By Carrie Powers
I lived in the eastern arctic for four years, from 2007-2011. Even now, I look back and think, “Was that real? Did I really do that? Did I actually live in an extremely cold environment where the temperature consistently reaches -40oC on a typical winter day? Did I actually bring my two young sons ages 3 and 6 at the time to such a secluded, foreign place?” And you know, what? I give my head a little shake and respond to those internal questions with a firm, “Yes, you did!”
I have always been a sucker about cold weather. Well, to be honest I think I have just always felt the cold air deeply down to my bones. While growing up in southern Ontario, Canada there really was no way to avoid it in the wintertime. We used to have so much snow in our area in the 1970’s. As a true Canuck, my parents taught my brothers, sister and I the ‘key’ to surviving the cold winters. “Layer up!” they would say “Cover all the body parts.” So we did! Often I remember building snow forts 1/2 mile from home with my four older siblings and jumping into huge snow drifts that formed beside the farmers fields and feeling such joy. My brothers would play war constantly, building up a strong support wall of snow and forming 50 odd snowballs of different sizes first behind it before pummelled their sisters or dear friends with snowball after snowball. It was a total war zone! I guess I had to be tough in a way growing up with three rowdy brothers. The problem always for me was the ‘after’ part of the snow play. When I would eventually reach home after hours outside, I would no longer be able to feel my fingers or toes and would have no feeling whatsoever on my face. I remember arriving home and banging on the back door with my arm frozen stiff by my side. With time, my mom’s face would appear in the screen door window and let me in. I would step in and freeze on the spot. My mother would slowly unravel me, layer by layer. I would be speechless in my frozen state. With no words exchanged, my mother would point to the couch where there was a huge, cozy blanket. I would curl up into the blanket and pray silently to be ‘warm’ again. At some point my mother would hand me a cup of tea or hot chocolate. This de-thawing period after playing outside on a cold wintry in Canada could literally take me up to two hours. My hands would be completely white and only when I saw pink again in my long, slender fingers would I know that, “Yes I am okay. I will be okay!” Years later as a teenager, I was even brave enough to run all winter long outside for my dedication to running demanded it. As usual, I would apply the same ‘layer-up’ strategy which included 2 extra pairs of socks, multiple gloves and 3-4 layers up top and on my legs. I accepted the process and the cold, for I wanted to be my best. During these growing up years, I often dreamt about moving to another county that did not have winter. Places like the Caribbean came to my mind. Glorious crystal clear water to swim in each day and no cold winters to deal with. Just perfect, I thought.
As a young 18 year old, one of my wishes for moving to a warm climate came true! I was accepted on a full athletic running scholarship to Wake Forest University in North Carolina. I knew before going on my recruiting trip, they didn’t have winter down there. Upon arrival in February (with not a snowflake insight), I said “Yes, I will come here!” Luckily for me, my coach and teammates were good people. But honestly the deciding factor for me was no darn Canadian winter. I loved running for four glorious warm years there!
After university, I did return to my home country of Canada and was excited to be back until the winter arrived once again. Like I should be surprised, when it does arrive each year right? I buckled down once again and started to layer up, just like when I was a kid. Some old lessons from childhood never die. I did escape our cold winter climate twice more in the next 12 years, by accepting a one year volunteer gig in Chile, South America and then a few years after, a one year teaching contract in New Zealand. Winters were relatively mild in those two countries. Loved both experiences immensely!
When I did return after each adventure I was still a suck about winter. Yet I was raised to not complain about being a Canuck and all. Parental phrases like, “tough it out,” and “suck it up” were common throughout my childhood. And tough it out, I did.
Fast forward a few years, and I was now married with two beautiful young sons Jesse and Thomas living in Toronto. I had been a teacher for 9 years and was teaching part time at a local private school. In the Spring of 2006, my husband came to me and told me he wanted to change careers and become a teacher like me. I was shocked! For he always told me he loved his current career of creating documentaries for t.v. and would often comment after attending a ‘teacher party’ with me, how deadly boring teachers were. Ha! So, like I said, his sudden announcement kinda caught me by surprise. When my husband graduated from teacher’s college in the spring of 2007, we were both looking for new teaching jobs. We had a job list. Top of the list for me was Australia. Top of the list for my husband was the Arctic. Pretty opposite, right? There were a couple of places in between like Calgary (cold winters), and Toronto, where we currently lived. Well, at the end of the interview process for all those places, the only place that offered us two full time teaching positions was....well you already know the answer to that question, the Arctic. I was in shock. I didn’t want to go. I just thought no way was I ever going to be warm there. I pleaded with my husband, “I am too skinny! It is way too cold!! It is way too remote for me and our sons!! Whah! Whah! Whah!” Nothing worked to dissuade him. Eight months of winter there. He was super excited to go. I dreaded it. When our contracts arrived by fax, my husband handed me the pen and said, “Sign it!!” and I begrudgingly said, ‘Well, okay. And if I die there of the cold, at least my family will be with me.``
I was now moving to the coldest place on earth. Oh dear god...how many layers was it going to take to be warm there?
Well, as you can see I did indeed survive my arctic years and actually agreed to go back each year for four consecutive years. Honestly, I fell in love with the breathtaking beauty of the tundra, the gorgeous sunrises, sunsets, the boreal lights and my students. Inuit people are incredibly gracious, open and loving people. They are the kind of people you put your trust in especially when you are on the land in -40oC weather. They know how to survive and have been doing so for thousands of years. So I relied on the ‘experts’ for handling the extreme cold weather in the arctic, my Inuit friends. I had to learn new strategies to tackle such extreme temperatures. These are the tricks I did learn:
#1 buy the warmest parka you can find with real fur to keep cold air out and warm air in (fashion and cost do not matter)
#2 buy locally made Inuit gloves made with real seal skin and fur to keep hands warm while on a ski-doo (the price is worth it!)
#3 cover all body parts, including eyes (googles) and nose (neck warmer) at all times (you have to defog the googles every now and then)
#4 wear four layers up top (undershirt, turtleneck, long sleeve, fleece) three layers on the bottom (long johns, fleece sweatpants, snow pants) and 2-3 pairs of merino wool socks
#5 buy winter boots that say good for -50 oC, they do exist!
#6 eat lots of hot food before, during and after your time outdoors, for our bodies are burning energy always when cold
#7 drink hot tea all day when out on the land (any kind!)
#8 eat seal oil with your fish (couldn’t stomach that one!)
#9 always ski-doo or ski to an area where there is a tent to warm up in
#10 watch the clouds all day long, for you will lose visibility in a storm to find shelter and thus never be warm ever again
My good friend from Newfoundland had another survival trick to stay warm in the arctic:
#11 Put rum in your tea and you will feel warm from head to toe (really works!)
And lastly...one I would like to add is:
#12 Pray for sunshine on a -40oC temperature day, for the sun makes it more bearable and tolerable and more breath-taking
So if you ever decide to go to the most gorgeous coldest place on this planet, the arctic...at least my list will help you prepare. Remember, if a ‘suck’ such as myself can survive living there for four whole years, then undoubtedly, so you can too!