Mountaineering - Training & Preparation

Mountaineering - Training & Preparation. Cooke, Bunting & O'Hara (editors)

review by Dave McCormick

[The Section received a complimentary copy of this new mountaineering book awhile ago, one which will find it's way into the Section's library shortly. Until it does, here is a short review.]

If you've ever considered organizing (or being part of) a mountaineering expedition, or just wanted more information about training, leadership and trip preparation to support your outdoor aspirations, this new manual should go a long ways towards answering your many questions and providing some useful guidance. The book's editors and contributors (over a dozen) have drawn from research and personal experience to put together this extensive and comprehensive manual on the topic.

The book first deals with expedition planning and considerations of how to select members of the expedition team. Included in this section are extensive descriptions of equipment selection, basic articles on first aid, medical kits, the effects of altitude, and even how to use bright lights to help the body adjust to time zone changes. Although specific training is covered later on, there is one chapter on physical preparation, including developing cold tolerance and hypoxic training.

Almost half of the book, not surprisingly, deals with conditioning and nutrition. There is advice on all the fitness and endurance training that is important in expedition preparation and the section finishes off with nutrition advice while training as well as what nutritional needs will have to be met during the expedition. Some of the contributors were part of the 2006 Everest West Ridge expedition, so there are examples given from their experience. These include sample menus, caloric requirements, and energy content of certain foods. The examples given have a definite UK "flavour", but it should be possible to find North American substitutes that would match the samples given.

The final section of the book addresses an essential part of any extreme physical adventure, the part that takes place in your head. Psychological pressures and attitudes, how well one can stand up to those pressures and how to motivate and support your fellow team members, will almost certainly have an important, perhaps critical, impact on the success of your expedition. There are even comments relating adventure training like this to other aspects of a person's life. As one trainer puts it: "...accepting and dealing with levels of punishment or levels of poor outcomes ... tells you something about yourself".

Most of us have been involved in at least some level of mountaineering and have almost certainly followed or read about various notable mountaineering expeditions. If you're looking for more information, this book would be a good source.

Wilderness First Aid Course (3 days)

Dates: September 27 & 28, 2010 with the 3rd day in October to be determined

Time: 8:30 am - 5:00 pm each day

Cost: $275

Instructed by: J & T First Aid Consulting

Classroom sessions will be at 1375 Lorne St, Regina with the outdoor session location to be determined.

Note: If you already have Standard First Aid/CPR, including AED, and have re-certified within the 3 months prior to the October date, you may only be required to take the outdoor portion of the course (at a cost of $175) in order to attain your Wilderness First Aid certification. Please contact Colleen at J&T First Aid Consulting at 347-1020 or email j&tfirstaidconsult@accesscomm.ca for more information or to register for the course. Note that personal cheques are not accepted. Payment can be made by cash, debit, Visa or Mastercard, Monday-Friday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

The SK Section's contact person for this activity is Brenda Desnoyers who can be reached at vertical@accesscomm.ca if you have questions about the course.

Stylin' With the Sask Section

The Saskatchewan Section is, after years of pleading from members, finally coming out with a NEW Section T-Shirt.

You can order your new Tee until April 30th, 2010, so don't delay.

All information is available by following the link to the Section Stuff webpage. An order form and all other essential information can be seen there.

Wilderness and Remote First Aid Course – December 2009

by Wendy White

In December 2009, the Saskatchewan section of ACC organized a 20 hour Red Cross Wilderness and Remote First Aid Course that was put on by First Aid for Life Saskatoon. There were twelve participants with diverse interests from diving to climbing to backcountry skiing.

My husband Dick and I both took the class and found it to be very valuable. The instructor provided a wealth of information in a variety of formats that kept everyone engaged. The course included an evening at Diefenbaker Park at -10 C with a brisk wind that reminded us of the challenges that weather adds to dealing with any wilderness injury. Many of the participants had taken first aid courses before and there were often comments on the changes that have been made to suggested procedures to deal with some conditions. Obviously, the course evolves over the years and this highlights the importance of obtaining recertification. The certificate from this course is valid for three years. Participants receive a course manual as well as a handy field guide that can be tucked into a first aid kit.

Taking the course confirmed many of the things that we were already doing to prepare for backcountry travel but also added some interesting changes. Our medical kit is now updated, we feel more prepared to handle an injury, we made more concrete plans for potential bad weather conditions and put more thought into how we might evacuate a person if necessary. As always we planned for how we would communicate within the group and make contact with emergency services if needed (e.g. radios, satellite phone).

Stanley Mitchell Skiing - March 11-14, 2010

by Bette Boechler

On the evening of March 10, Bill Wotherspoon, Bob Hawboldt, Dave McCormick and I met at the Alpine Centre in Lake Louise before skiing in to Stanley Mitchell Hut. Stanley Mitchell (SM) is located in Yoho National Park, and in the summer, is accessible by the 13 km drive up the Takakkaw Falls road and then a 2 – 3 hour (9 km) hike into the hut. However, in the winter the road to Takakkaw Falls is closed so access to the hut becomes somewhat more difficult and longer. All four of us had skied into the hut before so we knew it would be a long day.

One of the ACC Facilities staff from Canmore planned to go into SM that day so Dave asked him if he could tow us on the skidoo as far as Takakkaw Falls. We weren’t sure if we were actually going to get towed so we started up the road at 7:45 a.m. The big debate when starting up the road is “skins off or skins on?” As usual we each had our own preference so Bob used kick wax while the rest of us used skins. After about 40 minutes we heard the sound of a skidoo and we ended up getting a ride/tow as far as Takakkaw falls. Although the ride was snowy and a bit chilly (mental note: always wear ski goggles and very warm clothes when being towed behind a skidoo), it cut about 3 hours off our time.

The up-track going to the hut was icy and quite difficult. Unfortunately, we somehow managed to go off the summer trail so we were on icy and steep terrain. We all arrived at the hut by 1:30 in the afternoon, and because we were the only group there, the rest of the day was spent getting wood, water and heating the hut. It was wonderful to have the whole hut to ourselves.

The next day was very snowy and we saw a number of avalanches, some quite close to where we were skiing. We were aware that the snowpack was becoming more unstable mainly due to the 10 cm of fresh snow that fell that day. We stayed in the trees and had a good day. Bob and Bill dug a pit which showed a very unstable layer about 50cm below the surface.

On Saturday morning we woke up and saw slides on almost every slope surrounding the hut. The pit from the day before was a good indication of what was actually happening. We initially thought we would be safe skiing in the trees again but when we looked at what had happened overnight, even that seemed too risky. So…. what to do? Bob, Bill and I decided to try and ski to Kiwetinok Pass. On the way there Bill set off a small avalanche (see photo) and although he managed to get to the trees, we decided the snow was too unstable to spend time on any slopes. It was a beautiful sunny day so we toured behind the hut to the bowl below Isolation Col. We also did a 3 hour tour through the trees to the east of the hut and came back to the hut via our up-track from Thursday. Dave had gone out for a couple of hours in the morning and re-tracked that part of the trail.

On Sunday we left at about 7:30 a.m. and were back at our cars by 12:30. The trip out was slower than expected, mainly because of the new snow.

Overall how was the trip? Bob and I have been backcountry skiing for about 12 years and this was the first time the snowpack was so unstable we really couldn’t ski anywhere. As we drove back to Saskatoon we heard about the avalanche in Revelstoke that killed two and injured 30. However, if the sun is shining and the weather is good, there’s more to backcountry skiing than doing turns.

What did I learn from this trip?

- The importance of taking avalanche courses, digging pits and practicing with beacons. Most of us have taken at least one avalanche course and practice regularly with our beacons. We made good decisions. All of us have been to this area many times in both the summer and winter and on this trip, we saw avalanches on slopes that we never thought would slide. You just never know.

- If one person in the group is uncomfortable with going somewhere, the whole group needs to listen.

- You need to be strong and fit to get into the hut but you don’t have to be a particularly good technical skier. There is lots of terrain that will suite every skier.

For another story about this trip, look at Extreme Backcountry.