Survival in the Arctic Wilderness

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COLD WEATHER OPERATIONS ~ SUSTAINING HEALTH & PERFORMANCE: US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, TECHNICAL NOTE NO. TN/02-2, October, 2001

Winter Travel ~ Snowshoes & Toboggans: To the moose hunter snow-shoes are often an absolute necessity, and trapping in many cases would be impossible without them. They are thus brought fully within the scope of our volume, and we give a few simple directions for their manufacture. For winter traffic over deep snows there is no better sled in the world than the Indian toboggan. Our illustration gives a very clear idea of the sled, and it can be made in the following way...

How to Build an Igloo by Susan Witmore: During the winter season, a companion and I spent two nights in an igloo near Carson Pass, California. At 8,570 feet the snow was too deep for hiking without snowshoes, and night temperatures dipped to minus five degrees Fahrenheit. Despite the cold, we kept relatively warm in our igloo. I learned to make igloos from Kim Grandfield's Snow and Igloo classes at Sunrise Mountain Sports, not from an Inuit elder. If you have an opportunity to watch and participate in building an igloo with someone who knows the process, that is the best way to learn...

Provisions used by historic expeditions to the arctic regions: Franklin Expedition (1845); Yukon Gold Rush Supply List (1898); Yukon Gold Rush Supply List - 2 (1898); Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1913)

Modern Arctic/Sub-Arctic Supply Checklist This is a comprehensive list of supplies needed for a trip into the Arctic or Sub-Arctic wilderness. This list is for a traveler on a hiking, hunting or exploration trip. Not all of the items are needed for every trip.

1941-1945 USAAF Arctic Survival Manual [onsite] You can beat the Arctic if you...Get Plenty of rest. Avoid Tight Clothing. Eat plenty of fat. Keep dry and warm.

Dressing for Extreme Conditions By: Jack L. McSherry, III: This is the clothing I wore for wind chill conditions said to be -20 F. I was comfortable , and was able to remain outside most of the day. In extreme cold, wind will feel like sandpaper drawn across the skin, and your eyes will burn and tear unless covered.

Hunting Caribou and Building Snow Houses By: Vilhjalmur Stefansson. (1919) Doubtless the average man turns to polar narratives, if he turns to them at all, with the desire and expectation of reading about suffering, heroic perseverance against formidable odds, and tragedy either actual or narrowly averted. Perhaps, then, it is the "law of supply and demand" that accounts for the general tenor of Arctic books. However that be, my main interest in the story I am telling is to "get across" to the reader the idea that if you are of ordinary health and strength, if you are young enough to be adaptable and independent enough to shake off the influence of books and belief, you can find good reason to be as content and comfortable in the north as anywhere on earth. An example to me is the fall of 1914, to which I frequently look back as a time I wish I might live over again.

ARCTIC FOOD PLANTS: Arctic raspberry | Arctic blueberry | Arctic willow | Bearberry| Cranberry| Crowberry | Dandelion| Eskimo potato| Fireweed | Iceland moss | Marsh marigold | Reindeer moss | Spatterdock

Staying warm at Cool School Article #1741, by Ned Rozell: EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE—The last time I was in this building, the year was 1982, I was wearing an airman’s uniform, and a doctor was looking at the blackened tip of my frostbitten left pinkie. It seems fitting to return to the former base clinic building, about 30 miles south of Fairbanks, for “Cool School,” the Air Force’s Arctic Survival Training School.

Arctic Exploration Videos - Arctic Exploration Online Presents: A series of live events from Alaska and the Arctic Circle

History and Culture of the Arctic Regions: Historic images of the Eskimo ||| Glacial Theory Of The Natives (Alaska) ||| Tlingit Customs (1896) ||| Historic Image of Haida Village ||| Eskimo Language ||| In Baffin Land (1915) ||| Historic Images of the Totem Poles of Ketchikan ||| Arts and Relics of Native People of the North ||| Magic Lantern Images of the Eskimo ||| Images of the Arctic People of Scandinavia ||| Notes on Eskimos ||| Traditional Eskimo Whaling Boat Eskimo Villages: Atqasuk||| Nuvuk ||| Utqiagvik||| Ulguniq ||| Photography of the Arctic Circle ||| Arctic Wildlife Portfolio ||| Permafrost in the Arctic

Moods of the North Pole - Web Cam deployments for you to see.

Arctic Exploration - Fifty scientists came together in summer 2002 to explore the Canadian Basin of the Arctic Ocean. Check out their logs and pictures to find out what they learned about the physical properties of the icy environment and the creatures that live there. HISTORIC MAPS: 1828 Russian Alaska | 1857 Arctic Circle Region | 1857 North Pole Map | 1896 Alaska | 1896 Malaspina Glacier | 1896 Muir Glacier | 1897 Klondike Region, Canada | 1898 Chilkoot and White Pass Trails | 1898 Alaska, Yukon, and British Columbia | 1898 Kondike Gold Region | 1899 Bering Strait | 1908 Alaska | 1914 Arctic Region | 1919 Map of Alaska's Inside Passage | 1923 Alaska | 1940 Arctic Circle Region

Canadian Arctic Profiles - This web site provides information on a variety of topics relating to the Canadian Arctic. [Link updated 4/12/11]

Arctic Climatology and Meteorology for Newcomers to the Arctic - a collection of interesting and informative meteorology and climate facts with particular emphasis on arctic phenomena. You can learn general information about the Basics of arctic weather, the Factors that determine weather and climate, and some of the weather Patterns in the Arctic.

Survival in the Arctic - How People Have Traditionally Survived the Arctic.

Arctic Survival Written by Roger Perron and David R. Reed: This section is entitled "Arctic Survival," but one may need cold weather skills at very high altitudes everywhere. Near the Equator in the Andes for example, the snow line is not reached until an altitude of about 5,000 meters (18,000 ft), but the nearer the poles the lower the snow line will be.

Arctic/Antarctic Ecosystems Project - Lots of information.

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