Page 23 - 2019 AMA Winter

EX TIGER ARRC
AN INSTRUCTOR’S
PERSPECTIVE
By Glenn Bloomer
Bruce Bynorth initially contacted me in mid 2018 with a proposal to instruct on his planned expedition to Eastern Greenland in the summer of 2019
Iknew Bruce from old so I immediately said that I was interested but didn’t really think that the expedition would
gain traction due to the logistics, cost and the lack of previous military expeditions to the area. I contacted a couple of extra instructors that I knew would be interested and then put the trip to the back of my mind as I had a large scale expedition to Nepal to deal with first. To his credit, Bruce persisted with his plan, gained the funding, provided preparatory training and hey presto, Bruce contacted me to tell me the expedition had been green lighted but had been highlighted for a High Risk and Remote presentation... not entirely unreasonable as it turned out!
Meeting the team for the first time at Luton Airport added to my feeling
of ‘is this really happening’ which was continued by an overnight stop in Iceland, all very civilised so far...until on the flight into Kulusuk Airport and our first sight of icebergs in the ocean, followed by an incredibly mountainous archipelago full of glaciers. Excitement mounted as we landed and met our expedition outfitter, Matt, who casually turned up to meet us carrying a rifle....as you do. At this point my thought process turned to ‘this IS really happening’, a short walk into the small Inuit settlement of Kulusuk followed with Matt informing us that the rifle was necessary due to the presence of Polar Bears and their disdain for the usual anti bear drills, shouting ‘Woah Bear’ and not running.
As the team members prepped our kit, packed food and worked out how to set
Approaching Point Albion
up trip flares, myself, Bruce and the other instructors sat down with Matt and began to plan ahead. It became apparent to myself just how ‘High Risk and Remote’ we actually were, particularly when we moved into the second phase of the expedition in the area of the Karale Glacier. We would be approximately 80km from habitation with no immediate rescue options, less ourselves. The nearest helicopter rescue
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