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How to avoid, recognize and treat Hypothermia:
PREPARE FOR THE WORST BEFORE SETTING OUT IN THE WINTER
PREPARE FOR THE WORST BEFORE SETTING OUT IN THE WINTER
Op-Ed By Bob Speik
Bulletin Guest Columnist
Published on November 28, 2010
The Sunday Bulletin’s Fall/Winter High Desert Pulse article "Surviving the cold"
by reporter Briana Hostbjor, might be helpful for some but it misses a good
opportunity to give novice to advanced hikers, snowshoers, skiers, hunters,
snowmobilers, climbers and other outdoor folks, facts they need to mitigate the inherent
risk of hypothermia during outdoor winter adventures.
Ms. Hostbjor advises us to 1. Avoid severe cold if you are able, wear layers and
a hat, drink warm liquids, “and have access to a shelter or know how to make in
case you become stranded outdoors”. Travel in groups so you can help each other
and share body heat. 2. Stay dry and remove wet clothes as soon as possible. 3.
Don’t wear cotton! Wear wool or fleece. “And if you have an outer shell that
repels water and can keep you dry, all the better.” 4. Avoid alcohol and 5. Help
the young and old.
Three large illustrations show a man wearing a heavy shirt and big heavy jacket,
wide open at the neck, and a big hat and mittens. The text in the illustrations
features the Fahrenheit core temperature of individuals with mild, moderate and
severe hypothermia, of clinical interest to medical personnel with thermometers.
The statement, ”If you’re stuck outdoors, curl into a ball, sitting upright”, is
bad advice, read below. This Pulse article misses an opportunity to provide
informed, practical information for Bulletin readers who venture into the
outdoors in winter.
Avoiding hypothermia on a winter’s day adventure starts with a trip plan.
Base your trip plan on your study of a good map, for a snowshoe walk, a hunt, or
a climb to a summit, all best done with companions. Carry a $7.00 USGS topo map,
a $30.00 base plate compass adjusted for 16 degrees declination and perhaps a
simple current $99.00 GPS receiver, now accurate to 4.1 meters.
Next in importance is a weather dependent collection of personal clothing
layers.
Wear synthetic base-layer underwear that wicks moisture, mid-layers of
insulating Polypro and pile that do not absorb moisture and an absolutely
essential waterproof-breathable jacket-and-pants for rain, snow and wind
protection. (Non-breathable rain gear almost ensures heavy sweating with
dehydration and wetness.)
The purpose of having clothing “layers” is to prevent base and mid layers from
becoming sweat-soaked when very active, by removing insulating layers. Cotton
clothing, wet from absorbed sweat, rain, snow, foliage, etc. can induce
hypothermia by the efficient cold conduction by water from even 50 degree air.
Each person must wear and carry the best clothing system needed for the forecast
weather. Carry various hat and glove layers, not just your big woolly hat and
mittens. Stuff your puffy down jacket into your light day-pack. It will help
insulate you at lunch stops and through the night.
The onset on hypothermia in a companion is unmistakable to an informed observer.
The moment your body losses essential heat faster than it is producing heat, you
will begin to shiver involuntarily and your body will begin to shut down blood
flow to your extremities to maintain temperature in its core. You will begin to
lose control of your hands, motor skills and reasoning. You will have the
“Umbles” - you will mumble, grumble, stumble, tumble, fumble and bumble.
Immediate action needs to be taken by your group.
Slow down or stop! Body heat is lost at a high rate from heavy breathing. Don’t
permit yourselves to sweat. Don’t exhaust your limited glycogen reserves. Trying
to find your way or reach an unrealistic destination can be a fatal error.
Starting a fire in a snow storm is generally impossible; “sheltering” in the
snow requires special skills, insulating pads and snow shovels.
You body produces heat from digesting food and from muscle contractions
including uncontrollable shivering. Do not “curl up into a ball, sitting
upright”. Exercise vigorously in place, eat and drink.
Here is how to “Be Prepared”.
You must plan for the unexpected. Each person
should dress for the forecast weather and carry extra clothing layers for
protection from a drop in temperature and possible rain or snow storm or an
unexpected cold wet night out, an insulating pad for the wet ground or snow,
high carbohydrate snack food, two quarts of water or Gatorade, a map, compass
and inexpensive GPS and the skills to use them together. Carry the traditional
"Ten Essential Systems" in a day-pack, five pounds in summer, sized for the season and the forecast
weather.
Tell a Responsible Person where you are going, where you plan to park, when you
will return and make sure that person will call 911 at the time you specified.
Carry your common digital cell phone, as well.
If you become injured, lost or stranded, talk with 911 immediately, don't wait
until nightfall and you are desperate.
Help take the ‘search’ out of search and rescue.
SAR’s volunteer services are free in Oregon!
Copyright©, 2010-2011 by Robert Speik. All Rights Reserved.
Robert Speik lives in Bend and writes for his website,
www.TraditionalMountaineering.org
How can I prevent, recognize and treat hypothermia in the backcountry?
How can I prevent, recognize and treat
hypothermia in the backcountry?
By Robert Speik
November 2010
Exposure is said to be the number one killer of
people in the outdoors. Exposure begins when our bodies loose heat faster than
heat is produced.
Exposure is the ninth ranked contributory cause out of twenty one, for the
immediate cause of deaths since 1951, in North American Mountaineering.
Hypothermia, the lowering of a person’s core temperature, may be a better term to use when we are explaining the danger to our friends.
Q. How can I prevent hypothermia?
1. Preventing hypothermia on a Spring, Fall or Winter’s day
adventure starts with a trip plan and the ability to call for help if required:
Base your trip plan on your study of a good topo map, for a
snowshoe walk, a hunt, or a climb to a summit, all best done with companions.
Carry a $7.00 USGS topo map, a $30.00 base plate compass adjusted for 16 degrees
East declination (in Central Oregon) and perhaps a simple current $99.00 GPS
receiver like the Garmin eTrex H, now accurate to just 4.1 meters!
Five Basic Responsibilities
Learn to use map, compass and GPS, together! Best
maps Best compass
Best GPS
Carry an ordinary digital cell phone from a
Provider which best covers the backcountry and an optional SPOT 2 GPS Satellite
Messenger. Have a Responsible Person who knows you and your plan, who will call
911 if you do not return by an agreed time. Each member of your group should
carry their ordinary digital cell phone in a pants pocket, turned off unless an
emergency should take place.
What is the
best cell phone for the backcountry? SPOT 2
Satellite GPS Messenger
2. Next in importance is a weather and trip dependent collection of personal
clothing layers, carried by each participant in a light day pack, three pounds
in summer, a little more in winter.
What
do you carry in your winter day pack?
We produce body heat in one major way: by the
contraction of our large muscles.
We can control our production of heat and sweat by adjusting our pace and
elevation gain, limited by the capacity of the least able in the group. If
we are unable to exercise because we are exhausted, or injured or stranded in
one place because we are lost or it is a very dark night or we must care for an
injured companion, and we are sweaty and tired, we are in danger of becoming
hypothermic, even in 50 degree weather!
We avoid becoming cold in any weather, by controlling the production of heat and the loss of body heat with special clothing, properly used.
Heat is lost in five simple ways:
1. Conduction: Heat loss from direct contact between a warm body and with a
cold one, i.e. sitting or lying on the snow without an insulating pad.
2. Convection: Heat lost to moving air or water, i.e. the wind strips
heat from you, i.e. the cold find goes right through my sweater.
3. Evaporation: Heat lost from the evaporation of water from your skin,
i.e. an evaporative cooler, i.e. my clothes are drying but I am freezing cold.
4. Respiration: Heat lost in the process of breathing in cold air and
exhaling warm moist air, i.e. I must breathe through my wool scarf.
5. Radiation: Heat is lost by the radiation of warmth to the cold air
i.e. when I stop hiking, I get really cold. Wear hats and gloves and change them
with the weather and exertion.
We wear special synthetic clothing layers
chosen for the forecast weather and the specific adventure and carry extra
clothing for a change in the weather and/or a forced overnight stop:
Synthetic clothing fibers are adsorbent: synthetic fibers like
polypropylene, fleece and pile do not absorb water. Cotton clothing fibers can
absorb up to 70 times their weight in water! Wet clothing conducts cold
25 times faster than still air!
a. We wear a non-cotton, wicking, loosely fitting, light and thin Capeline or
polypropylene base layer.
b. We add or remove insulating, loose-fitting mid-layers.
c. As necessary, we add a top and bottom wind proof and/or
windproof/waterproof/breathable outer layer.
We add or remove layers to adjust the venting
of excess body heat to avoid sweat-wetness during strenuous exercise and to
protect us from the wetness of rain, and snow and the cooling effect of wind.
The layers must be loose to ease friction and allow air to circulate.
What do you
wear for a backcountry adventure in the winter?
We must stay dry:
We guard against loss of heat by the evaporation of water and sweat. Wind
refrigerates (sweat or rain) wet skin or clothing by evaporating the moisture!
We don an outer layer of jacket and pants constructed of modern
waterproof-breathable fabric such as Gore-Tex. We avoid the cooling effect of
wind by donning outer layers. Some polypropylene garments are designed to be
wind resistant, perhaps at speeds up to 30 mph.
We must avoid exhaustion. Do not go at a speed beyond the capacity of your
least capable companion. Try not to sweat. If forced to stop exercising, we
may be moments from violent, incapacitating shivering, loss of judgment and the
use of our hands. We must shelter from the wind, make a bivouac or return to
camp before we lose the ability to do so.
3. A third important way to avoid hypothermia is by eating and drinking
knowledgably.
As we hike and climb, we must eat simple carbohydrates (such as ClifBars) and we
must stay hydrated.
To refuel our muscle fuel as we hike and climb hard, we must snack hourly,
on easily digested convenient foods that are high in carbohydrates (sugar) and
low in fat and with moderate protean. ClifBars meet this requirement. Endurance
athletes know that our human muscles burn 30% glycogen to help our bodies
efficiently burn fat, our main muscle fuel. Muscles "burn" fat (70%), with
stored glycogen, in the presence of Oxygen (hiking at an aerobic pace, talking
and not gasping for breath). Fat is stored in almost infinite amounts, easily
seen on some of us; Glycogen is stored in finite amounts, unseen inside our
muscles.
What
should we know about "Carboration and Hydration" in aerobic mountaineering?
Jerky is primarily protein and salt, and despite popular folklore, has no place in the Essentials. Ask any track coach what you should eat before and during aerobic exercise.
However, when we shelter we can benefit from ingesting fatty foods such as GORP, because the more difficult chemical digestion of fats can help warm our bodies. GORP
We must drink water (with the high carbohydrate snack food, every hour) to keep our blood thin and circulating properly. If you allow yourself to become dehydrated, your thickened blood can not circulate as efficiently to your fingers, nose and toes.
If you eat without drinking water with the food, fluid will be drawn from your blood and sent to your stomach to liquefy the food so it can be sent where it is needed by the blood stream.
Keep your water from freezing by carrying it in a Nalgene or Platypus bag, inside your clothing. Carry a small hiking stove, pot and fuel in your winter essentials. (This can be Group gear. Hide it in your buddy's pack?)
If we know how, we can avoid hypothermia!
Q. How can I recognize hypothermia?
The onset on hypothermia in a companion is unmistakable to an
informed observer. Watch yourself and others for the following overt symptoms:
The "UMBLES":
The moment your companion's body losses essential heat faster than it is
producing heat, he will begin to shiver involuntarily and his body will begin to
shut down blood flow to his extremities to maintain temperature in its core. He
will begin to lose control of his hands, motor skills and reasoning. He will
have the “UMBLES” - he will mumble, grumble, stumble, tumble, fumble and bumble.
He may be careless in his dress against the cold and wind, he may drop a glove
or a hat. (Don't be shy! A group I was training 30 years ago, allowed me to
display all the symptoms and almost collapse in the snow before they asked if I
was OK. They were shocked when I came back from the "dead" and chewed them out!)
Your companion may deny he is in trouble (I’m OK, I’m OK). Believe the symptoms not the patient. Even mild symptoms demand immediate, emergency treatment.
You will not be able to use a standard glass and mercury thermometer because of his uncontrolled teeth chattering and the shivers. Rely on your observations of the "UMBLES".
You may become unable to
recognize these symptoms in your self!
Appoint a foul-weather leader whose job is to think
about the dangers of this insidious problem for outdoor recreationists. This
person might be the best-protected, strongest, most experienced member of the
group, an Assistant Leader, responsible for calling a halt before the least
protected member of the group becomes uncoordinated or exhausted or begins
violent shivering.
Q. How can I treat hypothermia?
Immediate action needs to be taken by your group. Stop! Trying to find your way
in a storm or dark of night or reach an unrealistic destination can be a fatal
error.
Climbing together
Following the
Leader
If you know your reasonable way back to camp or car using
your map, compass and GPS together, stop for a few minutes.
Get the hypothermic companion, as best you can, into more dry clothes, from his
day pack or from companion's extra layers. If he can talk with you, give him
water with Gatorade from your Ten Essential Systems and a ClifBar or equal. Get
him in a better hat and glove system, add a wool scarf from your pack. Give
heavy stuff from his gear to others who volunteer. Ten
Essential Systems
Tell him to snap out of it! Tell him not to be embarrassed. Make him engage in conversation. Have him empty his bladder because his body may be trying to maintain his urine at 98.6 degrees at the expense of his hands and feet. Have him exercise vigorously in place, drink a bit and eat a snack, if he can. Tell him exactly how the group can get back to camp or car. Explain that the alternative may be very bad. Have him hike right behind you with a strong buddy who can help and encourage him to get back to shelter. "Short rope" him to a strong companion too, if feasible.
If you have waited to long to discover and deal with the
problem of a single hypothermic companion who might have been revitalized, you
may have to "shelter" to care for him.
Contact 911 now, if you have not!
Firstly, starting a fire in a snow storm is generally
impossible; “sheltering” in the snow requires special skills, insulating pads
and snow shovels, and sleeping bags and stoves with pots: i.e. all companions
geared up for an overnight "bivy". It can take an hour or more to construct a
minimal snow cave "shelter" for two persons, hours to bivy a group in a storm.
Why are snow
caves dangerous?
If you can solve the problem of
"shelter" in a snow storm with your group snow shovels, pads and sleeping bags,
you can gently add warmth
to the victim.
1. The Patient has been unable to generate enough heat to reverse his
hypothermia.
a. You will have to add heat if he or she is to recover.
b. You should not put him in a sleeping bag with a quart of warm water and let
him go to sleep!
2. Gently remove the Patient's wet clothing.
a. Do not massage a hypothermic person! You must not move the cold toxic blood
from his extremities to his core.
b. Get him into extra dry clothing and a sleeping bag. Keep him awake and
engaged.
3. Add warmth to the victim.
a. Give him warm drinks and sweet snacks.
b. Use commercial heat packs such as "Little Hotties Warmers" (I kid you not,
they are an Official Supplier to the US Ski Team!)
c. Place warm Nalgene or Platypus water bags or bottles at his armpits and
groin. Wrap the water bags or bottles; do not burn the victim!
Note: Don't carry a 2 ounce MSR stove and 3 ounce Propane can and a quart
pot on a winter hunt or climb? Shame on you!
Here is a Traditional response we have discussed in theory: Have volunteers
take a big drink of their water, add the rest of their water to companion's bags
or bottles, then pea in their bag or bottle,
close it well and warm the victim with pea at 98.6 degrees. The victim will
buy you new bottles, if he survives. You should be using wide mouth bags in the
winter, (so you can add snow as you go).
You can keep bags, not bottles, from freezing, in the big pockets in your
mid layers or big DAS Parka Belay Jacket
4. If the Patient is semiconscious or worse, add heat very carefully:
a. Do not massage a semiconscious hypothermic person! You must not move the cold
toxic blood from his extremities to his core.
b. Use commercial heat packs such as "Little Hotties Warmers" (I kid you not,
they are an Official Supplier to the US Ski Team!)
c. Place warm Nalgene or Platypus water bags or bottles at his armpits and
groin. Wrap the water bags or bottles; do not burn the victim!
d. Do not try to give him food or drink that may choke him.
5. If the patient is unconscious:
a. Understand that the patient can not reverse the hypothermia themselves;
external heat must be applied to reverse this condition!
b. Leave the patient stripped naked (to dry underwear, of course) and carefully
put the patient into a warmed winter sleeping bag on top of several ensolite
pads, with one or more persons stripped naked (to their dry underwear, of
course) who will act as heat donors. Skin to skin full body contact is required
to be effective in warming a hypothermic patient.
Note: On one 1980's traditional
crevasse rescue on the Fisher Chimneys Route on Mt. Shuksan in the Washington
Cascades, two young ladies were stuck between walls of ice, deep in the
crevasse.
Several rope teams of climbers were available, but it took a long time to
extract the women and they were in mid-stage hypothermia. Teams of
climber/donors ran up and down the glacier until they
were hot and sweaty, before getting into the sleeping bags with the two
semiconscious hypothermic young ladies awaiting helicopter transport.
The Mountaineers
Note: Guided groups and school
groups no longer advocate the the traditional "naked heat donors" method. On the
advice of Counsel, they prescribe the less effective "burrito wrap" with tarps,
sleeping bags
and warm water bags and bottles.
Note: The hospital can remove all of the patent's blood, clean and warm the blood and return it to the patient. Don't try to do this yourself in the field!
6. Call 911 if you have not! If you
have not, you have waited too long!
a. Use your ordinary cell phones (warm from a pants pocket) and/or your warm
$149.00 SPOT GPS Satellite Messenger with Lithium batteries, to contact SAR
through 911. Batteries cold? Use new Lithium batteries kept in a pants pocket or
warmed with a Little Hottie Hand Warmer. Take the search out of Search and
Rescue!
SPOT GPS Satellite Messenger reviewed
b. If you can connect using a cell phone from the several in your group, give
the SAR Incident Commander your UTM (NAD 27) GPS Coordinants. Describe your
group and your current situation. SAR may advise you to "shelter" where you are
or perhaps that you are "just a half mile walk at 180 degrees true, across the
snow field to the Trail Head". Check your map!.
Two
climbers become lost descending Mount Hood
COLD INJURIES:
Hypothermia will surely be accompanied by cold injuries such as frostbite or
worse. This is a separate medical condition. Read "Backcountry First Aid and
Extended Care" by Buck Tilton for the Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS for
care of cold injuries and hypothermia patients.
Expert skier lost for days, off piste in Washington.
Plan your trip well, stay hydrated, nourished with simple carbohydrates, in a
continuously aerobic state, dry and protected by your clothing and accessories
from wetness and heat loss from conduction, convection, radiation, evaporation
and heavy respiration!
Mount Hood, the Episcopal School Tragedy.
Copyright©, 2010 by Robert Speik. All Rights Reserved.
A suggested minimum standard media advisory for all backcountry travelers
"We would like to take this opportunity to ask
our visitors to the backcountry of Oregon to Plan for the unexpected. Each person should dress for the forecast weather and take minimum extra clothing to
provide protection from a drop in temperature and possible rain or snow storm or an unexpected cold wet night out. Each person should carry high carbohydrate
snacks, two quarts of water or Gatorade, a topo map and declination adjusted base plate compass and an optional inexpensive GPS (and the
skills to use them together). Each person who has a cell phone should carry their ordinary charged cell phone
(from a service provider that has the best local backcountry coverage). An inexpensive SPOT-2
GPS Satellite Communicator is a good additional option for some. Each person should carry their selected items from the
new 'Ten Essentials Systems' in a day pack sized for the individual, the trip, the season and the forecast weather."
"Visitors are reminded to tell a Responsible Person where they are going, where
they plan to park, when they will be back and to make sure that person understands that they are relied upon to call 911 at a certain
time if the backcountry traveler has not returned. Call 911 as soon as you become lost or stranded. You will not be charged. Do not try to find your way
until you are benighted, exhausted, or worse yet - wet. Your ordinary cell phone call to 911 can take the 'Search' out of Search and Rescue."
THE MISSION of TraditionalMountaineering.org
"To provide information and instruction about world-wide basic to advanced alpine mountain climbing safety skills and gear, on and off trail hiking, scrambling and light and fast Leave No Trace backpacking techniques based on the foundation of an appreciation for the Stewardship of the Land, all illustrated through photographs and accounts of actual shared mountaineering adventures."
TraditionalMountaineering is founded on the premise that "He who knows naught, knows not that he knows naught", that exploring the hills and summitting peaks have dangers that are hidden to the un-informed and that these inherent risks can be IN PART, identified and mitigated by mentoring: information, training, wonderful gear, and knowledge gained through the experiences of others.
The value of TraditionalMountaineering to our Friends and Subscribers is the selectivity of the information we provide, and its relevance to introducing folks to informed hiking on the trail, exploring off the trail, mountain travel and Leave-no-Trace light-weight bivy and backpacking, technical travel over steep snow, rock and ice, technical glacier travel and a little technical rock climbing on the way to the summit. Whatever your capabilities and interests, there is a place for everyone in traditional alpine mountaineering.
WARNING - *DISCLAIMER!*
Mountain climbing has inherent dangers that can, only in part, be mitigated
Read more . . .
How can I avoid, recognize and treat Hypothermia?
Op-Ed: Prepare for the worst before setting out in the winter
Mount Hood - Analysis of the December 2009 deaths by hypothermia, of three climbers on Reid Glacier Headwall
Climber on Mt. Rainier dies of hypothermia in brief storm. What happened
Prineville hunter lost 4 days and 3 nights in the Ochoco National Forest
South Sister, solo hiker found unconscious near the summit
Three stranded hikers assisted from atop South Sister by SAR
Several lost hiker incidents near Sisters, Oregon, resolved by SAR
Fallen solo climber on Mount Thielsen, rescued by chance encounter
Locator beacons "supposedly" can take the search out of Search and Rescue
OpEd: Yuppie 911 devices can take the "search" out of Search and Rescue
OpEd, Cell phones critical in the wilderness
In Memory of Chris Chan, July 9, 2010
Avalanche kills snowmobiler near Paulina Peak
Snowshoer, "lost" near Wanoga snowpark, rescued by SAR
Gear grist, an article written for The Mountaineer, the monthly magazine of The Mountaineers
Robert Speik writes: "There is no denying the sense of cell" for The Mountaineer
Snowboarder lost overnight near Mount Bachelor, rescued by SAR
Expert skier lost five days in North Cascades without Essentials, map and compass
Woman leaves car stuck in snow near Klamath Falls, dies from exposure
Man rescued from crevasse just off South Sister climber's trail
Climbing South Sister: A Prospectus and a Labor Day near disaster
Trail runner survives fall on ice with cell phone call
Once again, hypothermia kills stranded Oregon driver
Lessons learned from the latest lost Mt. Hood climbers
Lessons learned from the latest lost Christmas tree hunters
How do digital mobile phones assist mountaineering and backcountry rescues?
Clinic on Real Survival Strategies and Staying Found with Map, Compass and GPS together
Lithium batteries recommended for GPS backcountry use
What do you carry in your winter day and summit pack?
Why is the digital cell phone best for backcountry and mountaineering?
Why are "Snow Caves" dangerous?
Why are "Space Blankets" dangerous?
Why are "Emergency Kits" dangerous?
How can you avoid Hypothermia?
Missing climbers on Mount Hood, one dies of exposure, two believed killed in fall
Missing California family found, dad dies from exposure and hypothermia
Missing man survives two weeks trapped in snow-covered car
Missing snowmobile riders found, Roger Rouse dies from hypothermia
Olympic Champion Rulon Gardner lost on snowmobile!
Lost Olympic hockey player looses feet to cold injury
Expert skier lost five days near resort in North Cascades
without map, compass, gps or cell phone
Mount Hood - The Episcopal School Tragedy
Mount Hood - experienced climbers rescued from snow cave
How can you learn the skills of snow camping?
Prospectus
Lost and Found
Three climbers missing on Mt. Hood, all perish
Prineville hunter lost 4 winter days and 3 nights in the Ochoco National Forest
Missing California family found, dad dies from exposure and hypothermia
Missing man survives two weeks trapped in snow-covered car
Missing snowmobile riders found, Roger Rouse dies from hypothermia
Lost climber hikes 6.5 miles from South Sister Trail to Elk Lake
Hiking couple lost three nights in San Jacinto Wilderness find abandoned gear
Expert skier lost five days in North Cascades without Essentials, map and compass
Climber disappears on the steep snow slopes of Mount McLaughlin
Hiker lost five days in freezing weather on Mount Hood
Professor and son elude search and rescue volunteers
Found person becomes lost and eludes rescuers for five days
Teens, lost on South Sister, use cell phone with Search and Rescue
Lost man walks 27 miles to the highway from Elk Lake Oregon
Snowboarder Found After Week in Wilderness
Searchers rescue hiker at Smith Rock, find lost climbers on North Sister
Girl Found In Lane County After Lost On Hiking Trip
Search and rescue finds young girls lost from family group
Portland athlete lost on Mt. Hood
Rescues after the recent snows
Novice couple lost in the woods
Broken Top remains confirmed as missing climber
Ollalie Trail - OSU Trip - Lost, No Map, Inadequate Clothing
Your Essential Light Day Pack
What are the new Ten Essential Systems?
What does experience tell us about Light and Fast climbing?
What is the best traditional alpine mountaineering summit pack?
What is Light and Fast alpine climbing?
What do you carry in your day pack?
Photos?
What do you carry in your winter day pack?
Photos?
What should I know about "space blankets"?
Where can I get a personal and a group first aid kit?
Photos?
Carboration and Hydration
Is running the Western States 100 part of "traditional mountaineering"?
What's wrong with GORP?
Answers to the quiz!
Why do I need to count carbohydrate calories?
What should I know about having a big freeze-dried dinner?
What about carbo-ration and fluid replacement during traditional alpine climbing?
4 pages in pdf
What should I eat before a day of alpine climbing?
About Alpine Mountaineering:
The Sport of Alpine Mountaineering
Climbing Together
Following the Leader
The Mountaineers' Rope
Basic Responsibilities
Cuatro Responsabiliades Basicas de Quienes Salen al Campo
The Ten Essentials
Los Diez Sistemas Esenciales
Our Leader's Guidelines:
Our Volunteer Leader Guidelines
Sign-in Agreements, Waivers and Prospectus
This pdf form will need to be signed by you at the trail head
Sample Prospectus
Make sure every leader tells you what the group is going to do; print a copy for your "responsible person"
Participant Information Form
This pdf form can be printed and mailed or handed to the Leader if requested or required
Emergency and Incident Report Form
Copy and print this form. Carry two copies with your Essentials
Participant and Group First Aid Kit
Print this form. Make up your own first aid essentials (kits)
About our World Wide Website:
Information
Mission
Map, Compass and GPS
Map, compass and GPS navigation training Noodle in The Badlands
BLM guidelines for Geocaching on public lands
Geocaching on Federal Forest Lands
OpEd - Geocaching should not be banned in the Badlands
Winter hiking in The Badlands WSA just east of Bend
Searching for the perfect gift
Geocaching: What's the cache?
Geocaching into the Canyon of the Deschutes
Can you catch the geocache?
Z21 covers Geocaching
Tour The Badlands with ONDA
The art of not getting lost
Geocaching: the thrill of the hunt!
GPS in the news
A GPS and other outdoor gadgets make prized gifts
Wanna play? Maps show you the way
Cooking the "navigation noodle"