La Lipela - Expedition Training at Base Camp

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La Lipela - Expedition Training at Base Camp

Following arrival in base camp, the expedition team was put through a ten day wilderness survival programme. Although the group is generally very fit and very accustomed to life in the outdoors, these training days were required to ensure that everyone had the basic skills required to survive in the wilds of Patagonia, and deal with most of the potential emergencies which could occur. Some of the material was familiar to me - but a great deal was not, so while some instruction was more beneficial than others, the overal training was constructive.

The majority of the training was given by the expedition leader, Stephen - a rugged and cheerful German who had previously worked in the German special forces, as a commercial diver in Australia, and a snowboard instructor in the Alps. He ran the training in a strict, rigorous but good-natured manner - often treating the disasters which could befall us with a macabre and lively sense of gallows humour. He created a fantasy expedition member called Little Timmy, who was always the one who got lost, broke his leg or otherwise came a cropper while in the wilderness.

The expedition required that for a great deal of the ten weeks it would be necessary to live, sleep and eat away from base camp and regular kitchen, water of accommodation facilities. We were therefore instructed in the pitching and breking of camp, and the use of small camping stoves. The tents required the knowledge of some complex knots, and they were quite fiddly to assemble. However, with continued practice throughout the training period of putting up and taking down the tents this soon became a routine exercise - just as well since later trips required that this could be done in wind, rain and even snow.

All expedition food was to be cooked on small camping stoves - single ring burners that ran on cannisters of gas. These also had to be operated effectively - wih the bunsen-like flame kept out of the wind by several metal protectors that folded around the main burner. Basic pots and pans were supplied - but for ease of packing these did not have handles, so the pliers of a multi-tool were used instead. Water was often scarce on the trip, so we learnt how grease could be removed from pots, plates and cutlery using dirt and dried grass, a quick splash of water just being required to remove any dusty or grassy residue.

Stoves, tents and fuel cannisters had to be carried in rucksacks shared out among expedition members, together with any food for the time away from base. This added greatly to the individual load and required careful packing to ensure all other equipment could be carried too. At first progress with the heavily laden packs was slow, but after three days of practice trekking in the nearby mountains, this became easier and almost second nature.

There are many lakes, rivers and streams running through the region of Patagonia where the expedition is working. This affects our team in two ways: firstly as a source of water, and secondly as an obstacle to be crossed. None of the water here can be drunk directly from the water source due to the risk of pollution from cattle. Consequently expedition members must either boil water before drinking or else purify it with iodine or chlorine tablets. Some camps are dry camps , which means there is no access to water. Subsequently all water for the duration of that trip must be made in advance and carried on the pack in sturdy camel backs. Since we use around 3 litres of water or more per person per day, this also adds significantly to the weight to be carried.

We are in Patagonia in the spring - a period of higher rainfall and meltwater from the nearby mountains. Streams and rivers are therefore likely to be running at their highest, and if we are to make progress through the wilderness, it is necessary to learn how to cross rivers safely in these conditions. Contrary to what is often seen in films, this does not involve walking in single file directly across the river with packs carried above the head, since this exposes all expedition members to the full force of the current, increasing the risk that they are swept away. Instead, the group form a column down the river, the strongest at the front to break the force of the stream for the weaker members behind. The whole column them moves sideways across the river, holding on to the person in front for support.

Since many days of the expedition are spent walking many miles from even the most basic of roads, let alone a nearby town, the group was also trained in emergency wilderness first aid. I was already familiar with techniques for resucitation and treatment of minor wounds - but also now learnt how to splint broken bones, make emergency stretchers out of trees, rucksacks, hiking poles and tent gear, how to move and carry victims with suspected neck and head injuries, how to assess a perso´n for injury, and how to deal with victims of road accidents. I found this aspect of the training the most interesting and completed an emergency first responder course as part of the instruction. I thought I would like to learn more about wilderness rescue, perhaps with an emphasis on mountain and high altitude situations - perhaps also getting to go on some expeditions in a medical capacity.

As a corollary to the medical training, we were also taught how to use remote communicationd equipment, including satellite phones, two way radios, GPS units and Eprom alert units. All teams in the expedition would carry one or more of these communication devices between them to ensure that location and position could be notified to emergency services if required.

At some stages during the training, some of this struck me as emergency overkill. I was particularly suspicious of the automatic navigation equipment, suspecting that it encouraged people to rely too much on the technology and not their own general wilderness sense. This was confirmed in my mind several times on the practice expedition, when with darkness approaching the group leaders seemed to have no real idea of where they would be able to pitch camp for the night, or blindly heading off into thick fields of cane around a lake in the hope of slashing a way through rather than walk around on higher ground that was less dense with undergrowth and afforded a better view of the route forward. I would not swap one knowledgable guide for all the technology and rescue equipment in existence.

But in general the training as been instructive and interesting. Overall I feel I can look at the mountains and wilderness in a new and exciting way, knowing that I now have the resources to head off on my own and be able to camp and stay out for several days without the need to return to accommodation each night. Unlike some in the group for whom the paraphernalia of camping (the gear, the gadgets, the clothes) seems almost an end in its own right, I much prefer to see it as a means to explore remote wilderness areas that would otherwise be generally inaccessible. Once the expedition is over, I think that this will be one of the lasting benefits of having come out here on the project.

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