![]() We met for dinner, and our common interests in working in austere environments, wilderness medicine, and both of us being military veterans allowed us to click. He was working in that region as the health and safety consultant for a wilderness survival television series. Checking into the same small hotel in a remote town that did not see many foreign visitors during the year, was Andrew Wood (Woody). My small team had to return from our fieldwork a little early because the valleys were snowed in too much for access. It was at the end of that fieldwork that I met someone who would become a great friend and new colleague for different work to which I could apply my background in conservation and wilderness medicine. I returned for another season with those partners in 2016 and then for a third snow leopard survey with Green Initiative NGO in 2017 to aid with reconnaissance in the Altai Mountains. The same can be said for many other environments of remote field sites.ĭuring my last semester of my master’s program in 2014, I had the privilege of working with Mongolian Academy of Sciences and Irbis Mongolia to survey for snow leopards and interview herders about conflict with snow leopards and wolves. The home of snow leopards is beautiful in an ethereal, otherworldly way, but it is also incredibly unforgiving for the unprepared and complacent. This is particularly true for field sites that are many hours from a hospital, when teammates may not all speak the same language to properly express concerns, and communication is unpredictable depending on signal availability. As breathtaking as the environment is and as important as recording data is, safety should always be a priority. Snowstorms and avalanches can strike at any time, and terrain features hidden under snow can be deceiving to walk upon and potentially fatal. Altitude sickness is a possibility that does not discriminate between prior mountain experience or fitness levels. The temperature in the winter can drop below -40 degrees Celsius and requires a layering system to avoid sweating while hiking and staying warm while resting or during data collection. Outside of applying scientific field methods, there is everyday camp life to consider that may not have the best hygiene practices. I think of my past snow leopard sites and focus beyond an often-romanticized experience of camping in a ger or tent and hiking up glittering snow-covered valleys and ridges to follow where an elusive big cat has tread.
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