Speed is Safety – Part II

Andrew — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:00:58 +0000

Continued from last Friday…

The best way to lighten your pack is to start with a small one, then leave things out of it. Assume the best, and be ready to improvise if worse comes to worst.

Choose appropriate terrain and objectives.
Lightweight speed outings are best done on easier or familiar terrain. The downside of going light & fast is that you don’t have much of a safety net if things go wrong, so pick objectives which are well within your abilities.

: Brad Barlage moving light & fast on the familar Lowe Route with only a few minutes of daylight left.

Stay warm by moving.
Just as a car’s engine stays warm when it is running, you can keep your body warm by moving instead of piling on extra clothing. Adjust your pace and try to avoid windy ridgelines or cold-sink gullies.

Keep moving by bringing a headlamp.
A simple little LED headlamp can replace many pounds worth of emergency gear as it allows you to keep moving and/or find shelter.

: “Yea, tho I walk through the valley of Snakes and Dogs, I fear no darkness as I have a headlamp.” Brad beginning the walk down from Lone Peak Cirque at 9:00pm.

Be prepared to improvise.
One of my all time favorite lightweight quotes comes from Ray Jardine, an early pioneer of ultralight backpacking; “If you need something and you don’t have it, then you don’t need it.” Sure, a tent, sleeping bag and stove are nice, but you can also survive a night in relative comfort with nothing more than a lighter.

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Speed is Safety – Part I

Andrew — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:00:22 +0000

Moving fast in the mountains is a joy. Heavy camping and hiking has its place, but at the same time, cranking out what is normally a two day trip in six hours is like watching your favorite action film in fast forward. The scenery and thrills are the same, they just come at you a lot faster.

A classic mountain adage is “Speed is safety.” This is true as the less time you spend on a lightning prone ridgetop, in avalanche paths or underneath potential ice fall, the less likely you are to get hit. The flip side is that mistakes happen when you rush. It’s a fine line between hurry and worry.

: Mark Holbrook going from 14,300′ to the 20,320′ summit of Denali in eight hours with only a day pack.

The basis of any fast mountain outing is to reduce your pack weight to a minimum. In climbing, this is known as “A pack, a rack and the shirt on your back.” The skiing version might be “A pack, a snack and there’s nothing you lack.”

Tomorrow: Basic Speed Concepts

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Speed is Safety – Part II

Speed is Safety – Part I