[pct-l] snow shelters

Tue Dec 22 14:51:06 CST 2009

Hi, Rick!

Thanks for signing up for one of our free Snow Travel Training Courses! Consider yourself and wife enrolled!

Regarding the type of tent to bring for the Course, you should read our thoughts on the subject at http://postholer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=725 in an article called, "To Tent or Not To Tent."

In a nutshell, the type of shelter you choose depends on the degree of comfort you want. We have seen tarps and tarptents on our Snow Courses perform perfectly well until the snow starts dumping, but these shelters were not designed to hold a snow load like tents who's poles cross over the top (four season variety). Also, the more cold air you can block from blowing into your tent while camping on the snow, the warmer you will be (you may have seen some comments recently regarding this). You can offset this cold air issue with a good down parka and and gloves and an excellently rated sleeping bag, but it's so nice to be able to get out of the cold and into a roomy, double-walled tent where you can move around, change clothes, or cook a meal without having to remain layered up like the Pillsbury Dough Boy!

In our Snow Course Description http://postholer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=736, we encourage our students to bring the shelter of their choice so they can decide if it works for them in the snowy environment of the training trip. In the "To Tent or Not To Tent" article,  we recommend what works and leave the actual choice to the aspiring thru hiker to decide based on their individual desires and goals for their thru hike.

During the Preparation phase of a thru hike, the most important things to learn and realize is "what do I want to get out of my hike" and "what is important to me regarding what I eat, carry, and do on my hike." You need to know yourself well enough to make these decisions at this point. If not, they may be made for you on your actual hike through the trials and tribulations you will go through. To resolve this, take many pre-trip hikes of varying lengths up to 2 or 3 weeks, testing your "systems" of menu, equipment, clothing, hiking style and preferred habits, resupply details, and daily mileage abilities. This way you get to know what you want to get out of your once-in-a-lifetime hike based on what "works" for you. Therefore, there is no concern of "cheating" regarding testing out what "works" for you!

See you soon!

Ned & Juliee Tibbits
Mountain Education
South Lake Tahoe, Ca

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Rick Donahue 
  To: ned at pacificcrestcustombuilders.com 
  Sent: Monday, December 21, 2009 2:35 PM
  Subject: Fwd: snow course for 2010? (fwd)

  Ned,

  My wife and I would like to sign up for April 2-4 if there's room and this date is still on. 

  By the way, we've been using a Tarptent Cloudburst 2 for a few years. It's a very nice
  2 person silnylon single wall. We've had a few condensation issues on a few cold nights
  around Forrester Pass. For 3 season use I have no problems leaving flaps open to
  create ventilation. For your winter course however I'm tempted to find a real double wall
  winter tent so that my wife is not too uncomfortable or cold (or wet). We haven't done any 
  real winter camping together so I don't have a winter tent. Your description of the 
  course on Postholer says people should bring what they plan to use hiking - would my
  scrounging/borrowing somewhere a winter tent be cheating? Thanks in advance.

  --Rick

  ---------- Forwarded message ----------
  From: Richard J Donahue <RJDonahue at lbl.gov>
  Date: Mon, Dec 21, 2009 at 2:21 PM
  Subject: Re: snow course for 2010? (fwd)
  To: Rick Donahue <anutherrick at gmail.com>

  --Rick

  ---------- Forwarded message ----------
  Return-path: <ned at pacificcrestcustombuilders.com>
  Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:24:13
  From: ned at pacificcrestcustombuilders.com
  Subject: Re: snow course for 2010?
  In-Reply-To: <4A971D36.6050001 at lbl.gov>
  To: Rick Donahue <RJDonahue at lbl.gov>

  The Snow Course Schedule for this winter is finally out!

  In case you missed it on the PCT-L and www.postholer.com (see below), the dates for our free, 3-day, on-snow skills training weekends are listed below.

  If you are still interested in attending one of these courses, just email us the date you'd like, the number of people in your group, and an emergency contact cell number (to be used only if the weather is questionable on the start date of your Snow Course).

  We hope you still desire to better your skills in snow camping and travel, avalanche awareness, and self-arrest techniques, just to mention a few of the things we teach once we're out on the snow!

  So, here's the schedule:

   December  4,5,6
   December 18,19,20
   January  16,17,18
   January  29,30,31
   February  13,14,15
   February  26,27,28
   March  12,13,14
   March  26,27,28
   April  2,3,4
   April  9,10,11
   April  16,17,18

   At this point there will be no more Snow Courses scheduled beyond the ADZ Kickoff.

   To find the Snow Course Description, go to http://postholer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=736 or email us.

   Please look over the Forum of ours at http://postholer.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=25 for Preparation, Safety, and Snow Travel relevant topics with which to prepare for your thru hike.

   We hope to see you soon!

   Mtnned & Lady J
   Mountain Education

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  ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rick Donahue" <RJDonahue at lbl.gov>
  To: <ned at pacificcrestcustombuilders.com>
  Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 3:56 PM
  Subject: snow course for 2010?

    Hi Ned,

    I've heard about your snow clinics from the pct-l list. My wife and I really enjoy hiking. Last year it was
    the TRT, this year was the JMT, next year maybe JMT yo-yo and way off in the horizon someday maybe
    the PCT. I grew up rock and ice climbing in NH so I'm very comfortable on snow. My wife grew up in
    the Oakland hills and is not so comfortable. In early May this year she had a slip on a section of the PCT
    near the Benson Hut on an angled slope of snow. She caught a tree and was fine but it really scared her.
    We've practiced self-arrest w/ crampons and ice ax and she does fine. Her problem is when we hike in
    running shoes and occasionally encounter snow. We hit a little this July on the JMT but it really slowed
    her (therefore, us) down because of her hesitancy. The description of your course sounds perfect for her.
    Do you still hold it? If so, and when it's time (I know it's August!), can you keep us in mind? Thanks in
    advance for any info.

    --Rick Donahue

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