Glacier Safety Course
Text and photos by Ladina Steiner.
As I am new to the world of polar expeditions, it is recommended by the AWI to participate in a preparatory glacier safety course. The course in the Austrian Alps is specially tuned to the needs of scientists carrying out fieldwork in remote polar regions.
Video link: Impressions from the glacier safety course in the Tyrolean Pitztal.
While enjoying the wonderful Tyrolean scenery and some late wild blue berries at the end of the Pitztal, we have a chilled hike up to the Taschachhaus (2434m asl.) of the German alpine association, where we will stay the next four days. After a delicious three courses menu we are getting familiar with the glacier equipment (helmet, crampons, ice axe, harness, carabines, ice screw, slings, and rope) and learn some basic knots for self-rescue. Having the mind already full of all these new inputs, we exercise the learned knots in the attached climbing “hall”, followed by learning self-rescuing on the rope. Very effective seem to be the “prusik” and the “figure of eight” knots for being fast in climbing up a rope…minimizing the risk of getting cut off the rope by overstrained colleagues in an emergency “one-fell-into-a-crevasse” situation.
The sun is shining warmly on the next September day and we enjoy a nice hike up to the Taschach glacier. There we are getting a feeling for walking on ice with crampons, harness, ice axe and the rope, which I think is a lot of fun. Unfortunately (for the ones like me, always being too warm), one needs to wear long shirts and pants while walking on the glacier. I guess it’s for sun and ice injuries protection. Arrived at a big crevasse, we are learning how to set up a rescue anchor (ice screw) on ice to be able to secure colleagues in the case of a crevasse fall scenario. The rest of the day, everyone gets the “chance” to “fall” into the crevasse while the others need to save the person and rescue her.
Our goal on the next day is to hike up to the upper part of the glacier “Sexegertenferner” which is still covered by snow. The way up leads over a very cool and not too steep Via Ferrata. The conditions in the upper part of the glacier are trickier, because we cannot see the crevasses anymore and walking on the rope is suddenly serious and not an exercise. Building a rescue anchor in snow is different compared to ice. The ice screw is useless in snow. So, we are learning another method: using the ice axe as an anchor in snow…very cool! The ice axe needs to be dug several decimetres into the snow and covered by the same to be able to hold the weight of several people. Attaching a carabine and sling let us use the anchor. We did not really trust this method, so we tested its safeness with seven people simultaneously hanging heavily into the rope… and nothing moved at all 😊
Now trusting the snow anchor, self-rescue out of the crevasse needs to be exercised. One after the other fell (this time really falling, attached on a second safety rope) into the crevasse while the other two from the rope team needed to act very rapidly. The person in the middle started building a snow anchor (ice axe). Meanwhile, the last person had to hold the whole weight sticking on her ice axe in the snow. This was a major experience and felt like the lower part of the body was torn off the rest. One was only liberated when the snow anchor was finished and the person in the middle freed herself from the main rope. After that, one could help rescue the person in the crevasse. The “crevasse person” meanwhile started to self-rescue her with climbing up the rope using the prusik knot and slings. After a very interesting day, we are descending the glacier and the Via Ferrata to return tired back to the Taschachhaus.
On the last day, we got familiar with the content of the AWI survival boxes which are mounted on every vehicle at Neumayer III when leaving the research station environment. In the case of an emergency while being out in the icy nowhere, one should be able to provide first aid, warm the injured person, set up a tent, boil hot water, and call for help with the satellite phone. We simulated and exercised such a situation next to the Taschachhaus and learned a lot!
Finally, abseiling was on the program. This would be used in Antarctica to reach the sea ice from the edge of the ice shelf for example to visit the Penguin colony in the Atka Bay, several kilometres North of Neumayer III. With that scenery in mind, we had a chilled hike back down to the valley. Penguins we are looking forward to seeing you 😊
