Divided into two groups, 25 in the first week of September and 26 in the second, the candidates (scientists and technicians of different universities, research institutions and companies) prepared themselves for the next mission in Antarctica, the thirtieth, which will start in the middle October with the opening of the Mario Zucchelli base and with the turnover of personnel who spent the long polar winter at the Italian-French Concordia station.
The staff, before taking the course at high altitude, followed a week of training organized by ENEA (National Agency for New Technologies, Energy, and Environmental Economic Development), and with the competition of mountaineering instructors of the Alpine Army Training Center at the ENEA Research Center Brasimone (BO).
It was not a novelty, but a synergy that had already been tested and was in force for over fifteen years.
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Under the expert guidance of the army instructors of the ski mountaineering section of the sports activity department, highly specialized in the mountaineering field and many of them qualified mountain guides, the scholars have carried out a tough period of survival training in a mountain environment during which, in addition to in theoretical lessons - rescue practices in mountain environment and first aid, they lived and worked in a high mountain environment, on a glacier and in conditions of isolation.
The scientific staff has been divided into homogeneous groups, based on the basic physical preparation and what will then be used in Antarctica, and have trained in camps located near the Piccolo San Bernardo Pass (altitude 2000 m. Approx. ) and on the Colle del Gigante in the Mont Blanc district (altitude 3400 m. approx.). Many of them will find themselves carrying out their research, as well as in the “M. ZUCCHELLI ”of Baia Terra Nova, in the internal remote bases and, therefore, in extreme weather and isolation conditions; for this reason their training took place in areas with difficult climatic - environmental characteristics.
Also this year, the departing scientific expedition will include two non-commissioned officers qualified mountain guides from the Alpine training center of the Courmayeur army, who will provide their technical skills for safety during movements and stationing in remote bases, in the tightness of connections and the use of special snow vehicles.
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Source: Army Majority Staff
