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Wiki summmary last edited by zimmertr on Tue May 14, 2019 5:34 pm (this post can be edited by any member) |
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The Angry Hiker SAR Blacklistee


Joined: 13 Jun 2008 Posts: 2890 | TRs Location: Kentwila
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I wish I had taken a photo of that lady of no particular nationality tumbling down the glissade chute with her trekking poles flailing around.
We had just seen them coming down the scramble in a manner that was making some climbers in the vicinity cringe, so the odds were in favor of someone getting a helicopter ride down the mountain. But luckily, no one was hurt.
 "Crazy Tourists Of No Particular Nationality on Del Campo |
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limpyweta Member


Joined: 03 Apr 2010 Posts: 71 | TRs Location: Seattle
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-unlike what I read in this thread, photographic tripods, from Costco to Manfrotto, will break if used as a walking stick, especially when river crossing
much more rare things, but important:
-Some game trails are more apparent than others, but there's some one shouldn't camp on.
-Some dogs eat Poison Hemlock, and some people, grown adults, eat Indian Hellebore, both can be lethal. Do not ever trust just a field guide of flora or fungi, if in doubt, report it. The Poison Control Center's resources are great.
-------------- http://islandboundmedia.ca/current/current-videos.htm
Alec, flickr.com/photos/limpyweta |
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coldrain108 Thundering Herd


Joined: 05 Aug 2010 Posts: 1484 | TRs Location: somewhere over the rainbow
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wolffie wrote: |
I have seen a real live self-arrest done right in a deadly place: eyeblink-fast, he landed pick-first and didn't slide an inch. I think that's how it has to be. |
I had to do this once. I was expecting it so I was ready. That is reallly the trick, expecting the slip to come...which we all should be if crossing hard steep snow - expecting the slip that is. Its when you think it isn't going to happen that you let your guard down.
It was while hiking up to White Pass from Sloan Creek enroute to Glacier Peak(which we bagged). The trail crosses several steep gullies and one was snow filled. There was a tromp path across it but the snow was rock hard. I put one foot on it and stopped immediately when I realized how hard it was and what the result would be if I slipped, I retreated and grabbed the axe out of my pack. About halfway across, whooooops. I landed immediately on the axe, pick first, Stopped me w/o moving at all, just like it should.
My one and only real life saving arrest. Used the axe other times like when glissading and going a bit too fast, but that is just a roll-over and stop procedure.
-------------- "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch and do nothing" - Albert Einstein |
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Tvashtar Tvashtalker


Joined: 22 Aug 2005 Posts: 1226 | TRs Location: The 11th Dimension
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Trekking poles work fine for glissading in softer snow. Hold them together as you would an ice axe to brake.
You can also glissade tripod style on your feet by holding your poles together, leaning slightly on your trekking poles to control your speed and maintain stability.
In the right spring corn conditions you can just ski on your boots. Remove your pole leashes; if you go down, toss one pole and use the other to self arrest.
Self arresting with a ski pole
Or just purchase a Whippet.
An ice axe is overkill and unnecessary weight on most hikes involving some snow travel. Poles will do the job just fine.
-------------- "We are, all of us, in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde |
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Stefan-K Member


Joined: 10 Aug 2009 Posts: 496 | TRs Location: seattle
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yep.
Poles are a great tool, but you got to know how to use them--and be prepared to use them correctly.
Slugman delineates how to use them properly for controlling a sitting glissade. Hold them the same way you would an ice axe: tip back, handle forward, tucked close, with one hand towards the middle of the pole as fulcrum and control for amount of pressure (drag/resistance) exerted on the snow.
For self arrest, as tvash points out, make sure you're not using your straps, because your hands will have to be prepared to drop to the bottom of your pole. Use two hands on one pole, using one hand to leverage pole upright or even angling towards the slope to maximize resistance and bite. Keep your pole as close to your body as you can to maximize weight transference, i.e. drag/resistance.
Mostly though, as pointed out, mental preparation is key to quick deployment.
Here's proof that it works:
 Kendall ridge, W. side - 04.13.2013
slightly different conditions (slab, avi), but same principles as mentioned above in action. You can see my ski tracks entering on the right hand side of the photo. I stopped under the rock not feeling good about conditions and contemplating the next move. Next move was decided for me as the snow gave out from under me. Without thinking too much about it my hands dropped and I dug in with my pole. Stopped myself within 5 ft. You can see the drag mark in the snow lower right of center in the photo.
I also keep my poles in mind when in glacier situations, prepared to flip them horizontal should I happen to break through. Never had to use this one and hope I never do.
I'm sure there's other uses for poles as well... as long as you keep it creative. don't succumb to dogma... |
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Malachai Constant Member


Joined: 13 Jan 2002 Posts: 14241 | TRs Location: Back Again Like A Bad Penny
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I also used two poles parallel held in two hands like a kayak paddle for sitting glissades 
-------------- "You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn |
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Critter Woodland Creature


Joined: 25 Aug 2012 Posts: 1222 | TRs Location: Hoodsport, WA
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wolffie Member


Joined: 14 Jul 2008 Posts: 2660 | TRs Location: Seattle
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Put yourself in the position of the SAR people when your family first reports you missing, and how handy it will be if your safety contact has an email AND a hardcopy of your detailed plan, including everything they'll want to know, plus PLans B, C, & D.
-------------- Some people have better things to do with their lives than walking the dog. Some don't. |
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Maverick02 Member


Joined: 30 Oct 2013 Posts: 3 | TRs
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NWHikers,
I am a moderator from High Sierra Topix and spreading the word about
our New Search & Rescue HST Reconn Form which is named after Larry
Conn a member and friend of ours who died last year in the Sierra Nevada.
Hope you will use it and distribute it between fellow hikers so we can
possible save lives in the future.
http://highsierratopix.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10192 |
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hiker1 Member


Joined: 29 Aug 2009 Posts: 1624 | TRs Location: West Coast
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Vancouver man stabbed while hiking on Grouse Mountain
North Vancouver RCMP are seeking a suspect after a man was attacked while hiking on Grouse Mountain on Tuesday.
Police responded to a call after a 53-year-old Vancouver man was stabbed by an unknown assailant as the two men crossed paths about halfway up the B.C. Mountaineering Club Trail, which runs adjacent to the Grouse Grind trail.
------------------
Edit/Update Nov. 13
Grouse Mountain stabbing suspect arrested in North Vancouver
-------------- falling leaves / hide the path / so quietly
~John Bailey, "Autumn," a haiku year, 2001, as posted on oldgreypoet.com |
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wolffie Member


Joined: 14 Jul 2008 Posts: 2660 | TRs Location: Seattle
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ALCOHOL STOVE SAFETY
I just watched a nifty stove demo video
DANGEROUS FUEL HANDLING! Open pouring from fuel bottle near a burning stove. As lab safety officer, I would freak if I saw anybody doing that in the lab. The unmarked flammable bottle is also a major safety violation -- you know what's in your fuel bottle, but it should be idiot-and-child-proofed; if there's ever a kid in your house, it will find your gear pantry.
Very nasty accident in Seattle Puclic Schools chemistry lab once -- 3rd degree burns -- teacher poured alcohol from a bottle into a watch glass in which the invisible flame was still burning. POOF!!
It occurs to me that similar situations could occur with alcohol backpacking gear. Alcohol flames can be INVISIBLE -- I've seen video of a racetrack pit crewman on fire -- jumping around, aflame, no flame visible (alcohol-fueled turbine car?).
What I fear most is an unnoticed leak from a white gas stove, soaking the soil underneath, then POOF.
Boiling water is less glamorous but very dangerous -- leading hazard in academic labs -- I know of 2 nasty camping water burns requiring evacaution of children, one a helivac. |
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hiker1 Member


Joined: 29 Aug 2009 Posts: 1624 | TRs Location: West Coast
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wolffie wrote: |
ALCOHOL STOVE SAFETY |
Once when backpacking on Vermont's Long Trail, staying overnight at one of the nifty shelters, I was getting my old Svea stove ready to use. It was evening and there's little light in these cabins, so I lit one of the candles left there by other hikers.
I took off the stove's cap to put in more fuel, but couldn't see how much fuel was left in there, so brought over the candle to check it out. Just as I was getting the candle real close to the hole, it finally dawned on me that this might be a bad thing to do. So very slowly I moved the candle away from the stove and breathed a big sigh of relief. If I had not done this, I probably would not be around to write this post.
-------------- falling leaves / hide the path / so quietly
~John Bailey, "Autumn," a haiku year, 2001, as posted on oldgreypoet.com |
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like2thruhike Member


Joined: 28 May 2009 Posts: 1288 | TRs Location: Seattle
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Kahtoola microspikes and ice axe saved my beacon on ascending and descending steep snow free hard duff on Union Saturday. Crazy how solid that stuff can get and how boots just slide off it. |
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AR 724


Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 1514 | TRs Location: Saratoga Passage
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I can't stand the thought of having to carry those things.
Yeah, I'm just going to wrap that thing around and not harpoon myself in the process.
-------------- ...wait...are we just going to hang here or go hiking? |
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mehitabel archyologist


Joined: 23 Mar 2009 Posts: 519 | TRs Location: the Emerald City
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If you are planning to do trips where you might have steep snow or moderate frozen snow, you need to have an ice axe, and you need to have spent a few hours on a steep slope with safe runout practicing self arrest from all possible positions, including backwards head first. My Black Diamond axe weighs 3/4 pound and unless I know for sure the snow is gone or there are no steep places I carry it. Poles are no good for steep stuff. And you need to have a leash and keep the leash on your wrist. Once when climbing I dropped my iceaxe onto a dicey slope and fortunately my husband was able to retrieve it or I would not have been safe descending. Now I always keep the leash on tight.
Poles are nice for moderate snow, but on the other hand for moderate, unfrozen snow you don't need anything, just need to know how to stop yourself by rolling so you face the snow and push yourself away from the snow while digging in your toes.
-------------- toujours gai toujours gai |
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