[pct-l] A Wake-Up Call

[Mtnned at aol.com (Mtnned@aol.com)]

Class of 2006:
 
Just thought I'd ask if all of you are aware of the challenges you'll be  
facing negotiating the snow pack and passes once you're in the High  Sierra.  
 
I hope every one of you have spent at least 4 days to a week cranking out  as 
many miles as you can in the snow, under intense sun or nasty, blowing,  
whiteout cold, to test yourselves and your gear.  It's one thing to  hike a 
summer, dry trail toward a pass and top it over a field of snow, maybe  try to 
glissade down the backside, and another to live in it for days on  end.
 
 You're pretty sure you can do the miles needed on dry trail, but what  about 
when you can't see it?  How do you get water out of the creek when  it's at 
the bottom of a six foot, near vertical ice trough?  How do you get  down in 
there at the end of the day when the snow is soup and crusting up and  then back 
out without getting so wet that your clothes and shoes don't freeze  
overnight?  What the hell is a sun cup, anyway?  Can I pick one up or  stand in it and 
can they hurt me?
 
Just know how to deal with what's ahead.  Ask questions, read  books, take a 
course about snow camping and learn the skills of ice axe and  crampon use, 
how to descend on icy snow, and avalanche awareness.  Then  practice it!
 
 You have a few weeks left.  You're going to be gone for several  months.  
Get done with your planning and logistics and gear.  Now is  the time to make 
sure you are ready.  In my opinion, the  only way to accurately prepare your 
muscles for hiking is to hike, so get out  and hike with a fully loaded pack!  
Continue to do something aerobic for  your cardiovasculature, you'll need it on 
the climbs and at altitude. This is  good for the brown trail, not the white 
one.
 
With the time you have left, include as often as you can test runs at  
altitude in the snow.  Just to balance, you will use leg muscles you didn't  know 
were there, and they may scream at you and stop you in cramping pain unless  you 
practice often.  Find out how many miles you can do,  how to pack a tent 
that's frozen to the snow, what a snow pit is, the dangers of  overexposure, 
underhydration, and electrolyte loss, snowblindness, sunscreen,  sideshields, and 
what to do with the used toilet paper....
 
Are you practiced in snow camping and snow travel?  You'll be in it  sooner 
than you think.
 
I will be speaking on this topic at Trail Fest and the KO and am at your  
service at answer any of your questions via email.  Should this be a  wake-up 
call to you, why don't you join some of the other members of the class  of 2006 
reading this as they attend one of our 4-day shakedown clinics  called 
"PCT-Prep." to learn all the above and more? You'll come away more  confident with 
yourself and assured of what you can and shouldn't do in the snow  when traveling 
at altitude for extended time.  Ask L-rod about me, she's  joining!
 
Just be prepared!
 
Mtnned
Mountain Education
Pacific Crest Builders
 
ps - sorry about the cross post!