[pct-l] A Wake-Up Call

[patch at aidshike.org (Dr. Patch O'Malley IV)]

Yeah, I agree, this is out of whack. Three things you need to know as a 
thru-hiker in the snow:
1. Navigation in and out of a whiteout
2. How to get low at the end of the day
3. Your energy limits

If you can navigate, you'll be on trail. Even if you can't, you can 
simply keep going north, and eventually you'll hit the same road the 
rest of the pack does (Smiley did this time and again when he lost trail).

If you can get low at the end of the day, you won't have to camp in the 
snow, and you'll be able to duck out of any minor snow storms.

If you know your energy limits, you'll know if you're going up when you 
should be going down, and you'll know you can run to stay warm in a snow 
storm for X number of hours. Really, unless you're in one hell of a 
storm, staying warm isn't that hard so long as you're moving at a good pace.

As for self-belay and self-arrest, you'll be ok. I saw many people that 
didn't know how to use an ice axe. They carried it anyway, and got 
through alive. The PCT skirts around most of the bad zones anyway.

Avalanches aren't really a problem when we get to the snow.

All that said, the more you know, and the more carefully you choose who 
to roll with, the better off you'll be.

-patch



Mtnned@aol.com wrote:

>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!
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