Bushcraft Club thread

Good job lads. Its good to see you out when conditions are less than ideal. This is when your skills are tested. Its always a learning experience.

Ill post an update from Beautiful British Columbia when I get photos together

Hick, welcome aboard mate!

That river had a good flow going. When it comes to river crossing, its always a good idea to air on the side of caution. The Mountain Leader syllabus will teach you that a river at knee height should not be crossed. Ive crossed similar rivers at waist height in a decent flow. Bad idea but we had no choice. We ended up using a group wedge to stabilize ourselves and got across at a slow steady pace. We loosened all bag straps and used the tallest person on the leading edge to judge the depth.

preacherman wrote: »

I recognise that accent ...:D

Andrew

You have me interested now, are there any ferrero rocher involved?

Since you lads are milling about quite a bit of late, ill throw my hat into the ring. Thought Id send an update from BC although its more along the lines of mountaineering. The skills still apply.

Canadian winters are harsh and unforgiving, making Canadians themselves rugged outdoors people...in general. However there are those who venture foolish and ignorant into the wilderness only to learn the hard way. A concept we dont have to worry about back home, is the Avalanche. The biggest winter killer of the Canadian mountains. The Avalanche is a sudden rush of snow caused by natural or man made circumstances. Avalanche terrain is something that must be shown the utmost of respect in Winter conditions as it threatens to bury you and your entire group in a matter of seconds.



To my surprise, a persons survival time after being caught in an avalanche can be up to 30 minutes. After that, their chances of survival drops dramatically. However, people have been know to be rescued after 90 minutes. When travelling in avalanche terrain, it is important not just to carry the right equipment but also everyone in the group should have some form of avalanche training. The basic equipment for avalanche terrain is



Avalanche probe - this is a long foldable pole usually ranging from 240cm to 350cm in length that connects together like a tent pole. The pole is not only used to find potential avalanche survivors but also to test the snow conditions and potential shelter areas

Snow shovel - normally a light weight, break down shovel that is used to dig in the snow. This is probably the corner stone to travelling in the snow. The shovel ideally must be rugged, extendable and have a detachable blade. The reason for this is because it should be carried inside the rucksack. No avalanche equipment should be stored outside. The reason being, in an avalanche, this equipment gets ripped from the bag. The shovel builds your shelter, is a rescue tool,digs you latreen and kitchen. Without it, travel in the backcountry is illadvised

Personal transceiver - This is basically a homing beacon. Depending on the model, it can range up to 40 metres. The transceiver has both a Search function and a transmit function. This is used to locate avalanche survivors. It is important at the begining of each day to ensure that each persons transceiver is working correctly and set to transmit. It is worn close to the body and not taken off.

Snow saw - This can be used to build shelters but is also used in testing the avalanche risk of a slope.

For anyone thinking of doing any kind of back country Skiing or Snowboarding, this equipment and the knowledge on how to used them is essential.

The course I took was 2.5 days with 1 overnight in the Coastal Mountain Range. These mountains are North Vancouver, BC. The mountain we camped off, was called Pump Peak, just off a popular Skii resort called Mount Seymour. The course was run by the West Canada Mountain School. Our instructor for the weekend was Jasmine, an experienced teacher in Mountaineering and Climbing all over North and South America. She was very knowledgable and obviously vastly experienced in guiding. It was interesting to see how my experience in Sweden differed to Canada.

The first day of instruction was an evening lesson on Equipment. This covered what to bring and what not to bring and the basic iteninary for the weekend. Having lots of packing experience, it could be easy to switch off and think 'Well i know this' but I found that this is where the experience gaps show. It is interesting to see how people pack their gear. What they bring. What they find useful. What works for them. I took the opportunity to ask Jasmine as many questions as I could on her gear and how she packs it. These minor details are the ones that often take years of experience to pick up. Getting someone elses perspective, especially someone of her experience, was a great opportunity.

Day one of the Weekend involved a brief introduction to maps, the beacons and the rescue gear. I was interested in how the Canadian map varies to our own. In fact they are very similar. Most maps are metric (in distance at least. Sometimes they are imperial in height). They are mostly 1:50,000 which is the standard map used in Ireland. The only differences were in the map details, such as contour intervil, colouring of features and symbols in the legend. I had many questions on how they gauge timing, pacing and their system of navigation. What I found interesting was that they werent as strict on assessments when it came to navigation compared to Ireland and the UK.



After an hour of class work, we geared up and headed out. Except for Jasmine and one other student, we were all on Snow shoes. I had bought a set of Atlas 1030 shoes. Initially I had found a cheaper pair before the course and boy was I glad I went for the better ones. The snow shoes were definitely something you didnt want to fail out there. Unlike the skiis in Sweden, the shoes require little getting used to. The only point to note on them was that they are not as effective for moving across a slope. Up and down hills, great! Traversing, not so good. They are quite wide and cumbersome for this. Our hike took just over 2 hours. We stopped regularly for water breaks. Very important in cold conditions as it is harder to detect dehydration and avoid sweating too much. We also examined avalanche slopes and did some beacon and probe work

The hike in was challenging but well doable by anyone. In fact, the course had a hardy 14 year old girl called Jen. She went through the whole course without a single complaint. I had huge admiration for her. A course full of 30 plus year old lads. She knew no one, carried the same gear as all of us and did a fanatastic job keeping a smile on her face. Kudos.



After the hike in and a bit of Avalanche work, we set up camp. It is important to check the immediate area for avalanche risk and make sure you know where you are on the map. An avalanche slope could be 50 meters away from you and you wouldn't know it. I didnt really experience white out in Sweden but a white out in the mountains is lethal. You could walk straight off a cliff and never know it. Unlike normal conditions in Ireland, the theory behind survival when lost is different. Here, when you are lost, you go uphill, not down. You try and avoid the biggest risk which are avalanches.



The snow shelter, no matter what the configuration, is a fantastic piece of ingenuity. With little more than a shovel and a few hours, you have your home. This protects you from the elements, gives you a place to plan and keep much warmer than a tent. Its something that despite the effort, is always fun to build. For this trip we built snow caves. Note the jagged roof in the picture, this should end up being smooth. There are lots of tricks and tips for building these but I am certainly no expert. It is one of easier skills to learn from a mountaineering perspective but it has a high return. Its one everyone who travels through the snow should get to grips with. The only advice I would offer, is that they take time to build. Plan ahead, if you are going to stop and dig camp. Do it early



One of the coolest things I had never seen before was the kitchen. It is import to build this with shelter, as cooking should not be done in the snow cave. The kitchen was similar to a domestic kitchen, it had counters, seats and cupboards for food storage. There was a side for cutting drinking water and a side for waste water. At night, all the food was stored in the kitchen and cupboards sealed with blocks of snow. This was to prevent animals getting at the food. Birds like the Whiskey Jack would often come and pick at open food. No food was stored in the caves



At night the temperature would drop close to -20. During the day we were lucky at about -10 plus the wind chill. So temperature wise it wasnt too bad. Day two involved an avalanche scenario and rescue and some more theory on winter camp craft.




Boots including laces frozen solid

The most important lessons I took home from this weekend were on personal administration and preparation. Although I felt I did well on both, I can always improve. At one stage in camp, a pair of gloves fell out of my jacket when I was trying to warm them up. 5 minutes later the snow had covered them. One of the lads spotted the draw string and dug them up. I was lucky. I did have an extra 2 pairs but small mistakes like these could be very costly. Your personal camp craft must be very good in these conditions. Know where you kit is. When its not in use, put it away. Keep everything in waterproof sacks. Make sure the important items are accessible. When you are cold, do not stand there. Do something to improve your situation. I got cold in the kitchen as the wind swept in. So I got out and built a wall on the windward side. This improved the situation and warmed me up. Its funny that both Jasmine and Pontus mentioned the same phenomenon to me. Some people when they get cold, all they want to do, is stand still to conserve energy. Keep yourself in check and keep your group in check.

Hi Andrew, Does everyone use the "Hammock/Tarp" sleeping arrangement?? Or do some people use tents??? I've never used a hammock/tarp before, just wondering????

Hey Donal,

Great post on your experiences with Canadian Mountain Skills. Really interesting stuff!

Jim

well folks , really enjoyed the march meet, and as i type your probably enjoying fine weather in cavan for the april meet. raging i couldnt make it, but hopefully may will be a runner.Enjoy and hope to see you all soon

Gearoid

Hey lads,

Woody woodpecker here, decided to jump aboard boards.ie Excellent post hick. Want to say thank's to everyone for a truly fantastic weekend, couldn't have been better. I want to wish the lads best of luck on there trip to Norway and I am looking forward to hearing there stories around the camp fire when when get back!!! All the best lads.

Roberto

Nice write up Hick :-)

How did the April outing go Guys?????