gone alpine
Assuming you read the article on endurance training, now specifically you want to do better in a specific area. Here you will learn how to...
train to snow-shoe
With Winter rapidly heading our way we thought we should toss this in for you. Are you going to head out for a day, packing for a few peeps, or take the kids for a walk in the snow, as with all winter sports you want to be prepared. When you are dealing with the temperature change you need even more aware of what is goin on.
Snow-shoeing is a rapidly growing sport. People that love to hike, walk and run don't like having to stop because it gets cold outside so they are grabbing a jacket, packing a few supplies and strap on a pair of snow-shoes. This is a wonderful way to enjoy the winter without having to spend tons of money for lift tickets at the local ski resort. Snowshoeing turns your favorite hikes into a wonderland of beauty.
Personally I think snowshoeing is the perfect way to expand your areas of winter sports. When you learn to do it well, feel comfortable with snow predictions and avalanche awareness as well as route finding you can dive into all kinds of back-country skiing/boarding, climbing and camping. But this takes practice and lots of awareness! The backcountry is not the place to "think" you know what you are doing. You must "know" what you are doing. Here's a few tips to help you out.
~ How to beat the cold with what you wear. This should be an easy topic but it is really a critical one so to answer the cold questions it's in layers. You need layers of clothing.
No cotton! We have a catch phrase for cotton, it's "cotton kills", and it is true. Anything cotton needs to stay in the car for after you are done. There is NO place for it when it comes to winter time activities. Preferably synthetic clothing only! Cotton does not maintain body warmth when wet.
Feet issues. You must have good rugged boots. Boots that have a very stiff shank. Alpine socks or mountaineering socks are preferred. Boots should not be super snug to fit when you start. As you travel about your day your feet will swell, you need space for this, about 1/2 size. When you have to mess with your feet while you are out, it makes for more potential issues. You can allow cold in as well as wetness which in turn can cause more chances for frostbite.
~ Why know about avalanches we are on a trail?
Why know about them – because between 1985 and 2000 266 people have died in avalanches in the United States. That is only those that don’t survive, many more can get caught or trigger them but survive. Over the last 5 years over 26 people die each year in the USA with an average of 15 per season in Canada and is growing. Considering that that is more likely deaths each winter. In the US more people die each year of avalanches on the average than from either hurricanes or earthquakes.
The latest research from Europe now indicates that 92 percent of completely buried victims ca be revived if they are recovered in the first 15 minutes, but the number drops catastrophically after that, leaving only 27 percent alive after 35 minutes. It is thought that victims who survive after 35 minute must have some sort of air pocket, which allows the final 27 percent of victims to 100 to 120 minutes, after which the numbers sink to near zero. Most contemporary data suggest that half the victims are dead within the first 25 minutes. This is a sobering number, especially considering that brain damage starts well before death – perhaps at 10 minutes for the average victim.
Doing the numbers
To give you an example, let’s make the following assumptions:
You travel in avalanche terrain 100 days per year.
You cross 10 avalanche slopes per day.
The snow is stable enough to cross on 95 percent of the slopes.
For every avalanche you accidentally trigger, you get caught every third time and killed every tenth time.
People invariably overestimate their skills, usually vastly overestimate them when it comes to avalanches. This doesn’t happen with physics or gardening so what is it about avalanches? Maybe we can chalk it up to being a man-thing. Maybe it’s like grizzly bears or hunting or starting a fire in the woods. We puff up our chests, tell our lies and should literally rather die than admit our ineptitude. This would explain why the vast majority of avalanche victims are men.
One of the major contributing factors is known as positive reinforcement. This means that you go out into avalanche terrain, nothing happens. You go out again, nothing happens. You go out again and again: still nothing happens. Yes there is nothing like success! BUT here’s the critical fact: snow is stable about 95 percent of the time. So if you know absolutely nothing about avalanches you automatically get a 19 out of 20 times success rate. Pretty good odds. But the flip side of the coin is that one out of twenty times you’re going to get scared spit-less, beat up, injured or killed.
The frightening truth is that in most close calls, the average person has no idea they even had a close call- kind of like playing soccer on a minefield and you didn’t weigh quite enough to set the thing off.
Building avalanches skills to the point where you can safely travel though avalanche terrain 99.9 percent of the time – the minimum safety margin for a reasonably long carrier – usually takes many years.
Myth – Noise triggers avalanches.
Truth is – Only in the movies. In 20 years as an avalanche professional I have never once seen an avalanche triggered by, say a shout or even a sonic boom or a low-flying helicopter. I have heard of a very rare incidents where low-flying helicopters triggered avalanches in extremely unstable conditions. However, most noise just does not exert enough force. It must be a tremendously loud noise like an explosive going off at close range. In almost all avalanche fatalities, the avalanche is triggered by the weight of the victim, or someone in the victims party.
Myth – An avalanche is a bunch of loose snow sliding down the mountain
Truth is – Technically, yes, but avalanche professionals call these “sluffs”, or loose snow avalanches, which account for only a small percentage of deaths and property damage. When we talk about avalanches, we generally mean “slab” avalanches, cohesive plates of snow sliding as a unit. Picture a magazine sliding off the table, with the victim standing on the middle of the magazine.
Myth – If you see an avalanche coming, get out of the way.
Truth is – At least you can try. An average-size dry avalanche travels 60 to 120 km/hr that’s (60 to 80 miles per hour), so you’ll need to be mighty cagey and mighty quick to get out of the way.
Myth – When buried in an avalanche, spit to tell which way is up and dig in that direction.
Truth is – It doesn’t matter which way is up. You can’t dig yourself out. If you could dig yourself out, few people would die in avalanches. Avalanche debris instantly entombs you in place. As if you were frozen in concrete, and most of the time you can’t even move your fingers. Some times if its’ fairly soft debris and they have a hand near the surface, people have been able to dig themselves out, but the vast majority of the time there’s only two ways to get out of the snow – to be dug out or melt out.
To find out more quick info on why learn about Avalanches click here.
~ Snow conditions tips. Make sure you check them before you go. Check them the week before, day before, night before and the morning of. The thing is, is that snow conditions change so quickly and you want to not only know what the conditions will be like that day but what is was prior so that Avalanches conditions are anticipated.
~ What to pack and why. You need to take a Daypack with at the very least the following items:
compass, map, pencil, nutritious food, water (2 liters), extra clothing, headlamp (with extra batteries), extra food, pocket knife, first aid kit, sunglasses/glacier glasses, matches/water proof, fire starter, pants, sunscreen, gaiters (long), hat, toilet paper & disposable plastic bags.
optional items;
insect repellent, binoculars, camera, water purification tablets or filter, pack rain cover, umbrella, extra socks, clothes & shoes for in the car
~ This is so expensive! How do I cut costs? Any type of wilderness activity requires equipment, if you are not already a well-equipped hiker it can be expensive to equip yourself. Here are a few tips for saving money:
1. Use things you already have on hand. Most everyone has a few items at home that are adequate (ie. wool clothing, first aid supplies, hats, mittens, sunglasses etc.)
2. Borrow from a friend or relative who has the gear. Make sure though that the equipment is reliable and fits properly.
3. Rent – you’d be surprised what you can rent.
4. Try used equipment
5. Look for Gear grab, ski swaps and the REI garage sale.
~ Route finding, in the snow? is it possible? Totally, but don't mislead yourself into thinking you can just go out without knowing exactly where you are going. Chances are you won't be lucky enough to make it back for lunch.
A few Misconceptions
The worst kind of hiker/climber/skier and snowshoer there is … the one that doesn’t become educated and prepared before he goes out. They are the reason that Search and Rescue is in service and becoming a growing need. They are the reason the ski patrol at Snoqualmie pass has over 800+ reportable injuries a season (so much so that the ski patrol refers to themselves as meat-packers) kind of sick. So even if you are going outside for a day hike make sure you are prepared… even if you don’t think you will need something take it anyway… someone else might. It’s the rare occasion where I haven’t used either my first aid kit or shared water, food or something else to someone other than me.
Other misconceptions – and a Big trouble spot is to… make sure you don’t over estimate your abilities and planning. One must be honest with oneself as well as those you go out with. That is one of the greatest ways to get into trouble. If you are not prepared you will not be able to help someone else or take care of yourself if something does happen. How many times have you come back from a hike, ride or some kind of activity saying “I wish I brought that ”or“ I wish I had one of those”. Part of being prepared is the trail and error, but most errors can be eliminated if we take the time to be a little pessimistic. Not that want to keep negative thoughts when we are planning to do something great… but the what if’s in the backcountry can effect ones life more often that not. Planning is essential to your trip.
To find out more on navigation read bushwhacking 101.
~ Who you go with and who to take with you. If you have never been, go with someone that definitely knows what they are doing. If you have been many times before take whomever you want to be responsible for. It is never a good idea to just take off for the snow covered hills if you have no experience. There are to many variables that could get you into trouble. You need to be prepared for anything to happen. This isn't just a Sunday afternoon stole in the park. You are dealing with freezing temperatures, possible winds, change in temp hot or cold, other people, heat issues over or under and then what to do when something does go wrong.
~ What not to do. Not go. Now that we have you all scared about the essentials you may not want to even try. The thing is, no matter what your sport of choice you need to be prepared. Even the simplest thing as going out for a walk or hike, you have to wear the right things and take things with you. As with snowshoeing, the thing is is we take for granted the "fair weather" sports because we are close to home and its second nature as to what to wear. When you are out in the cold, things aren't so second nature and we want you to have a wonderful experience and return safely. Please make sure you get out and go, you will experience life in an incredible new world without leaving the planet.
Now that you know the who's, what's and whys, what do you want to do to physically prepare for snowshoeing.
~ Preseason training?
As with any kind of sport one needs some kind of training, if you want to play soccer, ball, hike, you need to be in shape, if you want to ski/snowboard, you need to be in shape, One of the best ways to keep in shape for Backcountry travel is by getting out there and doing it. When you can’t you will need to do some kind of endurance training. Be it walking, running, riding a bike. But whatever it is you do… do it regularly. The longer and steeper the grade you like to hike/climb, the higher the endurance levels one needs to maintain. There were times in the last year because I had no life that I would go in training mode, I would ride my dumb bike 70+odd miles a week and run scramble laps on little Si. I “use to be” in pretty good shape, now not so much. Now I’m in the gym once a week, teach class like these once a month and trying to get out and ride and do laps again. So keeping regular in exercise is important. Not that you have to exercise all the time, but a little more than what one is constantly doing is better than nothing. Your body will acclimate to your activities, so we need to break that from time to time.
~ What to eat and take before ya head out to help keep your heat.
When it comes to hiking, climbing or mountaineering of any kind… You are asking a lot from your body, you will need to be able to do the tasks that you are asking your body to do, and you will be better prepared for whatever may happen.
When you are hiking you should never get to any point where you are starving or thirsty. You need to be keeping in sync with your body and listening to it when you are active. If you ever find you are getting hungry, or thirsty… FIX IT… DON’T WAIT. Accidents happen usually when we are not our peak, when we are tired, hungry & exhausted. So make sure you listen to your body.
Read these articles for specifics on Biking, Backpacking, Climbing, Cross-training, Hiking, Running, Walking, and Nutrition.
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