Recommend a few postings regarding safety by mazeGirl on CT

Alien_laowai

I read some postings regarding winter backcountry travel safety issues written by mazeGirl on CT. I think thoes are very good points, so I would like forward them on CROSSNA and share those for you. :)

1."Having organized snowshoeing trip almost every weekend during the winter, I noticed the winter travel is much tougher than travelling in other seasons. I believe we can improve our winter backcountry safety awareness and avoid unnecessary risks by sharing our experience and by learning the lessons from our mistakes. I would like to discuss winter travel safety issue with every winter enthusiasts there.

I understand the backcountry lovers might want to do more challenging trails whenever it's possible including me. But should we use up all of our energy for a trip? Or save some for unexpected things?
I would like to use ~85% of mine. If the route costs me full energy, I'll hold my horses -- I'll change the trip plan until I am both mental and physical prepared. Or turn around on the way once I noticed I have potential to be burned out. If I get too tired, I am easy to lose my balance, thus the possibility of falling will become bigger. The mountain will always be there, just make sure I am too!


The slower hiker shouldn't change his/her comfortable pace in order to match the faster one, the faster one should be considerate as well. If ppl get too tired, it not only becomes more difficult to recover but also create dangerous situation. Make sure every one in the group is in the similar fitness level is the best solution for the different paces.

We need more extra food in the winter and enough clothing to protect us from the cold. For example, always keep your head covered and keep your body dry & warm especially your hands and feet, but avoid overheating. If it's a long or challenging trip, I usually bring my MSR dragon fly stove and white gas to cook hot ginger tea for group members on our half way. All my group members said a cup of hot ginger tea makes big difference. I just asked every group member bring 250-500 ml extra water and their own cups for cooking/drinking hot drink, it only cost ~10 mins for a short hot drink break, it does help a lot.

Check Avalanche Bulletins and Road/trail condition before you go. We fortunately can get great help from the online outdoor community like CT. Doing your trip on the topo map before you go, looking for the existed GPS info or pre-setting some waypoint if you have a GPS

A good group spirit/atmosphere helps, it抯 better for us to be aware of our partners?status during the trip. We need remind/help each other when go through the difficult parts of the trail.

....T.B.C."

http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=20218

http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=2

2."Thanks to Doug for the great message and I would like to add one more comment.

I only trust MSR snowshoes when go snowshoeing in steep terrain with hard packed snow. there is nothing better than the MSR lightening ascents( it's stronger and the duration is longer even when comparing with other MSR Denali snowshoes, though a slight difference in traction). I always suggest my group members to use MSR snowshoes in the backcountry, the binding is fairly stable, and they have "360 degrees of traction",their crampon is also hyper-aggressive.

In my opinion, tubular frame snowshoes are only suited for more powder flotation, and flatter terrain, unless you are a very very strong snowshoer and your balance is great. I've seen so many tubular frame snowshoes users had trouble with harsh backcountry terrain.

I'll also follow your suggestion to carry along crampons for the steep, narrow,hard-packed snow or icy terrain, always be prepared for the worst "

http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=20278

3. The rest of her postings, those are too many but useful tips there.  :)

http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/search.asp?mode=DoIt
http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/search.asp?mode=DoIt