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Alert, Nunavut, Canada on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island is the northernmost inhabited community on earth. The North Pole is only 508 miles away.
The community was named after the HMS Alert, the first ship to reach the north end of Ellesmere Island in 1875. Originally an Inuit community, Alert now houses Canadian Forces Station Alert, a weather station, a Global Atmosphere Watch laboratory, and an airport. There are also five permanent residents.
Daylight and darkness in Alert are five months long. In the month between those periods, the sun bobs above and below the horizon, giving the illusion of normal days, even though the length of daylight and darkness varies. Temperatures reach above freezing only in July and August. In winter, temperatures around -40 °C are considered normal.
CFS Alert
Canadian Forces Station Alert is an intelligence signal receiving station. In its heyday, CFS Alert had a crew of over 200 people at a time. In the mid 90s, it was converted to remote-control operations, and the staff has been reduced to a crew of 74. They call themselves “The Frozen Chosen.” The Canadian government is gradually turning over some of the operations at Alert to private contractors. Learn more about the technical operations at CFS Alert here.
Military doctors note that new arrivals at CFS Alert invariably gained weight. The food is reported to be excellent, and commanding officers encourage personnel to become socially active. One source of entertainment is CHAR 105.9FM, the base radio station. Shown are Derek Gauthier and Eric Payne on air in 2004.
Airport
The Alert Airport is served by military flights only. Supplies for Alert are brought in from the US Air Force base in Thule, Greenland during Operation Boxtop. Twice a year, cargo planes bring in 267,000 imperial gallons of fuel and 738,000 pounds of supplies. Last fall, three Canadian CC-130s and one civilian C-130 were in operation 24 hours a day delivering load after load of supplies to Alert.
There have been two fatal air crashes in the Alert area. In 1950, as the first weather station was set up, an RCAF Lancaster brought in supplies to be dropped by parachute. The chute became entangled in the plane’s tail, leading to a crash. All nine crew members died and were buried near the Alert airstrip. In 1991, a C-130 cargo plane running an Operation Boxtop supply flight crashed about 30 kilometers short of Alert. Four crew members died in the crash, the pilot died while waiting for rescue, and 13 survived. A 1993 movie, Ordeal in the Arctic, tells the story of that crash.
GAW
Alert also has the Dr. Neil Trivett Global Atmosphere Watch Observatory. The GAW laboratory monitors background concentrations of trace gasses. It is an official greenhouse gas comparison site, measuring changes in the atmosphere over time. It’s a cool place to work.
Nature
As cold as it is, Alert is not completely barren. Wildlife includes muskoxen, arctic hares, foxes, caribou, birds, and wolves. They’re drawn to the fresh water of Dumbell Lake, which also supplies water to Alert. Vegetation is limited to plants that will flourish during the months of July and August, then survive over winter.
Anniversary
The first weather station was established at Alert in 1950. The Canadian military took over operations and established the signal receiving station in 1958. The 50th anniversary of Sigint (signal intelligence) was celebrated last September with a reunion of Alert veterans.
You’ll find a lot more on Alert by following the highlighted links. Also, watch a couple of videos give you an idea of what Alert is like in summer and the rest of the year.
See also: The Coldest Places on Earth
Comments (11)
Comment
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Great article! I love learning about unique places.
P.S. The Wikipedia article you linked to lists Alert as being 817 kilometers, or 508 miles (not 817 miles) from the North Pole.
posted by HeyBeckyJ on 3-31-2009 at 8:50 am
Thanks for that, HeyBeckyJ! I’ll fix.
posted by Miss Cellania on 3-31-2009 at 9:11 am
Nice to see this, Miss Cellania! My fiance spent a couple summers serving at CFS Alert, and he’s got some pretty amazing photos, and stories to tell about how the guys manage to pass the time up there. Let’s just say that beer contributes to the residents’ inevitable weight gain as much as the food!
He also saw plenty of wildlife–has a video of one of his co-workers running scared from an arctic wolf, across the tundra towards the safety of a truck! It’s pretty amazing to see what DOES manage to survive in those harsh elements.
The fiance was very moved by the monument to those who died in the crashed planes. The wreckage is still there, you can wander right into the twisted fuselage and see how far the parts were strewn. He says the only thing worse than having to fly up there in a Hercules is dying up there in a Hercules.
Oh, and they have a bowling alley!
posted by Kikadee on 3-31-2009 at 11:43 am
I was wondering why you gave the temperature at the top in Celsius. Then I remembered that it wouldn’t matter, since -40 is the only temperature that has the same value in the Farhenheit and Celsius scales!
posted by Jon on 3-31-2009 at 12:01 pm
Jon, that’s one thing I learned from the earlier post about the coldest places on earth. Now I can convert C to F in my head when it’s cold, but I don’t do so well when it’s hot!
posted by Miss Cellania on 3-31-2009 at 12:37 pm
Who are the crazy people who would live there permanently?!?!?!
posted by Anthony on 3-31-2009 at 12:45 pm
Anthony, right on.
I’m wondering how they get newspapers and little things, like coffee filters and tampons. The hunting is probably not great, how do they get food? I can’t imagine what you would do with most of your days if it’s too cold to go outside.
I’ve concluded that each resident orders in Pizza Hut everynight and play World of Warcraft all day.
The end.
posted by holly on 3-31-2009 at 6:47 pm
I didn’t find any information on the permanent residents. It’s possible they could be military, like maybe the commanding officers. Or maybe the director of the lab and family. That information came from the census bureau.
posted by Miss Cellania on 3-31-2009 at 7:40 pm
Canadian Forces Station Alert is manned by the Canadian military. Some of them–the “permanent residents”–used to serve there for a full year, but I think now the maximum stay is six months. They’re even awarded a badge, medal or commendation of some description at the end of their rotation, and are proud to be among “The Frozen Chozen.” The Canadian government arranges to have supplies flown in (via Thule, Greenland) and as for what they do all day, they’re usually working. At least, as a taxpayer I sure hope they are! On occasion, they’ll hire private contractors, so civilians sometimes make it up there, too. It’s got a pretty decent cafeteria, by all accounts, a gym, bowling alley, but yeah, it’s definitely not a four-star resort. Looking at my fiance’s pictures from when he served up there last summer, the decor is stuck somewhere in the early 1970s: wood panelling and bright orange curtains. As for tampons … well … let’s just say if you’re a single lady, maybe CFS Alert is the place for you. Fiance reported about three women to seventy+ men : ) I assume they bring their own feminine hygiene products.
posted by Kikadee on 4-1-2009 at 3:10 pm
Sorry to burst the myth but there are NO permanent residents in Alert. DOE pers have spent up to 13 or 14 months in Alert at a time however. I spent six months up there on my first tour to Alert and a year on my second/third tour. I’d go back again tomorrow if I could. The 2009 Alert reunion is this month in Leitrim outside Ottawa. I was lucky to attend the 50th anniversary reunion last fall. My best to all Alertites and to all my fellow Zooites.
-David-
posted by David on 7-10-2009 at 1:27 pm
Very interesting! Until a couple of days ago, I did not even know this place existed. I would love to see it myself someday, just so I can say I’ve been there – except I don’t know how that would be possible.
I bet it’s an awfully long plane ride too!
posted by John on 11-2-2009 at 11:42 pm