A veteran SAR volunteer's experiences in British Columbia
Phil Tomlinson, the current president of the VOC, composed a detailed and thoughtful response to my previous post. He had some trouble getting it into the comments, so I thought I would reproduce it here. Hi Michael, As the current …
This post is a bit of a rant, so please skip it if you’re not in the mood. A few years ago a friend and I travelled into the Cerise Creek area for some mountaineering. We were surprised to see …
Some musings on ski widths
On July 17th 1999 I participated in my first SAR Search. I’d volunteered for the team in the fall of the previous year, and had been formally accepted as a member-in-training in January, 1999. The cohort of 10 new members …
A Pineapple Express is approaching the coast, and conditions have changed yet again. Everyone should take a moment to appreciate the significance of Extreme Avalanche hazard on the south coast. Take a moment to understand what extreme means: Likelihood of …
The Pineapple Express and Extreme Avalanche danger Read more »
In my post yesterday I noted that it’s important to get a synopsis of weather conditions. My rationale; most weather forecasts provided by Environment Canada and other forecasters are geared toward the sea-level public, and contain wind and rain amounts, …
With reference to the post I wrote on coastal weather patterns, this weeks storm is an illustration of a winter front. However, the public forecasts and the rainfall warning are clearly geared toward the sea-level public. So where does a …
The south coast of BC (an area encompassing the Fraser Valley, Sea to Sky and Sunshine Coast) is known for rain in the winter months, and with altitude, snow. A rule of thumb states that every 1000 feet of elevation …
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 …
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 …