Australia Weather News

As Arno Payan looks out over the frozen landscape, he is aware the sunny conditions could turn into a dangerous blizzard in a matter of minutes.

"The biggest issue would be losing visibility," the field training officer says.

"So, you could easily become disorientated, and you could possibly walk off, or drive off an ice cliff."

Another threat in Antarctica is exposure to the cold.

"The longer you're outside, the colder you can get if you're not careful," he says.

"That's mainly what's going kill you."

Mr Payan is one of a handful of survival specialists based at Casey Station, Australia's largest permanent base in Antarctica.

Their role is to provide safety and logistical support to expeditioners working in one of the most hostile environments on the planet.

"We can safely and efficiently take people out into this incredible environment, which is beautiful, but [it] can be extremely dangerous as well," he said.

Testing sea ice before walking on it

Today, Mr Payan is guiding a group of expeditioners on a field trip to a remote penguin colony at the Swain Islands, north of Casey Station.

To get there, they need to cross a 2-kilometre section of sea ice.

But in the middle of summer, there is a risk the sea ice could be dangerously thin.

"If you're not careful, you could just walk on the bad ice, or thin ice, and fall through," Mr Payan says.

To safely walk on it, the sea ice needs to be at least 20 centimetres thick.

To find out, Mr Payan pulls out a specialised drill from his pack and begins to bore a narrow hole into the ice.

The drill confirms the ice is more than 50cm thick.

"I'm very comfortable [with that]," he says.

But as an additional precaution, he shows the group how to rescue someone with a rope in the unlikely event the ice gives way.

There is also a demonstration by one of his colleagues on how to use an ice axe to escape from the chilly water in a worst-case scenario.

"If you were to fall through the ice, you are going to use that axe to just pretty much claw your way out," he says.

"The water is hovering down below zero degrees, so quite cold."

Once the safety lessons are done, the group heads to its destination to observe hordes of Adelie penguins on the nearby islands.

Training develops 'situation awareness'

Field training officers in the Australian Antarctic Program have several key roles.

Firstly, they conduct search and rescue operations in the event of an emergency.

They also provide support for remote scientific missions and recreational field trips.

And they teach all incoming expeditioners critical survival skills.

The mandatory training ranges from navigation and polar first aid to rescuing people from crevasses.

The expeditioners also have to build temporary snow shelters and sleep overnight in a bivvy bag — a lightweight, waterproof and windproof sack.

"What [the training] does, is it makes people predictable," field training officer Kate Tucker says.

"And it clues people into the situational awareness that they need to have to live in Antarctica."

Mitigating risks in a place with ever-present dangers

Antarctica's challenging conditions have resulted in fatal accidents and injuries involving a range of international expedition programs, including Australia's, over many years.

Some personnel have succumbed to hypothermia.

Others have been involved in plane crashes linked to poor visibility.

There have also been incidents where expeditioners have vanished without a trace during blizzards.

To reduce the risks, all Australian expeditioners are kitted out with survival clothing to handle temperatures that can fall well below -30 degrees Celsius during winter.

Expeditioners must also carry additional survival gear, including sleeping mats, bivvy bags and sleeping bags, whenever they travel beyond the limits of the station.

"There's everything that you need to treat hypothermia," Mr Payan says.

Despite the ever-present dangers, Ms Tucker says it is essential that expeditioners are able to work in the polar region to undertake critical research and operations.

"It is about mitigating the risk," she says.

"But the risks are worth us being here to understand this place.

"This is what we need to do to understand it so we can value it, and we can protect it."