Soldiers have begun setting up a base camp just outside Yellowknife for Exercise Arctic Ram, which starts Feb. 14.

The Canadian Forces have taken over part of the sand pits off Highway 3, a popular recreational area for Yellowknifers.

An advance party of 60 soldiers drove from Edmonton, with stops in Peace River, Alta., and Hay River, N.W.T., and another 210 are expected over the weekend to set up support for the 1,500 military personnel that will be in the Tlicho region next month.

“We're setting up the work areas for when the main group comes in and we're able to supply them with food and accommodations,” said Master Warrant Officer Douglas Pettie, sergeant major for the camp and the exercise’s Forward Support Group.

“The main basis of this exercise is to test our men and equipment and our clothing in the north, because we're normally in a much more southern wintertime climate, and it’s definitely very cold here.

“It’s a good test for everybody, both our equipment and our men.”

Pettie said the cold was slowing them down and so far they had found the rubberized material for their tents doesn’t unfold well and is difficult to sew together in low temperatures. But he added the soldiers were getting their jobs done.

“For what we’ve got, and the conditions with the weather, we’ve done miraculously,” he said.

The camp will provide food and fuel for the exercise, as well as send out equipment to where it’s needed.

The public still has access to the sand pits around the camp, but the army is asking people to watch out for military traffic crossing the roadway and to keep their dogs under control and out of the camp.