The Rudiments of Alpine

PanShiBo

Learning from mistakes: Rappel.

Anne G., 26, and Quentin C., 25, were rescued from a slot canyon on North Creek on Wednesday, September 6th. G. and C. headed out for a three-day canyoneering trip down the right fork of the creek on September 2nd. By mid-morning on the 3rd, they realized that they were off-route in a difficult slot canyon with numerous pools. Once they realized that they were unable to climb back up or continue down the canyon, they stopped and waited for rescuers. They were reported overdue when they failed to appear for work; the park was notified late on Tuesday afternoon. A helicopter search was begun and they were found after a space blanket was spotted in the bottom of the narrow canyon. The helicopter landed nearby and rangers rappelled to the pair. Rangers taught them how to ascend a rope and assisted them out of the 400-foot-deep canyon. Canyoneering is a sport requiring special equipment and a variety of skills, including map reading, rappelling, ascending ropes, and prior experience. Said ranger Kurt Spears: "Rappelling is not the only skill needed to safely negotiate these canyons. We're seeing a lot of people without skill or experience. You can't rely on just reading a route description."

http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/subway-accident-reports/

Prevention:
Learn and practice the skills necessary in mid-rappel emergency: know how to climb up the rope, lock belay device, pass the knot etc.

PanShiBo

Alpine 101 * Homework List

Many people have asked us to share homework assignments that our students had to complete during 2017 Jan-Feb Alpine 101 course.  

They had total 25 of those, all of which were done with excellence and on time. The list is below:

1.1        Study Alpine Knots (12)
1.2        Understanding Alpine Style (film "Touching The Void"). Make a list of all alpine equipment you spotted being used in the film
1.3        Identify climbing equipment (37:35-38:00;
4.3        Do you really believe that frame?


Also, you can read these excellent reports on our classes:
1. Belay: https://www.meipian.cn/c3f73r3
2. Crevasse Rescue Response: https://www.meipian.cn/buazd6a
3. Climbing Steep Snow: https://www.meipian.cn/cfbg627
4. Rappel: https://www.meipian.cn/d8oo0hd


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Permalink to this post: https://www.crossna.org/forum.ph ... post&pid=176735

PanShiBo

Learning from mistakes

Mark Davis died in a rappelling accident at Indian Creek, Utah. Davis was an experienced climber, over 25 years, with successful ascents in Patagonia and of El Capitan in Yosemite, among other places. He was 50 years old...He was rappelling with a tube-style belay device. Thirty feet to the ground, Davis suddenly fell, headfirst. He hit a rock outcropping, tumbled and then hit the ground again.

More here

Prevention

Dancho Nichols
Do what's safe no matter what the sheep are doing, be a leader, be redundant. Check and replace gear, tie rope ends, wear a helmet, use an autoblock, or be an example

PanShiBo

Learning from mistakes

March 04, 2017

North Shore Rescue confirms at least one person has been buried by an Avalanche on Cypress Mountain.

Team Leader Mike Danks says details are still sketchy, but says the avalanche occurred in an out of bounds area...Avalanche Canada’s forecast for the day gave an avalanche danger rating of “Considerable” for Saturday on the South Coast, warning “while the light wind and lack of snowfall on Saturday may seam benign, the mountains are currently primed for human triggered avalanches.”

More here

NSR air and medical team are with the subject in Tony Baker Gully and he has been dug out. The subject will be long lined out to Capilano Gate SAR station.

Prevention
Read Avalanche Danger bulletins and stay away from trouble even when the masses go.

PanShiBo

Learning from mistakes - contd.

SAT, MAR 04, 2017

Rescue officials in British Columbia say skiers rescued from an avalanche in Cypress Provincial Park could have died had they not been carrying proper gear.

The skier had multiple injuries from the slide, prompting rescue crews decided to fly him closer to hospital rather than waiting to transfer him to an ambulance.

North Shore Rescue says the man is now in hospital in serious condition.

They say he would have died had the pair not been trained to respond to an avalanche and carry the necessary equipment.

Avalanche Canada had issued warnings for the alpine and treeline areas of South Coast mountains, including Cypress, this weekend.

The organization said naturally-occurring avalanches were possible, while human-triggered events were likely.

The organization also reported an avalanche on the backside of the mountain on Friday, saying the snow conditions were heavy and wind-affected.

http://www.insidehalton.com

PanShiBo

Learning from Mistakes - contd.

UPDATE: 5:41 p.m.

North Shore Rescue says a downed skier after an avalanche is alive because of his and his skiing partner's preparedness.

NSR says the avalanche occurred while two skiers were skiing on Hollyburn Mountain. One of the skiers triggered an avalanche, according to a Facebook post, pulling that skier down about 400 feet through trees.

The avalanche took the skier off a cliff, and buried him in Tony Baker Gully.

NSR says the skiers had avalanche beacons, probes and shovels, which helped the second skier to locate his downed partner. He dug six feet into the snow, clearing snow from his partner's face to allow him to breathe.

NSR responded to the area by helicopter after being notified of the incident by cell phone. Members of the rescue service were able to get boots on the ground near the skiers and began providing first aid.

The man was flown to the Capilano Search and Rescue station by long line under the helicopter, having suffered multiple injuries. NSR made the "extraordinary" decision to transfer him into the helicopter, due to the severity of his condition.

He was flown to Grand Boulevard, close to the hospital, where he was transferred to the BC Ambulance Service. The skier is reportedly in serious condition in the hospital.

"These two skiers were prepared with proper avalanche gear," the Facebook post says. "If they did not have the correct gear and training, the skier buried in the avalanche would have died."

www.castanet.net

PanShiBo

Learning from mistakes

"..Lynam, 33, was with a group of experienced ski tourers on Saturday, March 4 when he dropped down a ridge and set off the slide above Hanging Lake...He made a couple of turns and (the snowline) fractured up at the top behind him. (The slide) ran full-path from the peak all the way down to the lake..Lynam was found by search crews, with the help of an avalanche rescue dog, just before 3:30 p.m., buried in 80 centimetres of snow. Lynam's avalanche airbag was damaged in the slide, Sills said, and his beacon was in "search" mode when he was found.

piquenewsmagazine.com

This weekend's tragic fatality near Gin Peak may have revealed a possible weakness with Pieps DSP pro and sport transceivers. The victim's beacon was in search mode.

Some people have noted that the transceiver's lock switch can easily get pressed in by the pressure from the pouch buckle, allowing the beacon to either switch off or go into search mode, with only a little pressure.

Here's a video describing the issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= ... mp;feature=youtu.be

bcmc.ca/forum

A skier was rescued Saturday from a separate slide on Hollyburn Mountain near North Vancouver and remains in serious condition.

Prevention
Don't count on the modern technology. Read Avalanche Danger bulletins and stay away from trouble even when the masses go.

"It’s certainly a worn-out message: Not only be careful but understand what the ... public bulletin means. Read it and dissect what the language means. When they say avalanches will occur, that means precisely that," he said. "Those are the days you might want to consider skiing inside a controlled recreation area. They’re not really the best days to be out there touring."

PanShiBo

Alpine Tip #50 How to select a climbing partner?

As the saying goes, with a climbing partner, the joy of reaching a hard summit doubles, and the misery of the failure halves. However, this is only true with a right climbing partner. With a wrong climbing partner the entire trip will be a disaster, from the beginning to the very end, and I personally have seen it happen more than once! Many people do not realize that it is the hardest task to find the right climbing partner and that's why only few have them: people spend more time replacing shoelaces then screening potential partners.

However, it is rather easy, at least in theory, follow these simple rules, in that order:

1) safety: the trip with him (=her) must be safer with without.
2) fun: the trip with him must be more fun than without.
3) success: the trip with him must have more chances to succeed.

Makes sense, doesn't it? Just imagine you come on a long road/international/technical trip with the one who: makes the trip unsafe, makes the trip less fun, and reduces chances to succeed. Despite that this is just a common sense everyone better follow,  I see teams being formed on the social networks taking anybody who is willing to come. Sure, you can go for a stroll in Stanley park (not sure why you should), but the more technical the trip gets, the more carefully you must select with whom you are going (to climb). And good luck to you if you come across the one who qualifies and is available. If you do, try your best to keep him - now you know why. If you can't, ask yourself, is it because you are the one who doesn't qualify?

PanShiBo

Alpine Tip #51 How to climb low angle rock?

So you have hiked plenty of class 1 and class 2 (flat) hiking tourist trails and now it gets a bit boring? If so, the low-angle class 3 and 4 rock routes are awaiting you and surely won't make you disappointed. In fact, the challenge, the exposure and the views will make it addictive! You will see much less crowds even in traditionally crowded places (e.g. Zion, Yosemite NPs ) and often such routes will have no people at all in an entire day, for a reason: by definition, class 3 and class 4 grades are dangerous, without proper training you will be taking chances:

Class 3: Scrambling with increased exposure. Handholds are necessary. A rope should be available for learning climbers, or if you just choose to use one that day, but is usually not required. Falls could easily be fatal.

Class 4: Simple climbing, with exposure. A rope is often used. Natural protection can be easily found. Falls may well be fatal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Decimal_System

If you are still reading this, here is an easy process how to get into safe enjoyable climbing of low-angle rock (class 3 - class 4)

1. learn and practice alpine rappel
2. learn and practice heap belay
3. learn and practice top-rope belay
4. practice top-rope climbing and downclimbing low-grade rock in Squamish
5. find a climbing partner

All you need is 2-4 weeks (except item 5) and you will be ready! And I promise, you will never look back - there is so much to do - good safe choices enough for a lifetime! 8)

PanShiBo

Learning from mistakes

Five hikers missing after avalanche on Mount Harvey in B.C.: RCMP

Sunday, April 9, 2017 9:20AM EDT

..six hikers got into trouble Saturday afternoon while climbing the Mount Harvey summit northeast of the Village of Lions Bay.
She says a 911 call came in just before 4 p.m. to report an avalanche had occurred and that five of the six hikers were possibly missing..

ctvnews.ca
clubtread.com

Avalanche forecast for the day:

On Saturday, the main concern is storm and wind slab avalanches where the precipitation has fallen as snow. At tree line and below expect small loose snow avalanches in steep terrain on all aspects.

Use caution above cliffs and terrain traps where small avalanches may have severe consequences.

avalanche.ca

...a break in the cornice...indicating that some or all of the party of five were on that snow that broke away and went down the north face of Mount Harvey..

news1130.com

Two helicopters and several ground crews responded after the hikers were caught by a collapsing cornice on Saturday afternoon at around 4 p.m. But the search was called off Saturday night because of the unstable terrain in the area.

The belongings of five hikers missing on Mount Harvey have been spotted at the bottom of the mountain’s north face, said Lion’s Bay Search and rescue manager Martin Colwell.

http://vancouversun.com

PanShiBo

Learning from mistakes Update

Four bodies have been recovered from Mount Harvey..One missing hiker still remains unaccounted for.....a large cornice..had apparently fallen from the mountain's peak, sweeping the hikers away..the group may have fallen as much as 500 metres..

cbc.ca

Prevention
Develop and keep a habit: stay away from the edges, even when they look "safe". Do not follow the crowd, have the courage to say "no". Read about cornices in "Freedom of the hills" 8th edition, p. 354 "..The safest course..is well behind the probable cornice fracture line..could be 10 meters or more.."

Also, although this is not the direct cause of this tragedy, but try to avoid hiking with such groups (leaders) who  ignore  high-avalanche danger warnings, and those will leave slow hikers behind and alone, in dangerous sub-technical terrain.

PanShiBo

Alpine Tip #52 How to make a Kiwi Coil

I have seen a lot of alpine climbers who prefer to put extra rope in the backpack instead of using Kiwi coil. The reason is that the method described in the "bible" is cumbersome and the coil tends to shift uncomfortably. I was one of those climbers too, until I was shown how Nepal Sherpa guides do the coiling. Here is how.

PanShiBo

2017.05.21 Fundamental Alpine Knots

PanShiBo

Alpine Tip #53 Climbing rope with ascenders (or two Reversos)

This is great demo from Petzl TiBloc manual how to climb rope with an ascender. Will work only for single rope obviously, for double ropes use two Reversos.

PanShiBo

Learning from mistakes

2017.11.09

"..Search for lost hiker now a recovery mission, North Shore Rescue says..he was unfamiliar with the terrain and ill-equipped to be outside in the elements. Most critically, he didn’t tell anyone what his plans were, so no one knew to call for help until days after he was last seen."

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more:  here

Prevention: EIGHT SAFETY HABITS OF A PERFECT HIKER

PanShiBo

Alpine Tip #54 Protecting Down Insulation from Moisture

PanShiBo

TIP: US Costco sells base layers (by 32 DEGREES) for $7 a piece. Tops, bottoms, men's and women's. Vera and I purchased it, and actually tested them on Mt. Shasta this month. Excellent for outdoors: warm and dry, soft on skin, still good looking after first wash. 8)

PanShiBo

I was recently asked what we drink on our trips. Well, this is a big topic.

Here is what I drink on easy day-trips or at home after a daily workout in a indoor gym: a home-made mix.

400ml of tap warm water
1 capsule of Zipofizz
2 table spoons of Appeal
2 table spoons of Coffee Matte
2 table spoons of Chia seeds

Yummy! 8)

PanShiBo

Alpine Tip #58 How to keep your feet warm

Here is a piece of advice from a US company that mostly makes only one product - overboots for high-altitude mountaineering, where temperatures can easily drop below -40°C. They sure know what they are talking about. My favorite tips:

To keep your feet warm:

1. Drink plenty of liquids

2.  Don't restrict ventilation around skin..avoid overheating ( - looks like an advice AGAINST plastic boots)

3. Use combination of layers.. (my most favorite)

PanShiBo

The first tip that was presented on the "Random Alpine Tips" presentation was this: "Be skeptical about instructions posted on the Internet".

Here is a video that illustrates that. Students of Alpine 101 course are encouraged to analyse (and welcome to post your opinions here). Bottom line is, as it has always been: "Nothing, especially exotic tricks, can surpass the bible - The Freedom of the Hills". 8)



There are several individual parts ("components") worth to analyze on their own:

1. Rappelling down to a victim on a single strand, low-angle
2. Rigging up 2:1 hauling system on a victim
3. Climbing back up, single strand, on a low-angle
4. Rigging 3:1 hauling system (with a Reverso as ratchet)
5. Hauling (6:1), in theory

It is worth to read the comments on the video too.