[pct-l] Staying Not-Dead (was: stay out of canyons)

[Brian McLaughlin]

----- Original Message ----- 
 > Let's suppose you get stuck on a high pass in the Sierras (or other 
> suitable PCT locale) in whiteout conditions and you're 80 miles from 
> sure help (the closest road crossing).  Like Mr. Kim, you're tied to the 
> spot, in this case by an injured hiking companion, instead of a young 
> family.  Let's say s/he's injured a leg and cannot move well at all, but 
> is otherwise healthy, following a close call self-arrest. [...]  
> How do you maximize survivability for (1) yourself and (2) 
> your companion to avoid becoming the next Kim? 

Although I don't have survival training in any specific sense, other
than 35 years of backpacking experience, I will give my less-than-
perfectly-qualified answer.

1) Seek shelter.  If you have a tent or tarp, pitch it in the
most sheltered place possible. If you must, dig a snow cave.
But get out of the weather any way you possibly can. If
the snow piles up around you, it only provides more insulation.
Just be sure you have some ventilation!!

2) Conserve heat!!! Don't be squeamish about huddling together
with whoever you are stranded with - inside the same sleeping
bag, ideally. Use clothes and anything else handy to create as
much dead air space around you as you can. Then wait quietly
for the whiteout to end.

3) Conserve food and fuel. In these circumstances, fuel equals
water. So, what you are really doing is conserving food and water.
Because you don't know how long you will be stranded, it is
best to ration what you have. By conserving heat fanatically, you
will be able to stretch your food further. Hunger is not your enemy.
Cold is your enemy. If you are hungry, but warm, you are well-fed
enough.

Eventually, the whiteout conditions will end. When they do:

4) Assess the situation. This assessment should include many 
factors, such as your partner's injury, how much food and fuel 
you have, how passable the snow is, and how cold the air is 
where you are and where you might reasonably descend to. 

There are very good arguments against moving anywhere at all.
Hiking instead of huddling in your shelter will expose both of
you to more heat loss and require more food and water 
consumption than hunkering down, so the odds are not good
for moving unless you think you can "buy" enough advantages
by taking the risk of moving down. The only advantage worth
buying is the ability to conserve warmth better for longer.

The odds of your getting out 80 miles and rescuing yourselves 
are vanishingly low, so don't think in those terms, but only in  
terms of finding the **most advantageous spot to be rescued 
from**. This would be a spot open to the sky, but it's OK to 
come down nearer to the treeline, where a fire might be possible.

Whatever you do, stay together. DO NOT SPLIT UP!

5) Get visible.  Calculate as many ways of being visible as 
you can think of. Brightly colored items against the snow are 
good. Signal "mirrors" are good when an aircraft is visible.
Anything shiny can be pressed into service as a mirror.
Even just rocks on snow in a non-random pattern would help. 
A fire, if you have moved nearer to the tree line, would be 
excellent for both warmth and for signals.

6) Stay put and continue to conserve warmth, food and fuel.

7) Repeat 5 & 6 until rescued.