| Grouse Fire Online! |
|
Welcome to the AK1 team and many congratulations on being selected! My guess is that as a result your Life will be different now ………and forever!
As Chief Leader, I will be responsible for your health, welfare and safety, from the moment you leave Gatwick Airport on 21st July until you return there 42 ( + 1) days later on 3rd Sept. Fifteen other leaders will help me, some you will come to know very well as they will be your "Fire" Leaders for six weeks. This is my ninth BSES expedition ( and I've done others!) and the thrill of exploring wild places in company with like minded friends never leaves me. I began planning AK1 as I flew home after AK99, which itself was conceived as a result of AK95 and AK85. The expedition was proposed to BSES Council late in 1999 and I completed a recce last summer. By the time we give our record of the Expedition to your parents, sponsors and friends in the RGS next January, it will have been with me for well over 2 ½ years.
As an experienced expedition leader I know the commitment YEs have before, during and after an expedition. As a parent – both my sons ( and daughter-in-law!) were Yes – and as a Head Teacher, I am acutely aware of the other pressures upon you, such as external examinations, etc. Can I assure you that it WILL be worth the effort in the long run. Raising the finance may appear an insurmountable problem at the moment, but there is help available in the form of advice and guidance which will help YOU to raise the money. It is not easy, it will require a great deal of effort and a real commitment, but very few YEs have failed to raise the financial contribution.
"A" Levels and Highers are of course vitally important to your life chances and in securing a place in Higher Education, but so are an appropriate personality, a set of valuable experiences, and confidence. Striking a balance is the most important thing. You will have to work hard at your "A" levels or Highers, but no harder because you are going to Alaska. Fund raising and preparation for your expedition can fit into the free time you plan between bouts of studying. The receipt of your examination results may be a concern. BSES Alaska 2001 returns to the UK on 3rd Sept, sometime after the results have been published. This is a problem! Especially if you have not been as successful as you would have preferred, but much more of a problem if you have not identified a strategy in the unfortunate event of this happening. There is time between returning and eventually going to H.Ed so your plan should identify the preferred course of action and anyone can begin to action this on your behalf. In other words, there are ways of overcoming this particular problem. Incidentally University selectors have been known to concentrate on your up-coming expedition at interview and in the final selection process. "A" Levels or Highers are important make no mistake, but put their importance into perspective in your total Life.
Just in case you are not aware, all expeditions are composed of three equally important parts: the preparation, the six-week expedition itself, and the follow-up. To get the maximum benefit from the total experience, you must not think of your time in Alaska as being the total experience, there are two other parts.
You will very quickly appreciate that a BSES Expedition is not an activity holiday. Neither is it a quick fix, nor is it immediate gratification. It is however, a valuable experience which will probably influence you for the remainder of your life, and it is being offered at a time when it could be fundamental to your future. There are many experiences, skills, values and attitudes which you will collect from the total expedition experience, some will be planned for and others unplanned – for example, raising the necessary contribution is likely to provide you with added or different confidence, letter writing competence, presentation skills, lecturing ability, selling and marketing pointers, and so on. It is YOUR expedition, make the most of it from now on.
Some interesting/entertaining facts about Alaska Alaska is enormous – check it out in an Atlas – it is one fifth of the size of the whole of the "lower 48" (USA) and bigger than the UK, France and most of Germany put together. Travel in Alaska is easiest by plane and most difficult by foot(!!) Alaskan prices are high, as almost everything has to be imported. About half a million people live in Alaska, half of whom live in Anchorage!
Summers in Alaska can be likened to a UK Spring or Autumn, but the time when we are in Alaska is the rainy season – you have been warned! Nevertheless, Fairbanks has a continental climate so it could be dry and hot!? But the White Mountains have a local climate – confused!? In other words, be prepared for anything! Oh, and there are 30 different kinds of stinging ad biting insect (none deadly!) ranging from bees, wasps, horse-flies, flies, mosquitoes and "no-see-ums"(midges), all waiting to feast on YOU.
BSES Alaska 01 will be great! I know because I have taken over 300 people to the State and have visited AK more than ten times before. The Leader team are experienced and will be well prepared. I know a memorable experience awaits you – begin the planning and be enthused!
I am planning that the activities, the science and exploration will include – a Long March (more about this later), a wilderness river float (inflatable raft), lots of high level hiking, crossing fast flowing rivers, finding a way through (almost) impenetrable "bush", climbing peaks higher than Ben Nevis, discovering new trails (footpaths), and benefiting the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) – the authority which administers the lands on which we will be living and working. It will not always be exciting, it will however always be challenging but not necessarily in a physical sense. Your Fire colleagues will become much closer than mere friends and you will rely upon them considerable. You WILL be different when you get home having benefited from a significant life experience.
See you at the Briefing at Easter and I'll have more to tell.