Yellowknife (Apr 04/05) - An elite group of Canadian Rangers got a taste of extreme weather before they even embarked on a long-range sovereignty patrol last week.

The 16 rangers from across the three territories had to wait out a blizzard raging further north from the Canadian Forces Northern Area base before leaving for Resolute Bay, April 1.

Major Stewart Gibson shows ranger Joseph Lacorne of Fort Providence a possible route that members of the Canadian Rangers Sovereignty Patrol will take in the High Arctic this month. - Lisa Scott/NNSL photo

"I'm raring to go," said Frederick Blake Jr. of Tsiigehtchic.

One of the youngest members of the 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, Blake Jr. wasn't sure what to expect upon landing in Isachsen, an abandoned weather station on Ellef Ringnes Island.

Something new

"I'm anxious to see polar bears and a different landscape," he said from the base.

Joseph Lacorne of Fort Providence is the only participant going on the trip from below the treeline.

The first-year ranger was a little worried about the disadvantage of not having experienced extreme weather or terrain before.

He was looking forward to learning new military tactics from the Canadian Forces soldiers on the trip.

"Their ways are going to be 'way different than what we do back home. So it's going to be a big challenge," he said.

The rangers, culled from the 58 patrol groups in the North, will join nine regular forces soldiers on the trip, which is an annual attempt to reinforce Canada's sovereignty in the far reaches of its territory.

Once they land at Isachsen, the crew will split into smaller groups.

They will practise leadership skills, navigation, marksmanship and first aid until April 15.

This year's operation includes a simulated plane crash using a U.S. Air Force DC-3 plane that crash-landed near Isachsen in the 1940s.

Major Stewart Gibson, the commanding officer for the rangers, figures in the event of a plane crash in the Arctic, his rangers would likely be the first on the scene.

Learning experience

Their experience living on the land, mixed with military expertise to make them more efficient, will be a good learning experience for the rangers, he said.

Asked how the group may react to the chaos of a plane crash simulation, Gibson had no doubts about their abilities.

"They are very independent and they are very skilled in travelling on the land, working on the land and surviving, if need be, on the land," he said before leaving on the trip.

This will be the fifth year the Canadian Forces have launched sovereignty patrols across the Arctic, beginning with a 1,700 km patrol from Resolute Bay to the Magnetic North Pole and back in 2002.