Description

The Nunavik Arctic Survival Training Centre (NASTC) is the leading provider of survival training and adventure travel in Arctic Canada. As well as providing adventure tourism packages for people from around the globe, NASTC provides world-class training for survival techniques in Arctic conditions. They train Air Inuit pilots, the Canadian Armed Forces, police officers and rangers, and the Puvirnituq Search and Rescue team.

Conditions can be life threatening in the North and search and rescue teams cannot always rely on GPS and modern technology, instead, they are taught the traditional navigational methods of their ancestors. However, rescuers cannot always reach those who are stranded, and turning to the south for help can be costly and time-consuming.

François Blanchard is an instructor at the Voltige parachuting school in Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes. He is training the Puvirnituq Search and Rescue team, so that they can learn how to reach and rescue people stranded in remote areas. These young Inuit have taken control of their lives and relish their role model status.