Navigation And The Framework For Route Planning

It's been a busy winter, even with the below average snow year, but what has really stood out in day to day skiing has been trip planning and navigation.  The success of a day can be blind luck, but I prefer to prepare, and ensure my success (and safety) when it comes to completing a loop or objective.  There are three things that are of vital importance.  1.  Topographic maps 2.  Route and mountain photos,  3.  White-out and GPS navigation plans.  All of which can be combined, along with daily avalanche risk mitigation, to make your way through the mountains efficiently and safely.

(Photo Above:  Ben Groundwater on the Spearhead.  Seeing is a luxury we don't always have.)

Using topographic maps, seems pretty basic, but recently I've read a bunch of stories on the internet where people have epics just because they didn't bring a map and compass.  Topo maps will give you an overview of the terrain from slope angle, avalanche path exposure, glacier crossing, and where large terrain traps my lie.  They also can illustrate the best ski line, white-out management handrails, broken portions of glacier (crevasses), and benches to utilize on the up track, all with just a bit of practice.  Not to mention topos can be used with a compass and altimeter to do a resection to find your location in case you don't have a GPS.

Topo maps are pretty easy to get a hold of as well.  They come as PDF's from the government, you just save them, then print them AND laminate them at any print shop.  Many stores have popular areas, where you can buy waterproof versions, and custom maps such as John Baldwin's series.

GEOBC
Free, printable PDF, 1:20,000 maps of all of BC.  Did I mention they are free?  Tends to be the fastest way to get a map, plus you have to option of customizing on the computer, or printing it to lay down some notes and route before laminating it.

IMapBC
An online and custom mapping software, which allows you to build your own map with a variety of different scales, colours, even orthophoto layers if available for the area your working on.

CalTopo.com
This website rocks.  It is another free topographic map provider, but it allows you to download custom sections of map, and also overlay it in Google Earth over the terrain so you can even see what the topographic terrain looks like in 3D.  But that's not all, it has maps for all of Canada and The USA.  Just click on the USGS 7.5' Topos section in the top right for 1:20,000 that include Canadian versions, that you would find on GEOBC.  And, if that's not enough, you can load these maps directly from the website onto your Garmin GPS.  The US section is ahead of the Canadian section, as it also has option for angle shading, and a bunch of really cool features.  Oh, and there's more, but one of the really cool KML/KMZ downloads is an giant 1:20,000 topo map overlay of all of Canada!

Hillmap.com
Hill Map is much like CalTopo, but has some different features such as overlays, GPS route planning,  and one feature I love... Points.  Click any point on the map, it will give you Lat / Long, AND a slope angle.  Perfect for planning white-out section where you may be concerned about avalanche hazard, thus knowing your okay, rather than just hoping.

Google Earth
Okay, if you are a skier or climber, and you don't have Google Earth it's time to get off your horse and carriage and drive a car finally.  This program and plugin is usually required for many of these websites, but is really useful when planning any trip.

Magnetic Declination Calculation 
This site will not give you any maps, but should never be skipped, as it simply gives you the magnetic declination required for your area to navigate properly.  Write it down on your map, so you aren't forced to calculate it in the field when stress levels can be high.

GeoBackcountry.com
Doug Sproul's amazing backcountry guide to Rogers Pass, utilizing Google Earth, Topo Maps, and route description all in one amazing package for your phone.  This is the future of guidebooks.

Route photo's come in next and are incredibly useful, especially when arriving on top of a mountain where you can't exactly see all the hazards and route from the top.  Do you go left or right?  Is there a traverse?  Cliffs?  Crevasses?  Most importantly, good skiing?  By looking at the route photo's, everything becomes easier as you can landmark on your way down to hit the line you have planned.  It also will help your mind to interpret the map data into a clear mental picture and get you dialled with your map reading.  Do a google search, and also try Bivouac.com, and John Scurlock's amazing aerial photo database.

(Photo Above:  The high end of shattered terrain, but important to see why a photo would be absolutely essential to make your way down this piece of terrain.  Most importantly, it also gives skiers an option of what looks the least hazardous for the conditions at hand.  Tisiphone Area, Lilloet Icefield.)

Another important photo tool, would be summer photos of glaciers, in order to get an idea of how shattered and broken the glacier can be.  It will also give you hints as to where you might find thin bridges, and shallow snowpack over it's coverage.  The photo above is taken in a moderate snowpack year, and can be useful in deeper snowpack years, to see what has changed and where some average years dangers might lurk.  Just note, the area above requires only the high end of experience levels to ski it and proper conditions to match, and rarely gets skied due to the gapping building size holes.  Just take note, glaciers change, so try to find out when the photo and plan accordingly.

(Photo Above:  1:50,000 identifier map, to help with an overview in the field.  Navigation is done best using the 1:20,000 map, with even more detail added to route and descriptions.  Use different colours when writing on the map, to identify certain features faster.  And if you want to get fancy, laminate the map after, so you can write on it every day with marker and erase the marker at the end of the day.)

Now coming back to your topo map that you've printed and referenced so many times, it's time to draw on it.  Take your notes, concerns, and plans and make sure they are on the map so there is as little to think about in the field in order to concentrate on what's in front of you.  This will be useful when navigating in a white-out as well.

(Photo Above:  A long while ago, navigating the Dais & Franklin Glaciers, in weeks of white.)

If the clouds and storm do come in, a white-out plan pre-preparred is your saving grace, and the difference between an experienced backcountry skier and a newbie.  All of your trip planning, the topo maps, photo's, all combine to give you the basic frame work required to put together the white-out plan.  By now, you've identified benches, terrain features, hazardous areas, and safe spots.  All you need to do is choose your route that travels through those and around specific features.

When writing the whiteout plan, you'll need waypoints to input into your field book and GPS, route description to read in the field, compass bearing and back bearing, as well as elevation.  Using UTM is much better than Lat/Long as it's much faster and easier to find your location on a paper map.  These combined provide you with a step by step walk through of the mountains, and allow you to move your way through the white room without being stopped in your tracks completely, or potentially walking yourself into an accident.

(Photo Above:  Basic white-out plan, which can be even more detailed if you are expecting poor weather.  The more detailed the less guess work. - Note UTM above is short hand, and not missing northing.)

The white-out plan not only will help you make your way through terrain without seeing it, but will also be helpful in telling how long it will take.  For trip planning purposes, plan on different conditions and different types of terrain taking different times.  Below I've listed baseline travel times, which can differ for individuals, gear, and amount of packed weight so adjust accordingly.

5km/h on good trails
3 km/h on open terrain
1 km/h rough travel
less than 1 km/h in a true whiteout

Preparation for a day trip, or multi-day trip, truly makes for amazing days in the backcountry with really cool loops.  By doing this, you are not only prepared for any navigation challenge, but better prepared to deal with every other hazard from glaciation to avalanches as you are forced to consider everything before leaving.  Go to new places, practice, and always leave yourself options to work with.  Better days skiing, are just more amazing days to think about when your stuck working or on a forced weather day.

The Problem With Avalanche Rescue

Nearly everyone who takes an CAC AST 1 or 2; ITP 1,2,3; AAA Level 1-2-3; or any other form of avalanche course knows that if you have to rescue someone you need to act fast.  Most people won’t last past 12-15 minutes under the surface, one third may suffer from trauma, and others may be buried deep.  There is always practicing rescue from right beside the slide path, but while practicing right beside the slide path is for practice it’s not realistic.  Typically travel times must be factored in, hazard, and transitioning from downhill to uphill in some cases.  Then there are a maraud of other factors to think about, so let’s start going through the problems in order to put together a bigger picture of a rescue.

(Video Above:  Unbelievably lucky guy in an big avalanche, with a helicopter on scene, and rescue team on standby.  Not the reality that backcountry skiers have the luxury of.)

First, before anything, everyone in the group needs to have a 3 or 4 antenna avalanche beacon, anything less is out dated technology and should be replaced (why not just have the best and newest beacon, your life is worth it right?).  Avalanche beacons are great, but do have issues like any piece of electronics, and many people choose to either disregard those bugs or just don’t know about them.  So what can interfere with you Beacon signal?  Any piece of electronics within 50cm of the Beacon such as Cell Phones, camera’s (especially those with GPS), GoPro camera’s mounted on the chest (GoPro on the head is fine), GoPro wireless & bluetooth controllers, iPods, heated gloves, magnets on the front of jackets, and even within a recent study that says candy bar wrappers that have foil in their wrappers that sit in the same vicinity as the beacon could create issues!  These also aren’t just problems for searchers, but those who are buried, so be weary and keep your gizmos, well away from your beacon, inside your pack.  Always wear your beacon under your jacket (never keep it in your pack).

Now those skiers and snowboarders who have high DIN, or non-releasable bindings, have a number of things to be concerned about.  While caught in an avalanche, skis/snowboards, and poles strapped to the hand act as anchors and pull the person under the surface of the snow in the avalanche.  They can also cause trauma, twisting and pulling body parts in different directions.  So the number one goal is staying on the surface, followed by avoiding obstacles if possible, and covering your mouth with your arm all while attempting to swim off the side of the slide.  One thing that can help is an avalanche airbag, which is the only product on the market that attempts to prevent burial.  So if you can’t get out of your skis or board, you may be buried deeper and/or with trauma issues for your rescuers to deal with if they get to you in time.

(Photo Above:  Justin Ormiston shredding the committing N Face of Mt Fitzsimmons in thigh deep snow.  Better be sure it's stable, there's no fooling around with this big face.  Terrain traps, steep open large terrain, and big spacing between partners.)

Distance is the next key issue.  How far away is everyone from the avalanche and it’s deposition zone?  Are they above and can quickly ski down in order to start searching, or do they have to put their skins on and start running uphill to the site?  Being far away, halfway down a mountain, and/or in a less than ideal proximity adds a huge amount of time to the rescue effort.  Did that person get swept into a terrain trap?  Speed is essential at this point, this is made from fitness, ability, distance, searching capabilities, skill and strategic shovelling.

(Photo Above:  Natural avalanche, due to the trees, this area would almost certainly result in trauma if caught in a slide.)

Now your friend has a beacon on, doesn’t have a cell phone around his/her beacon, got rid of their skis, and was lucky enough to be buried close enough to you and the surface for you to get to them in time.  Now what?  Many avalanche victims suffer from trauma and can die from that alone.  Some may be unconscious, not breathing and/or have a blocked airway, unable to walk, spinal injury, hypothermic, etc.  Combine all your skills from avalanche rescue, wilderness first aid, survival, rescue planning, as well as helicopter knowledge, and you have half of the equation done to getting someone out alive.  You also need the right gear to drag or move that person to safety, deal with their injuries, and get them to medical care immediately.  How will you move them in waist deep snow, will moving them make the injury worse, and do you have enough light left in the day to get home?  

(Photo Above:  Practicing moving patients in a toboggan through undulating terrain, complete with cliffs, and deep snow.)

Now let’s say the incident has happened early enough in the day, the weather and wind is good enough for a helicopter to fly, and you need to get that helicopter in.  Most helicopters need a spot to land where the pilot has depth perception (small tree, rock, anything that when they come in and the snow gets blown up in the air they can maintain sight).  They also need a flat area that is large enough to land, otherwise they will be forced to sling a patient out and wind/visibility really becomes a factor.  Bell 212’s have a 48ft blade span and require clear 100x100ft area to land, and prefer to land into the wind.  Bell 407’s are a bit smaller, with room for less casualties, and have a 35ft blade span allowing them to land in only a slightly smaller area than the bigger 212.  There are many other helicopters out there, but these are just two of the classics, although we do see a few more B3’s out there from time to time.  So if you do have a spot, you will need to let them know if they will need it in stretch configuration, or seated.  As well as if they need to bring a paramedic with Advanced Life Support training, and the type of gear they may need to assist you.  A complete description of your problem is vital.

(Photo Above:  Testing the spinal board patient transport setup in the Bell 407)

Time between avalanche and getting to the hospital is also critical.  Seriously injured patients may only have the ‘golden hour’ to get advanced medical help, whereas others may last much much longer depending on the severity of the injury.  Hospital distances and resources must now also come into question, which hospital is best suited to deal with the issue at hand, and how far away is that.  For example, it’s my understanding that the Whistler Health Clinic can only accept Twin Engine helicopters such as the 212 at this time, but not the 407 which is required to land at the heliport and rendezvous with an ambulance adding to rescue times.  So it’s important to have an idea of what kind of health care is closest to you, and how easy it is to get there.

There is a lot to think about when it comes to a full fledged rescue.  SAR Teams are amazing at what they do, and will always be there working as hard as possible to get you and your friends out.  However, make no mistake, if a handful of these problematic factors are present, they compound on each other and make rescue much more difficult.  The key is to identify potential problems first, and consider them with your trip planning and also with how you ski in the backcountry.  Habits such as not skiing with a cell phone that is on and keeping it your backpack is great, regrouping at safe and smart locations is vital, and being prepared for anything is key.  By thinking of the consequences of a rescue in the terrain we're in before hand, we can make better decisions, and set ourselves up for success if we are faced with the worst.  We are very vulnerable, just how vulnerable is up to us.