Mountaineering Camp - July 2010

by Dave McCormick

The Section just completed it's 3rd Mountaineering Camp, held this year out of the Stanley Mitchell hut in the Little Yoho Valley of Yoho National Park.

A total of 21 people, many beginners to mountaineering, attended this camp and had fun meeting new people, learning new techniques and skills and getting a tremendous amount of exercise climbing up and down hills.

Pictures are being added to our web album space, where you can see what happened during our 4 days of activities. We hope to have more stories sharing individual perspectives about the camp posted here in the coming days.

A couple of notes: Access to Mt President and Mt Vice President is becoming increasingly difficult. The bergschrund near President Pass increases in size annually and this year the small route remaining was threatened from overhead by 2 large snow cornices. There appears to be a possible route near the left side of the 'schrund, but it remains problematic for large groups.

The circle route around Mt McArthur and Mt Pollinger was lots of fun with no serious issues other than the short climb near Mt Pollinger. It was a relatively long day, but the route and the conditions were nearly ideal this year. Everyone enjoyed it.

Mt Kerr remains an enjoyable scramble and this year we had good conditions for lots of glissading (ie: bum sliding), crevasse rescue practice, self-arrest practice and a bit of excitement caused by some lightning arriving late one morning. Nothing like being able to lose elevation quickly!

Thanks go to Joel for taking on the Camp Manager's role. Also to Jesse and Mark for sharing the leadership and instructional tasks with me. Kobus helped us understand details of sunscreen chemistry and Mark explained maps. Thanks go also to some of the more experienced participants (thanks Jeff and Greg) who helped by knowing where to be when some assistance was needed. And finally to everyone who helped carry ropes, set up ropes, clean the hut, chop wood and all those little things that make an activity like this possible.

Plans for another camp next summer are already in the development stages. Stay tuned.

Race Results - 2010 Urban Adventure Race

The Saskatoon Urban Adventure Race was held on Saturday, June 19th. By all accounts it was fun and the results are now available. To see these results as an Excel spreadsheet file, go to the Race webpage and follow the link given there.

Pictures have been added to the Section's Picasa pages.

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.