AESOP: Better Late Than Never

By AESOP Leader George Merrill

I didn’t manage to get my first taste of AESOP until I was half way through my Bates career. I entered Bates as a transfer student during the spring semester of my freshman year, which meant that I was not able to go on a trip. It wasn’t long before wished I had gotten the opportunity to be a part of this awesome student run program. Even during the spring semester, new friends were asking me which trip I was on and who my leaders were. It quickly became apparent that AESOP is a critical part of the Bates culture as something that builds connections, friendships, and a love for adventure right from the start.

As a sophomore last winter I was still thinking about AESOP. Luckily I found a co-leader for my junior fall, my ticket into the AESOP experience. Late one night while reminiscing about our experiences on NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) courses with my friends Franny and Sarah we somehow figured out that Franny and I had one of the same leaders on both our trips. He was named Fil. A soft spoken IT guy from the Boston area who really showed us both the importance of working closely with other people in harsh and unusual environments. Franny and I realized that this was something that we too were passionate about. Having learned from our own outdoor experiences that nothing brings people together like sleeping in a pile under a tarp in the rain or sitting in a circle and big spooning the rest of a seemingly bottomless mac n cheese pot, we decided we wanted to pursue AESOP as a way to meet new people and pass along what others had shared with us.

After stressing about the AESOP leader application and showing up to our interview unnecessarily overwhelmed, we were given a trip! The next fall we both learned just how cool AESOP really is. We spent a week preparing with everything from sorting out food, to getting WFA certified, to going on our leader trip, one of the biggest perks of being a leader. At the end of the week, the new students arrived and we began our awkward introductions featuring the most pleasantly uncomfortable games such as pterodactyl and mingle. The following day we pushed off with an embarrassing assortment of middle school jams playing on the stereo in the van. Our drive took us about two hours to Pinkham Notch at the foot of Mount Washington where we would begin our hike across a section of the Presidential Traverse.

Like many new groups of people, we were all a little quiet at first as we talked about life at Bates and past hiking experiences on our way up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail. The group got even quieter as we neared the summit of Mount Washington. A thick fog had set in and we were greeted with howling winds and freezing rain at the top. Very few words were spoken as we hurried down the alpine garden on the backside of the mountain. Since the weather looked a little ominous, we all agreed that it would be best to take a lower route around all of the peaks we had planned for the day. Then, just as we reached the foot of Mount Clay, our next summit, the sun broke through the clouds. Everyone’s mood seemed to lift up a bit and we enthusiastically decided to go back to our original plan and gain some more elevation, good views, and summit Sour Patch Kids.

That night at the Valley Way tentsite we got a chance to look back upon our eventful day. Our group had a broad range of hiking experience under their belts, yet everyone felt accomplished, having climbed New England’s highest mountain and having already met cool new people before the semester had even started.

It was clear that everyone’s comfort levels changed over the course of our four day trip to the Whites. Many of the people in the group started the trip unsure of their hiking abilities and what Bates had in store for them, but we all headed back to Bates feeling accomplished and ready to start the school year. I think that transition is what I like most about the AESOP experience.

Greetings from Svalbard!

Hola AESOPers past and future!

Despite that potentially confusing Spanglish greeting above, I am spending this semester abroad in
Svalbard.  Where/what is Svalbard you ask?  It is an island archipelago north of Norway sitting just shy of the 80th parallel.  The archipelago is technically international territory but it is administered and governed by Norway.  The islands are home to three towns totaling around 3,000 inhabitants and as many Polar Bears. I am living in the largest of these three towns, Longyearbyen with a population of 2,500. Svalbard has three primary industries: coal mining (the reason for the contemporary settlements and infrastructure), tourism, and research.  I am here for the latter of the three. Longyearbyen is home to the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), the northern most university in the world.  UNIS is not a full university but rather, works in conjunction with the Norwegian university system to provide supplementary field-intensive courses in arctic biology, technology, geophysics, and geology at the bachelors, masters, and PHD levels.  I am enrolled in the geology courses for the spring semester which will take me on several multi-day field-work expeditions to the surrounding area via snowmobile (or snow scooter as they are called up here).

Now that you have a taste for Svalbard and UNIS on paper let me tell you about my personal experience thus far.  I am currently sitting in my room located in a refurbished miners’ barrack at the edge of town about a 2 mile walk from UNIS.  It’s pitch black outside and has been since I arrived on January 12th… but it wouldn’t make much difference because the winds are blowing sustained at approximately 35 mph and there is lots of snow here and no trees so that equals white out.  I hear some of you folks that live in the Boston area might be familiar with this from only a few weeks ago.  However, this storm has no name and no media coverage.  On my walk home from school I observed people tempered by life in such a harsh environment.  Despite barely being able to see my feet I witnessed kids playing in the snow (yes there are kids here, lots of them in fact. Lonyearbyen has three separate kindergartens.)  Two of them were burying another one up to his neck in snow much like you would on a beach in Florida.  Through my goggles I could see all three smiling ear to ear. Daily life ticks at a similar rhythm and tone as it does at lower latitudes despite the harsh and unpredictable conditions.  Much to my surprise the town has many amenities such as six bars, a sport hall with a climbing wall and a swimming pool, and a small hospital.  However, this is in stark contrast to the world a few hundred yards outside of town.  As soon as you leave the town limits you must travel with a rifle and a flare gun for polar bear protection.  There are two glaciers within walking distance of my barrack.  Using back-country skis it’s easy to ski up to some neighboring peaks, cruise down the glacier and back to my front door all before lunch.

Right now we are starting to gain light.  We get some blue twilight for a couple hours around midday.  Each time I head up the glacier to a vantage point above the valleys a little more of the island reveals itself to me.  It’s like eating the best pizza you ever had and never having to worry about there
being a last slice.  One particular day describes some of the unique opportunities here.  Last weekend I slept in a snow cave Saturday night, walked the few hundred yards to my barrack, ate breakfast, skied up to the top of Larsbreen (one of the neighboring glaciers), explored a meltwater ice-cave system, skied home, ate a quick dinner, climbed for two hours at the sport hall, and finished off with a spontaneous waffle party in my barrack.

Despite all the adventures, fun people I’ve met, and exploring yet to come there is one thing I am more excited about… AESOP 2015!!!!  I am lucky to have the best co-coordinators on earth holding down the fort at Bates while I’m gone.  Interviews have already finished up and it sounds it was a pretty competitive year, but we have found our A-team of 102 leaders! I haven’t been completely idle.  Last week the queen of Norway came to an open history seminar at UNIS (completely serious).  I am currently engaged in talks with her and the rest of the royal family about establishing AESOP trips on Svalbard.  I’ll be sure to keep ya updated!

Ooh and I’ve seen the northern lights a few times.  Incredible.

Until next time,

Jordan