[pct-l] SoCal Snow Basics Course, 2012?

[ned at mountaineducation.org]

In order to keep hikers aware and safe as they deal with snow covering the PCT this thru hiking season, Mountain Education is considering providing a 2-day Snow Basics Clinic on Tahquitz Peak, Mt. San Jacinto, Idyllwild, CA on Saturday and Sunday May 5th and 6th, the weekend after the Kickoff. 

This Snow Basics Clinic would cover,

1. Self-Arrest Training & Supervised Practice
2. Over-Snow Safe Travel Techniques (footwear, crampons, poles, balance, ascent, descent & traverse)
3. Safe Route Selection for the Topography (above & below Timberline)
4. Snow Camping
5. Practical Map & Compass for the thru hiker
6. Practical GPS use for the thru hiker
7. Above and Below Timberline Navigation Basics (where am I and where is the trail?)
8. Snow Dangers, Hidden & Obvious
9. Safe Water Acquisition
10. Suncups, morning crust, post-holing, ice, glissades, storms & powder snow
11. Medical Concerns: Hypothermia, Exposure, Dehydration, Caloric Consumption, Emergencies...

(Full Course Description to be posted on our website).

This Clinic would be taught if there is sufficient interest and hikers register with us for the event (go to our site and contact us http://www.mountaineducation.org/contactus.php). Refer to this as "SoCal Snow Basics Clinic, 2012."

As we did the last time we taught this course, it is open to thru hikers coming up from their PCT start at the Border--all you have to do is show up on time--as well as individuals hiking up the trail from Idyllwild (as we will be). For your planning, expect instruction to start in Saddle Junction at 1:00pm on Saturday May 5th.

Cost would be our usual, a suggested donation only (TBD)!

This would be following our Mountain Safety Presentation at the Kickoff, itself, probably on Saturday April 28th in order to prepare thru hikers for what's ahead of them.

At present, our annual Snow Advanced Course ( http://www.mountaineducation.org/mountain-education-pages/courses/ ) is scheduled to leave from Kennedy Meadows the weekend of this proposed Clinic and head up and over Forester Pass, then out over Kearsarge Pass for 10 days. If there are enough hikers registering for the SoCal Snow Basics Clinic, we will bump the start date of that Advanced Course to accommodate the Clinic for everyone.

Again, to provide this Safety Course to anyone interested in SoCal the weekend after the PCT Kickoff, we need to hear from you soon in order to modify the school's schedule!



"Just remember, Be Careful out there!"

Ned Tibbits, Director
Mountain Education
South Lake Tahoe, Ca. 96150
    P: 888-996-8333
    F: 530-541-1456
    C: 530-721-1551
    http://www.mountaineducation.org