WHILE many of her friends will be sunning themselves in Magaluf this summer, Nadia Couvert is heading to the Arctic.

The 18-year-old will be swapping sun cap for woolly hat and travelling to Greenland to undertake a month-long expedition with the British Schools

Nadia, who is one of triplets in her family, was inspired by a school assembly presentation about a trip to the Amazon. ‘I looked on the website and saw the Arctic Adventure trip studying climate change, which I think is an important issue at the moment,’ said the Hautlieu student, who will soon embark on a gap year. ‘It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

‘My sisters have been really supportive and so have my friends, although some of them think it’s a bit strange that I want to do something like this when they are planning to go to Magaluf, but I’d rather be up a mountain than in a nightclub.’

Nadia will leave for Greenland next July after completing her A-level studies in biology, psychology and chemistry and her AS-level in business studies. The planned expedition with world-renowned leaders will involve three phases: science, trekking, and mountaineering. The science phase will build on long-term work in the area, including geology, survey work, glacial studies, ornithology and invertebrates.

The treks will explore the mountains in challenging journeys along ridges and through valleys to discover rarely visited areas. Mountaineering will put the group to the test after they are trained in techniques such as crevasse rescue to take on multi-day journeys on the glaciers.

To go on the trip, Nadia needs to raise £4,000 to cover transport, food, accommodation, equipment and safety costs and is already a quarter of the way there thanks to donations from the Hautlieu Trust and the JEC. She was hoping to boost that total with a table-top sale at St Brelade’s Parish Hall last Saturday and by working two evenings a week at the Co-op and her Saturday at Lloyds Pharmacy. In addition, she is organising sponsored events which complement her training, including a round-the-Island walk.

‘I think physical fitness is going to be the first challenge, and living in tents with the same people for five weeks will be the next, but I’m really looking forward to meeting like-minded people and making the most of this opportunity,’ she said

• Interested sponsors can e-mail Nadia on n.couvert98@ hautlieu.sch.je.
• Picture: Nadia Couvert. Picture by Tony Pike (00599854)