Summer 2007 - The Alpine Club of Canada

More documents

Recommendations

Info

North Face Camp participants adapt to plans B thru Z BY MIKE WINGHAM AND BRYCE LEIGH The North Face – Alpine Club of Canada Leadership Courses are designed to provide advanced training for the Club’s section trip leaders, General Mountaineering Camp amateur rope leaders, and national camp managers. Th e 2007 Winter Leadership Course was held at Vista Lodge in the Esplanade Range of the Selkirk Mountains, about 50 kilometres northwest of Golden, BC. Topics covered included trip planning, group management, avalanche hazard evaluation and rescue techniques, route fi nding, emergency management and short-roping techniques for simple winter climbs. Our group consisted of 10 students, three instructors and the camp cook. We came from Whistler in the west to Gaspé in the east, and points in between. Vista Lodge sits on a meadow next to a lake just above treeline at 2100 metres. Th ere is tree skiing below and lots of alpine terrain above. Most of the nearby peaks are accessible on skis or easily climbed on foot. Th e terrain is fairly complex, off ering lots of learning opportunities for route-fi nding, avalanche hazard evaluation, group management and short-roping. A steep high col, aptly named “Col of the Wild”, accesses more terrain to the north. Th e only shortcoming is the absence of glaciers for glacier travel and crevasse rescue skills, but a small cliff near the Lodge worked admirably as a surrogate crevasse. We divided into three groups that rotated through responsibilities such as weather observations, water hauling and dish washing. Th e three instructors also took turns leading each of the groups on our daily ski trips. Th is allowed us to learn from all the instructors, each of whom had their unique skills and teaching style. Th e controlling factor of the week was the weather. Th e fi rst fi ve days were whiteouts, delivering snow, and more snow – about a metre in all. Th at was followed by two sunny days, but with temperatures around -25°C. We made the most of the whiteout days with classroom sessions every morning and evening, and practice sessions near the hut during the day. Th ere were a few trips further afi eld, but lack of visibility and the avalanche hazard kept us pretty conservative. Perhaps the most important lesson was adapting to the situation and preparing plans B-Z, as well as plan A. One of the best aspects of this course was the wealth and variety of experience of not only the instructors, but the participants as well. Everyone was able to learn something new from everyone else. Another was the realistic avalanche rescue scenario the instructors set up, with six burials at various depths on a steep slope. It tested not only our search skills, but also our ability to organize and coordinate a rescue party. Th ere is a tremendous diff erence between looking for a single transceiver buried under a few centimetres of snow in an open meadow, and searching, probing and digging out multiple packs buried up to two metres deep on a steep treed slope, some on top of each other. Skills and techniques are constantly evolving. We learned the latest in transceiver technology, the Avalanche Terrain Exposure Scale (ATES) system for classifying the exposure of backcountry routes to avalanche hazard, and the Avaluator – a decision-making tool for trip planning and route fi nding in avalanche terrain. Th e culmination of the course was the last day, where each group was responsible for planning and carrying out a trip to a summit in Colpitti Basin. Th is was ‘uncharted territory’ for us, to the north of Col of the Wild. We had to make use of all we had learned so far: map reading, trip planning, avalanche hazard evaluation, group management, navigation, route fi nding, track setting and short-roping. Keeping everyone warm and well-fed was particularly important on that day as temperatures stayed well below -20°C.
Th e course ended with the instructors giving us feedback on our performance during the week. We all went away with a lot more knowledge and confi dence, ready to be put to use as trip leaders and camp managers on future section and national trips. If you work at a wilderness program you can't afford to miss this! The premier wilderness risk managers conference is back in Banff, and better than ever. The 2007 Wilderness Risk Management Conference promises cutting-edge instruction, targeted workshops, and unprecedented networking opportunities. If you're a program administrator, guide, land manager or outdoor leader, this conference is for you. Visit www.nols.edu/wrmc for more information and registration! Do you know about all the rock climbing, ice climbing and backcountry ski festivals taking place across the country? ACC NewsNet subscribers know. To subscribe, email: NewsNet@AlpineClubofCanada.ca WILDERNESS RISK MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE industry leaders Thanks to Th e North Face and the ACC for sponsoring the course; instructors Cyril Shokoples, Peter Amann and Brad Harrison for their wealth of knowledge and repertoire of endless jokes; camp cook Loree Dokimenko who kept us very well fed; and the sections and national offi ce staff who endorsed our selection for this course. cutting-edge intensive curriculum The participants: Lars Backman, Linda Bock, Paul Wagner, Sonja Findlater, Michael Gendreau, Bob Hawboldt, Jean-Raphael Lemieux, Bryce Leigh, John Peachell & Mike Wingham. Far left top: Vista Peak from Vista Col Far left bottom: Participants on Vista Col Left: Brad descending East Ridge of Colpitti Peak Middle: Sonya and Linda on Vista Peak Above: Jean-Raphael on Vista Peak PHOTOS BY MIKE WNGHAM WRMC 2007 BANFF, CANADA OCTOBER 24-26 sessions Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● SUMMER 2007 7
Page 1 and 2: PUBLICATION # 40009034 Vol. 22, No.
Page 3 and 4: The Alpine Club of Canada Publicati
Page 5: New ACC Executive Director “exact
Page 9 and 10: Munday biography brings history ali
Page 11 and 12: DRAGONFLY 8.2 | FUSE 9.4 | NOMAD 9.
Page 13 and 14: particularly helpful in providing i
Page 15 and 16: took our fi rst true rest day due t
Page 17 and 18: ience n Rombach, Kaeli Benoit, Jenn
Page 19 and 20: Whistler hosts fi rst Canadian Ski
Page 21 and 22: world for ice climbing,” Isaac sa
Page 23 and 24: Discover Places of Silence PACKAGE
Page 25 and 26: ACC salutes the BCMC’s centennial
Page 27 and 28: International Space Station. Weight
Page 29 and 30: West Coast members christen Centenn
Page 31: John Lauchlan Award and ACC team up

Summer 2007 - The Alpine Club of Canada

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?