How to stay alive off piste - an excerpt from Baz Roberts' special guest lecture at UCLU's Wilderness Medicine Society, November '07
- Read www.stayingaliveoffpiste.com - it's 80,000 free words of advert free online expert advice
- Be mentally & physically fit - achieve this by training hard in bad weather but look after your injuries so they don't come back to haunt you in older age! Sorry, the bad news is you can't train effectively for a major mountain expedition by working out in the gym 3 times a week for 30 minutes. You need to put in some serious hill miles to get seriously hill fit.
- Be skilled - get proper training, practice your craft, learn from others more experienced than you
- Choose your companions carefully - you will need to rely on them in a crisis and share a tent with them for days on end in bad weather
- Make your own decisions - is it too steep for you to ski confidently? Do you need a belay rope on that steep, icy terrain? Don't be a lemming!
- Trust your gut feel - don't be afraid to "back off" when your instinct tells you to
- Be flexible with your plans and ambitions - no mountain summit is worth sacrificing your digits for, let alone your life
- Go light – don’t weigh yourself down with equipment you might need or gallons of water. Take flexible equipment with multiple uses. When you pack, think safety first, and then comfort. Choose a small volume rucksack that limits what you can take!
- Go fast - be slick and efficient – go early, go quickly and don’t take long breaks. If you are stopping regularly to put on or take off clothing because you are cold or hot then you aren't being efficient. Get the group in the habit of doing any fussing at the SAME TIME. Push yourself hard in the hills so you're warm and dry in your tent before the afternoon storm or avalanches.
- GO!!! Get out there and get experience! Learn from your mistakes ie. don't make the same mistake twice!
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