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    • On Blaming the Victim
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Backcountry skillz

By Michael Coyle Posted on 21/01/2010 Posted in Blog Entry 1 Comment Tagged with backcountry, opinion, ski, skill

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I learned to ski in the backcountry. I’ve been doing it for almost 20 years now. When I go backcountry skiing, in even the busiest areas, I’ll see about 20 people in a day. Not …

Backcountry skillz Read more »

On Expertise

By Michael Coyle Posted on 09/01/2010 Posted in Blog Entry, Essay 2 Comments Tagged with essay, opinion

I used to order just one drink at Starbucks: a grande, 4-shot, long americano. I ordered it every day, twice a day, for about 4 years. Once in the morning and once in the evening. I know this drink. I …

On Expertise Read more »

Death by Snowshoe

By Michael Coyle Posted on 07/12/2009 Posted in Blog Entry 4 Comments Tagged with accident, death, safety, snow, snowshoe

I’m working on an article on the mechanisms by which snowshoers near Vancouver tend to get in trouble (injury and death). The summary is this: snowshoers tend to have slip-and-fall injuries on hard snow during periods of sunny weather either …

Death by Snowshoe Read more »

My Olympic Sport (Part 1)

By Michael Coyle Posted on 27/11/2009 Posted in Blog Entry No Comments Tagged with helicopter, HETS, olympics, SAR, training

I first volunteered for Search and Rescue in 1999. A friend of mine in university suggested it to me. It came up after a discussion about a high school friend of mine who had died on a mountain near Hope; …

My Olympic Sport (Part 1) Read more »

That’s just how I slide

By Michael Coyle Posted on 25/11/2009 Posted in Blog Entry No Comments Tagged with backcountry, gear, photo, ski, snow

Looks like the 80’s, but it’s the 90’s; telemark skiing. Don’t emulate this photo for your own tele technique; I’m completely self taught and have a style that could be called unique if you’re feeling generous. For the geeks among …

That’s just how I slide Read more »

How to get up in deep powder

By Michael Coyle Posted on 22/11/2009 Posted in Blog Entry No Comments Tagged with backcountry, how-to, photo, ski, snow

I’m a Telemark skier. I started in university because the gear was cheap, and I was poor. Also, being poor, I did not have enough money for a ski pass, so I learned to ski in the backcountry. For me it …

How to get up in deep powder Read more »

On several occasions the following has happend:

By Michael Coyle Posted on 18/11/2009 Posted in Blog Entry No Comments Tagged with opinion, SAR

I’ve secretly hoped I would be called on a search. I was called on a search. I did not feel guilty. I’m not saying I wish someone some misfortune, but given that accidents happen, there is a huge amount of …

On several occasions the following has happend: Read more »

Urban Searches and Homelessness

By Michael Coyle Posted on 12/10/2009 Posted in Blog Entry No Comments Tagged with opinion, SAR, search

The SAR team was called out to search for a missing man in his 70’s with Alzheimer’s disease. This search was in an urban area of Burnaby near Central Park. Being a search and rescue team that specializes in wilderness …

Urban Searches and Homelessness Read more »

Cell phone locations

By Michael Coyle Posted on 27/09/2009 Posted in Blog Entry No Comments Tagged with communications, GPS, map, SAR, technology
Cell phone locations

The SAR team has had a run of searches at inopportune times. The first one was after an all night search, so we rolled from the first search, into breakfast …

SMS and Search and Rescue

By Michael Coyle Posted on 02/07/2009 Posted in Blog Entry 1 Comment Tagged with communications, mobile phone, SAR, SMS

Well it finally happend, and frankly I’m suprised that it toook this long. A pair of subjects we looked for all of last night and part of today initiated the search by sending an SMS (Text) message. I’m sure this …

SMS and Search and Rescue Read more »

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BlueToque Software
BlueToque Software
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Software Design, Architecture and Consulting

TrueNorth Geospatial
TrueNorth Geospatial
The mapping software I designed for SAR
Mapping Software for Backcountry Professionals

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Locate people using their SmartPhones

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Recent

  • Backcountry Safety is a Shared Responsibility
  • Are “selfies” hazardous?
  • “Dog Walker” Behaviour Profile
  • Reflections on 2017
  • Accidental Triggering of SPOT device

Tags

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Blogroll

  • AdventureSmart
  • Coquitlam SAR
  • North Shore Hikers
  • North Shore Outdoor
  • Outdoor Vancouver
  • Roland Web Memorial
  • SARBayes
  • TrueNorth Geospatial
  • Wayne Flann's Avalanche Blog

Older stuff

Recent

  • Backcountry Safety is a Shared Responsibility
  • Are “selfies” hazardous?
  • “Dog Walker” Behaviour Profile
  • Reflections on 2017
  • Accidental Triggering of SPOT device

Blogroll

  • AdventureSmart
  • Coquitlam SAR
  • North Shore Hikers
  • North Shore Outdoor
  • Outdoor Vancouver
  • Roland Web Memorial
  • SARBayes
  • TrueNorth Geospatial
  • Wayne Flann's Avalanche Blog

Projects

  • BlueToque Software
  • Missing Poster Generator
  • TrueNorth Geospatial
  • YourLo.ca/tion

Resource

  • AdventureSmart
  • Canadian Avalanche Association
  • Canadian Avalanche Centre
  • TrueNorth Geospatial

Projects

  • BlueToque Software Software architecture, design and build BlueToque Software Software architecture, design and build
  • Missing Poster Generator Easy generation, printing and sharing of missing posters Missing Poster Generator Easy generation, printing and sharing of missing posters
  • TrueNorth Geospatial Mapping software for backcountry professionals TrueNorth Geospatial Mapping software for backcountry professionals
  • YourLo.ca/tion A simple location finding, sharing and tracking service for SAR teams YourLo.ca/tion A simple location finding, sharing and tracking service for SAR teams
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Oplopanax Horridus Copyright © 2013 by Michael Coyle
All content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada License.
Read about what that means, and contact the author for commercial licenses if necessary.

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