Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 12/00) - Borolien has been the target of plenty of good-natured ribbing at work since his return.

As an emergency medical technician, he and his Yellowknife Fire Department associates are in the business of rescuing others. When one of their own gets rescued - whether he wants to be rescued or not - well, it's just too good to resist.

"Oh yeah, that's one thing you expect at the fire hall," said Borolien, sounding a little like the jokes were beginning to wear thin. "Ribbing, about anything, is always a given. They'll jump on any chance they get."

But Jack Kruger, commander for the RCMP's Western Arctic District (south) said there's nothing to laugh about.

"I don't find anything humorous in this," said Kruger. "There's clearly a cost figure attached to it. If you use an aircraft and a helicopter and start resourcing out the man hours and stuff you're into several thousand dollars.

"A helicopter doesn't come cheap, anywhere from $800 to $2,500 an hour based on the type of helicopter you use. A twin engine aircraft shakes out to $1,000 to $1,200 an hour.

Plus there are a lot of resources employed in a peripheral manner in this kind of operation."

Kruger said this was the first time cyclists have been air-lifted off the ice road. He said the final tab on the operation had yet to be tallied.

The tough decision Borolien and Keith Hartery made to stop Tuesday night was the right one, Kruger said.

"They did what I would hope other people should do in these cases. They just went to ground and waited. They had a good contact system with Yellowknife. They were where they should be - on the road."

Though both cyclists were surprised to see a helicopter, Borolien said it's always too easy to second guess rescue operations.

"What you have to remember is the people making those decisions didn't have the information we had," said Borolien.

"They had to draw certain conclusions and they have to err on the side of caution."

Both cyclists said stories that circulated about their situation out on the ice got blown way out of proportion, causing a lot of pain for loved ones at home.

"People were glad to see me but they didn't know whether to hug me or slap me," said Hartery.

"That was the only bad part about the trip, the inconsistencies in the stories back in town and how they hurt people."