MOUNTAIN LIFE - Coast Mountains | Fall Winter 2019

83 Practical jokes aside, education and bringing people along on her experiences is a large part of the expedition process for Sorby. On her latest project, Hearts in the Ice (HITI), she is joining longtime friend Hilde Falun Strøm to spend nine months over-wintering at Bamsebu—a remote 20-metre square trapper’s cabin at roughly 78 degrees north in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. The pair are working on six citizen science projects, some of which will be mirrored simultaneously in the Antarctic by an Antarctic tourism company who Sorby works for. From opposite ends of the planet, both teams are gathering atmospheric observations of the auroras for NASA, collecting phytoplankton, checking sea water salinity, and collecting garbage among other observations. In addition to their day-to-day survival Sorby and Strøm have the added adventure of dealing with curious polar bears. And for Sorby, connecting her Arctic studies and adventures to students from all over the world remains a major goal. Now that it’s 2019, however, she’s connected to the outside world through an MCD Mission Link, a satellite command centre compact enough to fit into a small Pelican case. Thanks to billions of dollars invested into upgrading their satellites, Iridium technology now enables complete communication from pole to pole for the first time in history. Because of HITI, a number of different tech companies are talking to each other, working together and realizing the value of regular people in this new global connectivity piece. “The ability to bring classrooms on six continents into our Arctic experience is a powerful tool,” Sorby says. “It’s a great platform to be able to learn from each other and understand that climate change is very different for kids living in Bangladesh compared to those in Brackendale.” Leveraging databanks from the expedition partner Royal Canadian Geographic Society (RCGS) and other sponsors, Sorby and Strøm have established a pre-set schedule so schools (and anyone interested) can tune in to a bi-monthly live webcast from the Arctic heroines speaking on different issues and themes that relate to the Arctic, climate change, and their various science projects. This is another world first as live-streaming broadcasts have never been possible at such high latitudes. “It’s not all serious science and survival,” remarks Sorby. “We wanted to make sure that we have an experience, have some fun, and keep our femininity. We are bringing a nice dress for New Years, I have Christmas presents for Hilde, and we even have an underwear sponsor on board!” As far as technology has come, Sorby admits that without the ability to do laundry for nine months, traditional fabrics like wool and down are still the best for polar expeditions because of their natural anti-microbial properties. A lot has changed since Sorby’s expeditions in the '90s but, for her, the essence of adventure remains the same—it’s about the experience first and foremost. So, despite having some of the most technologically-advanced gear available, Sorby is still creating boundaries around connectivity. “The main difference between the South Pole expedition and HITI is that we have the ability and obligations to connect and share. And while that is a big part of the overarching goal, the main goal is still to disconnect. It would be very easy to just cut and paste our lives back home and bring it all up to Bamsebu, but saying goodbye to comforts, routines and to-do lists enables us to say hello to something greater. And really, that’s what it’s all about.” Follow along with the Hearts In The Ice expedition at heartsintheice.com LEFT Hilde Falun Strøm RIGHT At 20 square metres, Bamsebu is the coziest of cozy Arctic refuges. COURTESY HITI PROJECT DATABASE The first device to be widely nicknamed a " walkie-talkie " was developed by the US military during World War II—the backpacked Motorola SCR-300.