Blizzards » Blizzard Preparedness
Gear, gadgets, and shelter can prolong survival
I read and copied this from the Statesman Journal and thought it's worth it to reprint (the copy right goes to the Statesman Journal):
So you're in a snow cave at 11,000 feet elevation, a Northwest blizzard that you hadn't anticipated blasting at your breathing hole.
How long can you last awaiting rescue?
Salem mountaineers say that there are a lot of factors, most of which involve decisions made before a mountain climb is started.
"That's a tough one," said Bill Brownlee, who in the past 26 years has climbed every major Northwest peak, including 20,320-foot Mount McKinley in Alaska and Mount Shasta in northern California. He also has climbed extensively in Mexico and South America.
"Staying dry, hydrated and warm is the key," Brownlee said, "the main key being to stay dry. If you started out dry, there's a good chance you could stay dry, and surviving a couple weeks isn't unreasonable."
Mountaineers around the Northwest are going through mental checklists since three climbers went missing a week ago on 11,237-foot Mount Hood.
"We're all talking about it in the climbing community," said Keith Garlinghouse, who leads climbs for the Chemeketans, a Salem outdoors-activities club.
The two climbers from Texas and one from New York left a note in their car saying that they were traveling light, planning a quick climb up a difficult route on Mount Hood's north side.
The consensus is that it's important that the climbing group took a shovel for digging a snow cave, a stove with a pot and fuel for melting snow into water and some type of insulation barriers to keep the chill of the snow from coming up from below and lowering their body temperatures. It's assumed, since they are experienced climbers, that they wore high-quality waterproof outer shells to keep them dry.
"It's a winter climb, so you would probably have some kind of pad with you to insulate yourself, and a bivvy sack -- a nylon shell like you'd put a sleeping bag into," Brownlee said. "You can use it without the sleeping bag, so if you have a foam pad and a bivvy sack and you're in a snow cave, you've taken care of the insulation and keeping dry. I'd want those, and I'd want a stove, a pot and fuel as a minimum."
Gear on the next level of handiness:
"A candle would heat a snow cave quite a bit, and you might be able to create some drips to trap a little bit of water if you didn't have a stove," Brownlee said. "A sleeping bag would be great, and some extra food. You can survive without food longer than without water, so water is more a key because dehydration leads to altitude illness and hypothermia. Dehydration is the worst thing."
There's plenty of technological gadgets that should at least be on the checklist of equipment to consider packing. Locator beacons can lead rescuers to mountaineers buried under an avalanche, and cell phone and global-positioning units can be great enhancements in the battle for survival.
Mountain locator units can be checked out at Government Camp or at REI stores, Brownlee said, and devices similar to the locator beacons in the black box of an airplane are now being sold in high-end mountain shops.
"You can activate it and a satellite reads it," Brownlee said. "I was looking at one the other day that costs $650."
Garlinghouse said mountain locator units are required for all Chemeketan outings on Mount Hood "because we don't want to be in this kind of situation." But he says he knows of no individual mountain climber who owns one.
"They're great to have and they are available, but in these conditions, even if they had a locator in a snow cave, nobody can get to them right now," said Rick Posekany of Mill City, who has climbed Mount McKinley and twice has climbed the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere, Aconcagua in Argentina.
He said carrying a cell phone and a global-positioning unit is a good idea.
"In a sense, a cell phone can act as a beacon, but it can pinpoint your location only down to a quarter-mile," Posekany said. "And a quarter-mile circle on the scale of the summit of Mount Hood could put you anywhere down to 7,000 feet. With a cell phone you can call, and with a GPS and a phone you can tell someone exactly where you are."
But neither unit is any good if its batteries are dead.
"If you're going to rely on a cell phone, you need one of those hand-crank chargers because most cell phones have internal batteries that you can't change," he said.
Brownlee added: "There's a lot of technology for being located with a phone now, and to have a dead battery seal your fate would be kind of sad."
The technology that may be most important, the climbers said, is one that must be consulted in advance of striking out.
"The critical decision is the forecast, because weather is the thing that usually causes you problems," Garlinghouse said.
"Pay attention to the weather forecast and don't leave yourself to narrow a window, because weather changes so quickly here in the Northwest," Posekany said. "This is sometimes a problem with people who fly to the Northwest to climb if they're on a tight schedule. Unlike locals who can wait until next weekend, people sometimes have a plane ticket, so they go no matter what. You need to build in flexibility for the weather. Know when to go and know when to stay home."
Once caught in a storm, being smart and being patient can be lifesavers.
"It can depend on how quickly you make a shelter when you realize you have a problem, then how well that shelter works," Garlinghouse said. "Then, don't get panicked and do something silly and get wet and cold. That's a key, not panicking, staying calm and realizing that people are going to come for you. Just hunker down and survive, and don't give up hope."
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Last update: 2007-06-29 07:20
Author: Kai
Revision: 1.1
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