Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 29/02) - Operation Kigliqaqvik Ranger is over.

The 33 Canadian Rangers and staff completed their 1,700-kilometre round trip from Resolute to the Magnetic North Pole Wednesday afternoon, two days ahead of schedule.

"We stopped just outside of town," after camping the night before near the Polaris Mine, said warrant officer Kevin Mulhern, Kigliqaqvik Ranger's mission commander.

The troops rode their snowmachines across Resolute Bay in a long line before dropping off their qamutiks behind the South Camp Inn.

The troops then unfurled Canadian, territorial, and Ranger flags, and paraded through Resolute in four lines. "It was amazing, the response we got, especially when we came up to the school," he said.

The four troops from Resolute who acted as guides were mobbed by throngs of students from Qarmartalik School.

The Rangers set out from Resolute April 10, on a mission to assert Canadian sovereignty in the High Arctic and to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the irregular military force.

Among those riding along for the last leg was Ranger Sgt. Darrel Klemmer, who had to be flown out after slicing his open his finger.

Although he had reached the pole with his comrades, he was bitterly disappointed at not finishing the mission.

"I missed being with them," he said. The Tulita resident had been loading a damaged snowmachine onto a supply plane when the accident happened.

"I cut some stuff off with my knife, and it went almost to the bone," he said.

Ranger Sgt. Paddy Aqiatsuk, one of four from Resolute who acted as guides, said his fellow troops handled themselves well in unfamiliar territory.

"I was actually kind of surprised for the treeline boys," he said. "I didn't think they would do as well as they did," he added.

The troops will spend the next few days resting up in Resolute before heading home. A gala community feast, attended by Nunavut Commissioner Peter Irniq was planned for Sunday.