harbinger of things to come.


"This will be eyes-on. We can link satellite capability to UAVs to help find people and crash sites. UAVs proved invaluable in Afghanistan and have a great value in applications in the North."


Operation Nanook, which is to last more than three weeks, begins Friday when three Canadian naval vessels led by the frigate, HMCS St. John's, set out from Newfoundland for Baffin Bay where they will rendezvous with a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker.


About 1,100 sailors, soldiers and air personnel, including Special Forces and aboriginal forces known as Canadian Rangers, will join about 200 sailors from the coast guard — who have long experience in Arctic waters — for the exercise. The drones will provide data to two companies of infantry from Alberta and Quebec who will be assisting with the air and maritime search-and-rescue operations. Other Canadian military participants include CF-18 Hornet fighter jets and manned surveillance and transport aircraft and helicopters.


Also participating across Canada's vast northern archipelago in what the government calls the "whole of government approach" will be Mounties and officials from Transport Canada, Public Safety Canada, Environment Canada and Indian and Northern Affairs.


"To be robust and ready. That is what the Arctic experience is all about," MacKay said. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is "very engaged on this file" and as "part of his strong commitment to the Arctic" will visit the North during Op Nanook, the defence minister said.


Three Danish navy ships and an icebreaker from the U.S. Coast Guard have accepted invitations from Canada to take part in the exercise.


While there might be outstanding territorial disputes between Canada and its Arctic neighbours, MacKay and Lt.-Gen. Walter Semianiw, who runs Canada Command, which has military responsibility for all land and waters claimed by Ottawa, said it was in every polar country's interest to co-operate and collaborate on issues such as search and rescue and the environment.


"Friends agree to disagree on a lot of things," Semianiw said. "It does not in any way limit us or prevent us from doing what we need to do. We co-operate in the North . . . Interestingly, it is only reporters who usually who make this an issue, not us in our discussions."


The general asked, rhetorically, "If there is such vociferousness about the North, why it is that the eight countries of the Arctic Council have agreed to come to Canada in October to actually practise search and rescue throughout the North" in a "table top exercise" that is to be held in Whitehorse.


Underlining the spirit of Arctic co-operation rather than competition that exists, Semianiw said he would be travelling to Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia for meetings this fall.


"This is beyond search and rescue," the general said. "We are going to be talking about military co-operation in the North."


Testing responses to air or maritime disasters in the North, as Canada was doing this summer, was a high priority because "there is a very real need and the environment is changing in the Arctic because of the opening of the Arctic ice," MacKay said.


Several hundred jumbo jets bound for Canada and the U.S. from Asia, Europe and the Middle East transit the Canadian Arctic every day. As Arctic ice recedes more cruise ships have also been going farther north in recent years.


"For practical reasons we do this with international partners (but) this is a Canadian-led operation," MacKay said. "We invited the Americans and the Danes to enhance our inter-operability . . .


"Some parts (of the exercise) will be done jointly. The search and rescue of a crash site will be separated to clearly enhance our sovereignty by our ability to respond to that type of crisis."


Elaborating on the same theme, Semianiw added: "By me (Canada) inviting others nations to come and participate in my exercise, I am expressing my sovereignty. By them accepting, they are also acknowledging my sovereign right over my territory."


The ScanEagle drones that will be assisting the military and the coast guard with the air and maritime disaster and rescue scenarios can be equipped with various cameras including infra-red lenses. They have a wing span of three metres, weigh only 20 kilograms, but can stay aloft for 20 hours or more, flying at a cruising speed of about 170 kilometres per hour.


"We'd like to see how we can begin to use UAVs in the North and as part of the domestic scenario," Semianiw said. "UAVs over urban areas have a number of limitations, in the North perhaps less. We want to see whether or not we can use them up there and how they are going to work."


If the drones operate well in the cold, windy conditions that are common in the North, it was possible that they might one day be positioned there, so that they "could go out before even people arrive to give us eyes and ears about what is going on on the ground," Semianiw said.


"Why do we do this? To learn from the experience. Exercising is an expression of how you want to improve. Strengths, weaknesses. After this we are going to do lessons learned to determine how we need to change the plan."

© Copyright (c) Postmedia News


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## GDawg (4 Aug 2011)

I did Nanook last year. I brought my PT gear and ran up and down the road by the airfield. Just ask and they'll tell you how far you can go. I would not recommend straying off the road at all, and I'd suggest trail running shoes. The wind might not cooperate with you either.


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## Kirkhill (4 Aug 2011)

> "It's precedent setting. There will be small UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) in the High Arctic," Defence Minister Peter MacKay said in an interview. "They are a harbinger of things to come.
> 
> 
> "This will be eyes-on. We can link satellite capability to UAVs to help find people and crash sites. UAVs proved invaluable in Afghanistan and have a great value in applications in the North."



I thought that back in 2009 somebody in Senior Management at the Air Force determined that Sensors were over-rated and thus not necessary on SAR platforms like Cormorants and FWSAR?

And yet here we are talking about the advantages of UAVs which can only "see" by means of sensors........ I'm confused.

Equally - if mini and micro UAVs are useful platforms and easier to get into the system than "full size" UAVs then how about purchasing micro-uavs for deployment from CP-140s, CF-188s and FWSARs as single use "rounds"?

Tangent .... I know.


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## opcougar (5 Aug 2011)

GDawg said:
			
		

> I did Nanook last year. I brought my PT gear and ran up and down the road by the airfield. Just ask and they'll tell you how far you can go. I would not recommend straying off the road at all, and I'd suggest trail running shoes. The wind might not cooperate with you either.



Finally....one sensible answer   Still stuck in Trenton unable to make a flight out. I do have trail shoes, so am good to go with my garmin gps and a nice warm hoodie


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## Kirkhill (6 Aug 2011)

> Survivors recover from surgery after polar bear kills Eton school boy Horatio Chapple in Norway
> 
> Four survivors of an Arctic polar bear attack that killed Eton schoolboy Horatio Chapple are recovering after surgery, Norwegian hospital staff have said.
> 
> ...



More Here


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## GAP (17 Aug 2011)

Inuit Rangers flock to military clinic during drill
Article Link
High-quality health care is normally hard to find in Far North
 By Jane George, Nunatsiaq News August 17, 2011

If you happen to be feeling sick, you'll be in good hands at Camp Nanook, where more than 400 members of the Canadian Forces and Canadian Rangers have lived since Aug. 4, when Operation Nanook started.

In fact, such high-quality health care is available at the camp that many Canadian Rangers from Nunavut are drawn to the white medical tent on site.

Canadian Rangers are more than twice as likely go there than the other members of the military at the camp: Although Canadian Rangers make up about 10 per cent of the people at the camp, they account for 25 per cent of those who attend the clinic.

More Nunavut Rangers come to the clinic likely because "they don't have such a high quality of medical care," suggests Maj. Stephane Roux, the chief physician and head of the clinic.

The Rangers, whose volunteer ranks are largely Inuit, aboriginal and Métis, are a sub-component of the Canadian Forces. Their primary task is to conduct surveillance and sovereignty patrols in the Far North.
More on link


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