Behind the scenes of the expédition

Valentine Ribadeau Dumas: Base Manager in Resolute

"I am the logistics and communication manager for the “Deepsea Expedition Under The Pole by Rolex” expedition from our base in Resolute, Nunavut, Canada..

I came here with the team on March 15th and since then I am the team contact “on land”, I am in charge of answering the team requests, organizing the supply flights, checking everyday weather forecast and tell them. One side of my job is to take care of the team safety with a daily phone conversation with them, finding and preparing all the necessary equipment for the supply flight, warning them in case of blizzard or dangerous weather.

Another side of my job is more on the communication done around the expedition: a daily newsletter is written for the website, press releases are done, regular updates are given to partners, etc… We organize phone calls between the team and some journalists so I take care of the organisation. Also, I am the contact between the team on the sea ice and their family/friends and therefore I try to forward the messages when possible to the sea ice.

The days are quite busy and do not look like each other... It is difficult to know what the day will be made of as it depends a lot on uncontrollable factors (the ice conditions, the weather, the team requests, etc..). Thus, during the few days before the last supply flight, I spent all my time making sure that the pilots had the right information on the team GPS position and on our wishes, understanding the maximum size and weight possible for the boxes to be dropped off and parachuted, and finally preparing and packing food and gasoline for the team for a whole month. Now, the tasks are somehow different: more communication-oriented: the team is more comfortable on the sea ice now, the press ask for photos, interviews, etc.... So I try to respond to their requests and to keep our partners informed of the main events.

Now here is the time of organising the pick-up flight for the team, I already started in advance, and so it is discussing with the airline managers to see what is feasible considering the ice conditions, talking to other expeditions to possibly share a flight, making sure that the team has the right information, obtaining detailed pictures of ice conditions to optimize the landing safety, etc..
Something is really important to understand : here, we made plans, for a flight for example but there is little chance that this works as "expected": it is not a big problem though, we always end up where we are supposed to but we must remain very flexible, very open-minded and keep trust in front of the unexpected last minute concerns. We depend on a lot of factors that can change everything from one minute to the other (ice, weather, drift, etc..) and many people are involved (pilots, manager, the team, the weather man, etc.). If the team calls and wants to repatriate a member, then the whole program changes, if the weather forecast calls for a strong blizzard, then the team must quickly find a floe of old ice to be safe, if the pilots think that the ice is too bad where the team stands then we have to parachute all the supplies and so pack everything very differently and quickly, etc...

 I also discover and meet an Inuit community by staying in Resolute, of 210 inhabitants. Indeed, Resolute Bay is a small bay on the south coast of Cornwallis Island in Nunavut Territory, in Canada. This is the second most northerly inhabited village in Canada, after Grise Fjord. The vegetation is sparse, we find tundra and the ground is permanently frozen (permafrost). There are no trees, which increases the wind chill. In winter, it can be down to -50°C. In summer (short and fresh), it can take up to 15°C. By the pictures, I am trying to show you the village".

Vonne Blanchet: Webmaster

"Since the beginning of the expedition, although I am established in the peninsula of Quiberon (Britany,France), my morning and evening times of each day are rather turned to the North.

It becomes almost a ritual. In the morning I turn on my computer, put the coffee machine on and there I travel, to the sea ice. I receive the newsletter from the day before by Valentine (summarizing her daily phone call with the team). An editing work and here is the updated newsletter on the website.

 Normally, very shortly after the newsletter publication, the first messages on our guestbook arrive, a quick look and they end up being published on the website.
Quite regularly, I phoned Valentine late afternoon. Therefore, I also have updates orally. We talk about her schedule of the day (and I can tell you that some days it is quite busy), about new pages to put online (interviews, articles, slideshows...), plans to come, each person’s morale etc...

These phone calls, plus those I occasionally receive directly from the sea ice are important because they give me a clearer picture of the field realities and of each person’s feelings in this amazing journey.

Greatly important because above all, there are friends “up there”…

Vonne

Thierry Robert: director

My name is Thierry, the film director of the arctic diving expedition occurring now. I went with the team to Resolute and spent time with them while preparing the last details and waiting for a weather window. I am now following the expedition from France. These days in Resolute allowed me to finalize the cameras preparation, to do tests by -50°C in the wind, even to join the flight for dropping the team off on the sea ice and finally to set a lot of things with Vincent, the expedition cameraman and so “my eyes” up there.

Since March 26th, Valentine and I discuss every day (and night considering our respective time zone, 7 hours difference) for a good couple of hours and exchange dozens of emails. It all starts very early and sometimes ends up late.

AN ORDINARY DAY: Today, 6:30am. Like almost every day, I went to bed around midnight, 1:00am, after a Skype conversation with Valentine trying to solve some logistical problems, including mine.
As soon as I wake up, I turn on my computer and I find all the emails that give me the latest expedition news or these days the team evolving schedule as well as the last plan changes considering the ice conditions this year and the very sudden spring up there.

I also have frequent phone conversation with the team because I keep an eye on what is being filmed, shots and sequences both terrestrial and underwater, as well as on the equipment difficulties and of course I follow also the team morale.

Unfortunately, the day I write these lines, I know that I will not be able to arrive on time in Resolute, for the pick up flight. I tried everything for it, but some circumstances decided for me: the sudden change of dates, another film work on another project really needs to be finished in Paris (Movie in Burkina Faso), etc.. Even if I would leave right away, it is impossible to make it on time!

I will have a Skype conversation with Valentine tonight to organise what she can film from there. I spoke in length with the team last night about the filming needed for their pick-up flight
I look forward to welcoming them in France…!

Thierry

Louis Gonzalez, Christine Deroo: Research Engineers

"We develop tools for processing and visualizing satellite imageries at the “Laboratory of Atmospheric Optics” at the University of Lille. The contact we had with Ghislain and his enthusiasm have helped imagining and creating a new application to track the evolution of the North Pole sea ice with a few days time difference and a nominal resolution of 250 m. The resulting images make us dream and show the richness of those large-scale landscapes around the coastal areas and the main land (valleys, glaciers, sea ice) but also the terrible devastation when we observe huge cracks, looking closer to the pole.

We follow with passion the team efforts.."

Louis et Christine

It is thanks to their work that you can follow to everyday the position of the team on the ice floe.

Wayne Davidson : weather observer based in Resolute

Meteorological specialist of the Arctic environment, Wayne Davidson is a very precious help for the expedition.

From its weather station and since 1985, Wayne takes and reports all sorts of data: for example, he analyzes the sun size, heat indicator for the whole atmosphere, sends daily sounding balloons, develops new techniques to increase the understanding of some weather systems and study them in detail...

Every day, he gives us his opinion on the weather, the ice conditions, winds, clouds, places to avoid ...

Thanks to Wayne for his daily useful advice and his articles on the Arctic environment.