A Brief Lesson in Avalanche Safety

Test for the possibility of avalanche by digging a straight horizontal line across the snow about two feet wide, and at least 6 to 10 inches deep. Then dig downward at a right angle from each end of your initial line, then complete a square by digging another line paralell to the first, leaving a raised square in the center. Lock your hands around the top of the square you have built in the snow, and pull downward, in order to determine the strength of the snowpack. If the snow seems solid, it is probably okay to climb on it. However, if you are able to slide the square of snow downward relatively easily, you may be in danger of causing an avalanche by climbing on the surface of the snow.

Caught in an avalanch, a person buried may have only 15 minutes to live before suffocating. If you are caught in an avalanch, you could be disorientated, and not know which way is up or down. One way of finding out which way to dig yourself out would be to spit. Due to natural gravitational pull, your spit will always fall downward, telling you which way is up. Once you have determined the upward direction, you can begin to dig upward,

Update on Five Mt Hood Hikers Reported Missing

According to the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office this evening, the five climbers have reported that they were caught in a snow storm, with whiteout contitions, while returning from a one day climb on Mt. Hood. But on a positive note, they have proven to have a cell phone, and a global positioning system, as well as an activated mountain locator unit. Search and rescue teams have been in contact with the group, and instructed them to dig a snow cave to shield them from the harsh elements. It sounds so far as if they might be forced to spend the night on the mountain.

Clackamas County Sheriff's Office also reports that the rescue teams could depart as early as tonight, hopeful to arrive back at Timberline Lodge around 3:00 a.m. Sunday, with five un-injured climbers.

Wilderness Survival Spring Hiking Tips

As winter fades away, we tend to forget the dangers that are present when going on hikes in the spring. Rain and ice are still a very real danger during this time of year, but the deceivingly clear skies tend to fool us into thinking it's warm outside. Protect yourself, and be prepared for either winter weather, or spring sunshine. A wise man I know says, "It's Oregon, bring your sunglasses and your umbrella." Remind yourself of the following when traveling, hiking or biking in the forest:

• Tell someone else where you are going, so that if there is trouble - someone will know where to begin looking for you.
• Bring a backpack with your basic needs.
• Know what your plan is if the weather turns bad quickly, as it often does in the spring.
• Bring something plastic to cover yourself with, such as a poncho, large trash bag, or tarp in case you are caught in the rain while in a wide open space with little or no cover available.
• If there is a chance of rain, avoid lower-elevation hikes that run along the rivers to lessen the chance of being caught in swelling waters or flooding.
• Stay on logging roads or well traveled back-roads if you are driving.
• Use 4-wheel drive on dirt roads where puddles could be thick mud, and many times are deeper than they appear.
• Be prepared for snow, ice, freezing water, hail, and bright sun. Around here, you could see it all in one day. Night tempuratures are still below freezing in many areas.
• Higher elevations are still snowy and icy, and some roads are still closed - Even if they are not marked as closed, some roads are simply located in higher elevations, and could be blocked by snow. Many roads are not plowed all winter, and could pose a serious threat to people stuck in their vehicle in the snow.
• Studded snow tires are no longer allowed for normal driving at this time of year. If you are driving in higher elevations, and you come across snow on the road, do not continue to rise in elevation without proper equipment to deal with snow.

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Tips for Surviving Cold Weather in the Wilderness

Mt. Hood is the most climbed mountain in the United States, but that doesn't mean it's a walk in the park. As we saw with the three missing climbers who tackled the mountain in early December, even experienced climbers can lose their lives if things go wrong. There have been six deaths on Mt. Hood this winter season, but in the past one hundred years, there have been over 130 deaths. Mt. Hood is not considered to be an extremely difficult climb, many beginners summit the mountain, but the weather can change in an instant, leaving climbers in white-out conditions with zero visibility, and no safe way to descend. There may come a time when knowing what to do when faced with below freezing conditions could keep you alive long enough to be rescued.

There are some key factors that will prevent loss of body heat, which is one of the first concerns when exposed to the freezing elements. You can loose 40-45% of your body heat through your head. A simple beanie can help keep the heat circulating through your body, adding a protective layer between your brain, and the harsh elements at hand, but the better your head gear, the less heat you'll lose. But too many layers and you may sweat, which in freezing conditions, could mean death. Besides the head, keeping the neck, chest, wrists, and ankles warm helps to keep the blood supply warm. Shelter provides an escape from the elements, as well as additional protection against loss of body heat.

Keeping warm and dry are essentials when facing cold tempuratures. When clothing gets wet, body tempuratures can drop 25 times faster. If your clothing becomes wet, it is better to strip them off and dry them, which would require building a fire or other heat source to quickly dry your wet clothing. Take great care not to allow your body to overheat, which will also produce dampened clothing. Once clothing is wet, freezing to death becomes a very real possibility.

In an attempt to hydrate the body, many people would instinctively eat snow. The logic is that snow will melt into water in the mouth. However, eating snow will actually cause you to lose more body heat, and it is highly recommended that you melt the snow and drink the water. Use ice if it's available, because ice melts faster and produces more water than snow. If you have a fire and a tin can, melting ice would be easiest, but you can also use a water bag between the layers of your clothing if you must keep moving or there is no fire.

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How to Start a Fire in the Wilderness

One of the most important things to know when venturing out into the wilderness is how to start a fire. It can be your key to survival if you are ever lost, especially during the winter. If your clothing becomes wet, it might be the only way you can dry your clothes, and without it, you will loose body heat about 25% quicker than if you were dry. But what if you are without matches or a lighter? Would you be able to start a fire if your life depended on it? Well, here are some basic tools you could create sparks and build a fire, especially if you lack common ignitors. Once you have sparks landing on your kindling, cup your hands around it and blow gently to fuel the smoldering embers.

Tinder and Kindling

• Birch shavings are one of the best natural sources, and easy to burn.
• Cedar shavings, twigs, and dry grasses also work well.
• Plan ahead and dip cotton balls in Vaseline and store them in a film container or other waterproof airtight container.
• A tampon - believe it or not - can be used for several fires when torn into smaller pieces.
• Paper, small twigs, bark, wood shavings, and gasoline are all flamable, cloth, lint, some are more flamable than more than others.

Create Sparks to Ignite fire

• Steel and Flint - Strike the flint against the curved steel, aiming your sparks at your dry kindling until the tinder ignites.
• Quartz, agate, or jasper rocks can also create sparks in the same way as steel and flint when struck with the back side of a pocket knife blade.
• Remember, your best bet for fire is a lighter or matches. Matches can be waterproofed by dipping them in nail polish. Bring them in doubled plastic zip-locking bags.
• If you are stuck with your car nearby, use the gasoline to dampen a rag, and produce sparks using the car battery.
• Concentrating the sun's rays through a magnifying glass can produce a small heated dot, which can then start a fire. Move the magnifying glass up and down or tilt it to concentrate the rays into the smallest dot possible, the smaller the dot, the hotter and more concentrated the rays will be.
• Empty lighters can create sparks.

Practice and Preparation

It would be very wise to try a few of these on your own, before having to depend on learning it in the wilderness. The more prepared you are, the better your chances for survival become. It never hurts to build a fire once or twice using any of the above materials, and see how well you do, and how fast you do it. Don't get caught outdoors without at least one of the items listed below, or you could find yourself in a bad situation.

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Wilderness Survival - Basics For Your Backpack

This is the beginning of a survival series we are working on. Since this is just the first post in an up coming series of posts, I'll stick to the very basics with a few tips, and get into some of the more detailed survival techniques in the posts to come. With the recent deaths in the Oregon wilderness, survival education seems an important part of winter travel. But survival techniques are an essential for any outdoor trip, as any time you are away from direct contact with other people - you should be well prepared for the possibility of emergency situations. Anytime you leave civilization to venture out in to the wilderness, you should keep a few tools to ensure survival, even if you're only planning a short trip.

So let's start off with a few things you should always keep in your backpack - actually, that's the first thing you need, even for a short trip - a backpack. There are a few things that you'll actually never want to be without. They can make a huge difference in an emergency, and could be the difference between survival and a deadly situation. Sharp pocket knife

• Water proof matches or a lighter
• Small but durable flashlight and extra batteries
• Local area map and compass
• Protien rich snack foods
• First aid kit
• Plentiful supply of fresh drinking water

We'll explore the backpack one would pack for an extended stay in the wilderness in a later post, but for now we've just covered a few basics for packing up for a very short trip, such as a hike or day trip. This is just a small basic list, and there are many other things a person could carry with them to ensure safety either in bad weather or if one gets lost. We'll cover those in a later post as well. I'm sure there are some of you that would have much to say about items that are necessary in a day hiker's backpack - so take advantage of the comments and tell us what you would want in your backpack.

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