Firefighters from Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service have returned from a week’s intensive ‘Artic’ training with the Royal Marines.
The trip was to help the team prepare for their expedition to ‘Deadly Denali’ the highest mountain in North America later on this year. The team is hoping to raise a substantial amount of money for the Fire Fighters Charity. During the trip to Mjolfell, Norway, the team were given training on avalanche recognition and rescue, survival in Arctic conditions, how to build snow holes, cross country skiing and crevasse rescue. Firefighter Andy Topham who is the Expedition Co-ordinator said: “We felt very privileged to train with the Royal Marines, who have a wealth of experience in extreme conditions survival. The training was very intense, we had to live in arduous and freezing conditions, it was all good preparation though for the main expedition, which will be even tougher.” The main expedition to Mount Denali in Alaska will take place from May 6-27. The team will be climbing 20,320 feet to the mountain’s peak in conditions of -350C.
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