BFS' first British Expat on the Winter Roads

In March 2007, I was given the opportunity to go on the Winter Roads. This entails moving building materials and the such to the Northern Reservations. The only way that these goods can get there is by Winter Road or by air.

Because of this, when the winter is here, there tracks which are groomed and ploughed through the forests and swamps. Where there are creeks to cross, they fell trees and put them in the water, then they use fire pumps to pump water on top which then freezes between and atop the trees creating a bridge. They put flags to mark them.

The lakes are also part of the roads. Once the lakes ice up, they send snowmobiles out to compact the snow. Then they use small vehicles and gradually increase the sizes until they are running dozers and graders. They also pump water on there to increase the thickness and to keep a shine on the surface to slow melting.

Eventually, the ice is nearly three feet thick and they run trucks across the lakes. This is how we get to the reserves.

Of all the jobs I have done in Canada, this gave me the biggest buzz. This is one of the riskiest jobs on the planet, according to lore, anyway. You are actually crossing lakes with 36 tonne trucks. Once you leave the staging point, in our case, Pickle Lake, you are on your own. You travel with at least one other most of the time, as getting stuck is an occupational hazard. You have snowchains on from start to finish. The weather can be brutal. It got as low as -55 celsius so you could hear trees bursting at night. There are no facilities of any sort. No radio stations, nothing, and the roads are so rough that CDs won't work.

I took a gas stove, coffee percolator, pots and pans, lots of water and canned/dried food, along with fresh meat and a small gas barbecue. We had cookups beside the road and coffee was always being brewed as there are not many places where you can stop.

It was really interesting to see that it is "All for one and one for all!" up there. You helped anyone who was in trouble. If someone got stuck then everyone mucked in to dig them out and tow them free.

The link below shows where we went.