impalapower
TY 4 Stroke God
Thats the place to be. Far away from everyone else.
redman
Extreme
So you went sledding in canadas capital of Ottowa then EH!
Arctic RX
Extreme
It's spelled Ottawa after the Algonquin aboriginal peoples term for: to trade (Adawe)
I'm just bored.
I'm just bored.
redman
Extreme
Thanks for the update on the spelling, we are always a little behind on things. 
Not to be smartass, but I think everyones idea of north is flawed 
I live in Kirkenes, Norway - position 694330N 0295316E...
Just got the sun back (a week ago today), but there really could be more snow
I've lived in Cornwall, Ontario for a year, btw and absolutely love Canada
I live in Kirkenes, Norway - position 694330N 0295316E...
Just got the sun back (a week ago today), but there really could be more snow
I've lived in Cornwall, Ontario for a year, btw and absolutely love Canada
impalapower
TY 4 Stroke God
Jaws you are probably right. I live in southern Wisconsin, our ideas of up north is northern Wisconsin and the UP of Michigan. If we go to Canada, its not up north, its "were going to Canada."
SoCoRX1
TY 4 Stroke Guru
crap for me going "up north" is going 60 miles north, but im still in southern colorado...
Arctic RX
Extreme
Totally true, when I think of North I think of these guys on sovereignty patrols at Alert, Nunavut 82.0500° N, 62.3167° W
, when I think of south I think Montreal or Ottawa (1200nm):
CBC - Despite bitter cold, injuries and severe damage to their equipment, a Canadian Forces team has completed the longest sovereignty patrol in Canadian military history.
The five soldiers travelled 1,754 kilometres by snowmobile over 13 days in April, from Resolute Bay to Canadian Forces Station Alert at the top of Canada, overcoming some of the harshest terrain in the world.
At the end, the team, all of them marked by cold and wind, parked their snowmobiles and komatiks outside the entrance to Alert's main building and entered it, expecting to go through the normal arrival routine at a Canadian Forces establishment.
Instead, about 60 of the station's staff of about 75 were in the vestibule to applaud and cheer the exhausted men and offer them hot drinks, juices and other refreshments.
"It was a huge surprise," said Major Stewart Gibson, commanding officer of 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group and the patrol's leader. "Soldiering is an emotional business and that was an emotional moment. The welcome was overwhelming. I will never forget it."
CFS Alert, a signals intelligence facility, is the most-northerly, permanently-inhabited settlement in the world.
The patrol started at Resolute Bay, 600 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, with five regular force members and 15 Canadian Rangers selected from across the North. The patrol's route to Alert took it through Quttinirpaaq National Park in northern Ellesmere Island, which caused the original 20-member patrol to be reduced to seven after reaching the weather station at Eureka to prevent unnecessary damage to the park during the last leg of the trip.
That number was further reduced to five when Ranger Corporal Doug Stern of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, injured his back hauling his snowmobile and komatik over rocks and boulders and a day later Master Warrant Officer Gerry Westcott, 1CRPG's Sergeant Major, damaged his knee when he hit a rock concealed by snow and was thrown from his machine. Both soldiers were airlifted out by the crew of a Twin Otter of 440 Squadron.
The patrol encountered temperatures as low as -40C, near blizzards, daunting ice ridges on the sea that were sometimes taller than a man, rocks and boulders in narrow river beds, and unexpectedly steep inclines on hills that forced them to use two snowmobiles instead of one to haul their 16-foot komatiks, laden with 1,000 pounds of gear, to the top. The patrol took almost nine hours to cover one four-kilometre section of river bed and 10 hours to travel the last 26 kilometres to Alert. One day it travelled until two in the morning.
Describing the sovereignty patrol as "a once in a lifetime experience," Major Gibson said it also served as an advanced training exercise. The mix of regular force members and Canadian Rangers meant both groups learned from each other. "Everyone is taking the lessons learned back to their communities and to Yellowknife."
For Warrant Officer Rick Mackwood, a physician's assistant, completing the patrol was particularly significant. He only learned to snowmobile at the beginning of the winter and had driven no more than 200 kilometres when the patrol left Resolute Bay. "I fell off my machine many times, but we all did," he said. "An injury could happen at any time. It was tough going, day in, day out. When you're really tired, it was a challenge."
Ranger Joe Amarualik of Iqaluit was the patrol's guide. He was one of the guides for the sovereignty patrol to the Magnetic North Pole in 2002 and he has also guided an expedition to the geographic North Pole. After 13 days of hard travel, he said, he felt "relief and elation" when the patrol finally saw Alert, where the patrol's reception by the station staff "was something I will never forget."
Major Gibson stressed that the patrol could not have been a success without the support of several people, such as Warrant Officer Kevin Mulhern, 1CRPG's quartermaster, helped by Master Cpl Paul Smith, Ranger Sgt. Allen Pogotak of Holman and Ranger Eric Hitkolok of Kugluktuk, who were members of the patrol for the Resolute to Eureka leg and station staff at Alert.
"The mission I was given, to conduct a sovereignty patrol on behalf of Canada, was achieved," Major Gibson said. "We proved that we are Arctic tough and Arctic capable. We flew the Canadian flag and the Canadian Ranger flag from Resolute Bay right up to CFS Alert at the top of Canada."
(Sgt. Moon was the public affairs Ranger for Operation Kigliqaqvik Ranger III.)
, when I think of south I think Montreal or Ottawa (1200nm):
CBC - Despite bitter cold, injuries and severe damage to their equipment, a Canadian Forces team has completed the longest sovereignty patrol in Canadian military history.
The five soldiers travelled 1,754 kilometres by snowmobile over 13 days in April, from Resolute Bay to Canadian Forces Station Alert at the top of Canada, overcoming some of the harshest terrain in the world.
At the end, the team, all of them marked by cold and wind, parked their snowmobiles and komatiks outside the entrance to Alert's main building and entered it, expecting to go through the normal arrival routine at a Canadian Forces establishment.
Instead, about 60 of the station's staff of about 75 were in the vestibule to applaud and cheer the exhausted men and offer them hot drinks, juices and other refreshments.
"It was a huge surprise," said Major Stewart Gibson, commanding officer of 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group and the patrol's leader. "Soldiering is an emotional business and that was an emotional moment. The welcome was overwhelming. I will never forget it."
CFS Alert, a signals intelligence facility, is the most-northerly, permanently-inhabited settlement in the world.
The patrol started at Resolute Bay, 600 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, with five regular force members and 15 Canadian Rangers selected from across the North. The patrol's route to Alert took it through Quttinirpaaq National Park in northern Ellesmere Island, which caused the original 20-member patrol to be reduced to seven after reaching the weather station at Eureka to prevent unnecessary damage to the park during the last leg of the trip.
That number was further reduced to five when Ranger Corporal Doug Stern of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, injured his back hauling his snowmobile and komatik over rocks and boulders and a day later Master Warrant Officer Gerry Westcott, 1CRPG's Sergeant Major, damaged his knee when he hit a rock concealed by snow and was thrown from his machine. Both soldiers were airlifted out by the crew of a Twin Otter of 440 Squadron.
The patrol encountered temperatures as low as -40C, near blizzards, daunting ice ridges on the sea that were sometimes taller than a man, rocks and boulders in narrow river beds, and unexpectedly steep inclines on hills that forced them to use two snowmobiles instead of one to haul their 16-foot komatiks, laden with 1,000 pounds of gear, to the top. The patrol took almost nine hours to cover one four-kilometre section of river bed and 10 hours to travel the last 26 kilometres to Alert. One day it travelled until two in the morning.
Describing the sovereignty patrol as "a once in a lifetime experience," Major Gibson said it also served as an advanced training exercise. The mix of regular force members and Canadian Rangers meant both groups learned from each other. "Everyone is taking the lessons learned back to their communities and to Yellowknife."
For Warrant Officer Rick Mackwood, a physician's assistant, completing the patrol was particularly significant. He only learned to snowmobile at the beginning of the winter and had driven no more than 200 kilometres when the patrol left Resolute Bay. "I fell off my machine many times, but we all did," he said. "An injury could happen at any time. It was tough going, day in, day out. When you're really tired, it was a challenge."
Ranger Joe Amarualik of Iqaluit was the patrol's guide. He was one of the guides for the sovereignty patrol to the Magnetic North Pole in 2002 and he has also guided an expedition to the geographic North Pole. After 13 days of hard travel, he said, he felt "relief and elation" when the patrol finally saw Alert, where the patrol's reception by the station staff "was something I will never forget."
Major Gibson stressed that the patrol could not have been a success without the support of several people, such as Warrant Officer Kevin Mulhern, 1CRPG's quartermaster, helped by Master Cpl Paul Smith, Ranger Sgt. Allen Pogotak of Holman and Ranger Eric Hitkolok of Kugluktuk, who were members of the patrol for the Resolute to Eureka leg and station staff at Alert.
"The mission I was given, to conduct a sovereignty patrol on behalf of Canada, was achieved," Major Gibson said. "We proved that we are Arctic tough and Arctic capable. We flew the Canadian flag and the Canadian Ranger flag from Resolute Bay right up to CFS Alert at the top of Canada."
(Sgt. Moon was the public affairs Ranger for Operation Kigliqaqvik Ranger III.)
