Ground Search/Final Ops

So immediately (like 12 hours after) Mountain Ops was done we made our way to Jarvis lake for the commencement of Ground Search. Strangely enough if you've ever seen the show Mantracker, this course is taught by the guy who taught the mantracker. It's a very boring course in which you learn how to ground search and if necessary, track people. Searching is pretty friggin' simple. It's a matter of walking abreast with other searchers looking "up,down, and all around" for anything that may provide a clue as to the direction/location of the target. Depending on how detailed you want the search to be, you modify it by adding more people, walking closer together and, walking slower. Easy stuff.

Tracking is another story altogether. Typically I (and most, if not all SAR Techs) learn how to do things proficiently and much quicker than the vast majority of people. But tracking is one skill I can say without a doubt would require me to do for years to become confident and competent at. Some signs are obvious. ie. a footprint. But when you get down to it you're looking for stuff you would not normally notice. A bent piece of grass, a loose rock, even so far as something you think you see but when you look at it objectively there's nothing visibly abnormal. I found this to be challenging and frustrating and am thankful that SAR Techs don't normally have to resort to this tactic. The idea is that there is always a sign. It might be a bootprint that matches the description of your quarry (such as danners) or it might be some chlorophyll from grass on a twig or rock that was smeared by the weight of a passing person. There is usually a distinct heel print or toe kick which allows you to measure the distance of stride. You then use this length, dependent on the terrain to find and compare other signs. Personally I didn't find it to be easy or efficient and was glad it only lasted a week.

Final Ops started after a day "off" in Jarivs Lake. Which (of course) consisted of us working our sacks off trying to get the last few camp projects done, because as sure as shit we were not going to get any spare time once final ops started. This resulted in probably the best looking and by far largest set of pararescue wings to grace the confines of the Jarvis Lake training for years to come. Once Final Ops started it was business as usual. We started off by refreshing our jumping skills by doing some confined area jumps. This was awesome because we got to jump into some new confined areas, and at most we only jumped into an area twice which meant almost every area was a new area to analyze and adapt to. At some point two guys forgot kit back at the camp while in the meantime the skyvan was on approach to take us up for the first lift at the airfield. To be clear (and watch out for this 43) that kit HAD been mustered and WAS in place to get loaded on the trucks, BUT one the staff (Kevin) was suspected of removing some of the gear. This resulted in a (suspectedly fictitious) snap show by the Chief and phase NCO. After the days training was finished we were mustered and given 5 minutes to run to the boat shed and change into our dry suits with fins. We then had to swim approx. 1600m, that we wisely decided to swim as a group. Meaning we could go slower and blame was implicated on the slowest person, who was, in this case working his bag off to try and not be the slowest guy. However on the 1600m back we were told it was an individual effort and we had to go as hard as we could. Ball-drag. A not-so-subtle reminder that despite the fact that it's been a year, the course is not over. Anyway to not give too much away to upcoming courses, final ops is a great time complete with reminders that "it's not over yet". The ability to improvise is paramount and you can and will be expected to do any and everything you have learned on the duration of the course. Good times had by all.

Mountain Ops

After paraphase the course drove to Jasper Ab. to commence our Mountain Ops phase. This was almost as highly anticipated as paraphase was. We were getting sick of jumping (if you can believe it!) and a lot of the guys on course are mountaineering types.

In Jasper we were taught by the very knowledgeable guys who run Rescue Dynamics www.rescuedynamics.ca/ The lead instructor used to hold the world record for longest highline back in the day. During this two weeks we were instructed on high-angle rock rescue which consists of learning how to rig rescue systems for people you may be climbing with or as a rescuer who gets to the scene. I wasn't savvy in all the climbing/mountaineering stuff and was completely floored at what you can do with some rope and a little bit of gear. We did everything from simply pulling people up cliffs using simple 3:1 prusik-minding pulley systems to pulling teams of 4 up with a patient in a stokes litter with a 9:1 PMP system and even crevice rescue. We learned how to build various types of anchors from bolts, trees and rock using cams, stoppers, nuts, etc..


After that we got into actual rock climbing. This was the best part of the phase. From just basic rock climbing on belay to traditional lead climbing on multi-pitch routes. It was a blast and we were disappointed that it was only for 3 days. One thing I would like to comment on was the pace of the course and the amount of material covered. There is a lot of stuff to learn on this phase and I'm almost sure that without the coursemates we had that were already very educated in regards to climbing and mountaineering, the course as a whole would not have done as well as it did. *As a side note: This is a huge reason Course 42 was able to accomplish the learning objectives as easily as it did. We were lucky enough to have at least 2 guys versed in every aspect of the course which made it way easier for the rest to absorb the information.* The only reason we really have to learn how to rock climb is to use it as a method of insertion to get to a rescue scene.


After rock climbing it was on to snow and ice. Unfortunately we didn't do any ice climbing. That will be covered on our team leader course. This phase was geared towards learning how to self-arrest if you were sliding down a steep embankment, how to rig a rescue system using various anchors from snow and ice, and how to travel on snow and glaciers. The end of the portion and mountain ops culminated in the ascent of Mt. Athabasca, a 11,500 footer. After an early 0130 wake up to beat the sun and potential avalanche hazard we drove to the Columbia ice fields (about an hour south of Jasper) to begin our ascent. I found it to be quite an easy climb with some gorgeous scenery. Utilizing crampons for the majority of the climb along with our mountaineering axe we (very) slowly made our way up. It was a pretty uneventful 5 hour trip to the summit but we were awarded by a stunning view of the ice fields and the Rockies as far as the eye could see, along with the feeling of accomplishment you get at the top of a mountain.


Off to Ground Search and Final Ops in good ol' Jarvis Lake.