Yellowknife Northwest Territories, Canada
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Cold:Cold: Put it to the test YELLOWKNIFE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES, CANADA A PREMIER LOCATION FOR COLD WEATHER TESTING TABLE OF CONTENTS LOOKING FOR COLD? Welcome . 1 Ice Road Reality - Erik Madsen . 2 WE ARE IT ! As soon as you arrive in Yellowknife, you feel the Polar Pilots - Paul Laserich . 6 City’s distinctive northern character as a cold climate City . Our rocky topography is covered Designed With Cold In Mind - Jerry Jaud . 8 for a large part of the year by a blanket of ice and snow as our City bustles with daily activity . Amenities And Services . 10 We are a small City with the infrastructure, amenities and services found in a much larger Map Of Yellowknife And Facts . 12 City . The Other Desert Race - Scott Smith . 16 Whether you need an empty building to cold test an airplane, storage for your equipment Kingdom Of Snow And Ice - Anthony Foliot . 18 and gear, a frozen lake, or comfortable accommodations – you will find what you need Testing Snowmobiles On Dog-sled Tracks - in Yellowknife . Grant Beck . 20 If work is not what brings you to our winter City, you will be kept busy with an abundance of Under The Lights - Don Morin . 22 winter activity you will not find elsewhere . If you are looking to test yourself mentally and Cold Facts . 24 physically, check out the hard-core endurance races at the Rock and Ice Ultra . Key Contacts . 25 When you have some down time, take in some ice fishing, cross-country skiing, northern lights viewing and dog sledding . The list of possibilities is endless in Yellowknife, Diamond Capital of North America™. 1 2 3 4 WARM WELCOME FROM THE WINTER CITY Our City of 20,000 was built on cold and gold . People who live here have gone far beyond developing ingenious ways to build houses and ice roads, run successful businesses, maintain vehicles, and stay warm over eight months of sub-zero temperatures . Yellowknifers have turned this Arctic landscape into something to be celebrated . We have a variety of outdoor events during the winter season: from festivals and races - with both four-legged and two-legged species - kite-skiing, skijoring, pond hockey tournaments, ice fishing, snowmobiling… the list goes on and on . In other words, we are brought together as a community by the cold . Our winters may be long and cold, but our City is vibrant and one of the most welcoming places you will ever visit . You are guaranteed to experience two things if you travel to Yellowknife during winter: what it feels like to live and play in Canada’s coldest City year-round, and the hardy, friendly people who love to work and play outside! It’s cold and we love it. Gordon Van Tighem Mayor, City Of Yellowknife 1 1 Erik Madsen ICE ROAD REALITY Every year since 1982, a seasonal road is built that starts just outside of Yellowknife . It is 600 kilometres long, bearing north of the City and extends to Canada’s northern tundra . The road, which is usually opened from January to March or April, is the supply lifeline to Canada’s first diamond mines – BHP Billiton’s Ekati Mine, Rio Tinto’s Diavik Diamond Mines, and De Beers’ Snap Lake Mine – and other resource and exploration projects along the route . The equipment is huge, the cargo precious, and the road is made entirely out of ice! “SAFETY IS PARAMOUNT. EVERY DRIVER GOES THROUGH A COMPLETE SAFETY AND ORIENTATION COURSE.” Forty-two inches of ice is all that Diamonds Inc . and Diavik constantly monitoring, repairing may separate a 200,000-pound Diamond Mines Inc . and up-keeping the ice at 18-wheeler from the unforgiving all times,” says Erik . It is the experience and effort of deep waters beneath the icy Erik and his team that helps build Constructing the ice road is surface of the world’s longest ice the world’s longest ice road . Their much more complicated than road - Tibbitt to Contwoyto . main focus at all times is making letting winter take over and turn Everything from the road sure that everyone stays safe on the lakes and portages to ice . planning, construction and the route, which takes the Specialized, amphibious vehicles maintenance, safety and speed average driver 12-15 hours to called Hagglunds are fired up limits to haul schedules is very drive one way . and are the first on the ice . These much the business of Erik short, stout vehicles look like a “Safety is paramount . Every Madsen, Director of Winter Road couple of sea cans on tank driver goes through a complete Operations . The road is tracks, but are expertly designed safety and orientation course . managed by the Joint Venture to drive on only eleven inches of We have three camps along the Management Committee, which ice and they float if required . The route with crews that are 2 is made up of BHP Billiton Hagglunds start at the beginning 5 6 7 of the route and, with helicopter insulator, so areas that have carrying a full load), use support above, drive the length more snow will have thinner ice . common sense, and drink some of the road, dragging an When the snow is removed and strong coffee . electronic device behind them the icy surface is exposed to the Erik and his crew know the Arctic that measures the ice thickness . -40°C temperature, the cold well . From experimenting They plot the best course with ice thickens . with hydraulics that need to GPS and identify areas where When the road is cleared of survive long journeys in -40°C, to the ice thickness needs to snow, flood and drill crews come using methyl hydrate in frozen be enhanced . in to “focus flood” the area . This brake lines, they have learned all The big toys are brought out next, maintains a constant ice the tricks of the “cold” trade . It is such as the SnowCats . The thickness . their job to deal with the extremity SnowCats start the arduous but of their surroundings and use the It is up to each driver to maintain crucial journey of clearing snow cold expertly to build this road, the regulated speed limits (which on the route . As the snow is which is unlike any other in the vary depending on location and cleared, the road takes shape . world . whether or not the truck is But the snow also acts as an 3 9 8 10 11 Cold Facts • First year of operation 1982 . north up the ice road, which • Length 568 km with 495 km weighed 331,000 tonnes . (87%) over frozen lakes and • Approximately 700 drivers 73 km (13%) over land . were registered . • There are 64 over land • 17 security staff logged portages . 270,000 km on the group’s 10 2007 was a record year for the trucks . Security patrols the ice road . Some facts include: road 24 hours a day during the season . • The ice road was in operation for 73 days . (source: www jvtcwinterroad. ca). • 10,922 loads were hauled 4 12 5 Paul Laserich POLAR PILOTS Paul Laserich had no choice but to go into aviation . He talks about being “drafted” back in the 1960s by his father Willy Laserich, who is a legend in Canadian Arctic aviation history . Willy was considered to be an adventurous pilot who put the needs of the people in small northern communities first no matter what the aviation rules were at that time . Paul has a storybook full of epic adventures and has even survived a mid-air engine failure due to extreme wind-chill conditions . “FLYING UP HERE IS ALWAYS A CHALLENGE, IT’S ALWAYS EXCITING. YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN FROM DAY TO DAY IN THESE CONDITIONS BUT IT KEEPS YOU ON YOUR TOES AND THAT’S WHAT MAKES IT GREAT.” Spend five minutes with Paul, His company, Adlair Aviation, world come here to test and it is obvious that the apple has operated in the North since everything, including the has not fallen far from the tree . the 1960s . The airline transports engine, avionics, windshields He exudes a rugged frontier spirit goods and passengers to and and tires on their aircraft . of adventure and excitement . from remote communities, The Gulfstream G-450, When asked why he continues to provides MedEvac services, and Bombardier Learjet RJ700, run an aviation company North has strong connections to Hawker 800, the U .S . Airforce, of 60, his reasons are clear . aviation industry partners that NASA, and even the world have put their planes and “Because I’m living the dream . famous Airbus A380, have all products to the test in Arctic I’ve been here for 49 years and used Yellowknife as their primary conditions . there’s nothing like it . It’s more destination for cold weather personable and I know people Aircraft can be expected to testing . When asked why in all the communities . When I withstand temperatures of -70°C companies use Yellowknife as walk into a terminal, I know I’m with wind chill when operating in the testing destination and not going to see someone I know,” northern skies . As a result, further north or Alaska, Paul says, 6 says Paul . companies from around the “Yellowknife is strategically placed . It is close enough to the Yellowknife via courier! to be here and part of the States but has the cold ongoing adventure that is Paul and his crew have learned conditions of the most remote the North . the tricks of the trade through Arctic places in the world . At the decades of operating in this “Flying up here is always a same time, it also has all the extreme climate: from installing challenge, it’s always exciting .