[pct-l] RE: pct-l snow training

[ronyon at comcast.net (Ron Smith)]

When I first bought "Freedom of the Hills" I was living in Houston too.
Not much I could do beyond obtaining a textbook knowledge of self
arrest. The way I ultimately put my knowledge into practice was by, once
I was on the trail, subsequently practicing self-arrest on minor,
forgiving snowfields along the way. By the time I encountered a serious
snowfield I felt confident and competent. I suggest that you can do the
same, stopping and practicing as the opportunity arises. As Suge pointed
out, it's not that hard to gain skills of basic self-arrest, chopping
steps, how to carry your ice axe, etc. Of course, if you have the
opportunity to take a class, all the better.

Ron

> 
> I would pick up a copy of "Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills....
> 
> Suge
> 
> On Thu, 15 Jan 2004, Jonathan Cobb wrote:
> > Hello everyone,
> >
> > I've been looking through the archives to find some info on where to
> learn how to deal with the snow, but my eyes are starting to hurt do I
> will just ask.  I live in Houston where we get 1/4" of snow (or snow
like
> stuff) about every 10 years soooo. where can I learn how to not fall
> hundreds of feet down a slope, how to self-arrest, how not to start an
> avalanche, etc? Is learning from others "on the job" sufficient? Is
there
> a class I need to take somewhere? Will I learn fron others at the
> bottleneck at Kennedy Meadows assuming I haven't died before then? ;)
FWIW,
> I  have backpacking experience including a small part of the CDT but
> nothing with serious snow.
> >