Mild winter "gorgeous" for Nunavut carpenter

Of all the clothing Graysen Adamache packed in his duffle bag for his eight-week stay in Vermilion, the item he's worn the least is his winter jacket.

“I’ve only worn it once. It was the last week in November when it snowed. It’s gorgeous here,” says Adamache, an apprentice carpenter taking his fourth period of technical training at Lakeland College.

The 30-year-old works for Kikiak Contracting in Kugluktuk, Nunavut, a hamlet of 1,400 people on the shore of the Arctic Ocean. He completed two apprenticeship training periods at Aurora College in Fort Smith, N.W.T, and one at NAIT in Edmonton.

“I wanted to try a different college for my last training period. I looked online for different schools and I liked what I read about Lakeland. The fact that it’s in a small town and that I could walk everywhere was important so I decided to register,” says Adamache.

He’s glad he did. “Everyone is very friendly here and the instructors are very informative and helpful. I also like the carpentry shop – it’s top notch.”

The married father of four children communicates almost daily with his wife and family via Skype. He’s not gotten involved in campus life at Lakeland as his focus is on doing well in classes and learning as much as possible. “I have a lot of material to cover in eight weeks. I have the provincial exam to write on Dec. 18 and then the interprovincial (Red Seal) exam on Dec. 19 and then I’m done my training,” says Adamache.

While he’s enjoyed Vermilion’s mild winter temperatures, his family is coping with frigid temperatures that have dropped as low as -50 C. And it’s only going to get worse. “I take my training in the fall because my wife wants me at home in January and February when it can get as cold as -65 C,” he says.

But even when the temperature is that cold, the lifelong Kugluktuk resident still loves doing carpentry projects outside. “It could be -55 C and I’d still be working outside. I love what I do and I like being outside,” says Adamache, whose hobbies include snowmobiling and hunting caribou, moose and muskox.

There’s no shortage of work in the north for Kikiak Contracting. “We are pretty much the only company in town that builds intensive construction projects like houses and businesses,” says Adamache, who does everything from framing a house to finishing work. He also runs heavy equipment so he can transport materials to the work site.

One of the many projects waiting for him when he gets home is building a set of circular stairs for a friend. “I knew we were learning how to build circular stairs during this training period so I can go back and complete that project for him,” says Adamache.

Meticulous project planning is essential as materials for the year arrive via a barge during the summer months. Supplies can be flown in throughout the year but that quickly gets expensive. As for his family, they do most of their shopping online using Canada Post for delivery. “We have all of the amenities that everyone else does; we’re just a lot farther north.”

In Photo: Graysen Adamache at work in Lakeland College's carpentry lab.