33 minute read
Taking your first steps
By Mark McCann Outlast Adventure Racing
“WHEW, THE HARD part's over,” you might say, after registering for your first adventure race. But think again. The hard work (and fun) has only just begun.
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Preparing for your first adventure race can be very intimidating, confusing and sometimes frustrating. There’s no need to be afraid, just be prepared.
Since beginning my adventure racing career in 1999 with Raid the North Extreme in Whitehorse, I have seen many successful and not-so-successful teams enter, start, not finish, and (thankfully) finish a variety of different races. Here’s some advice how to make your first adventure race a fun, satisfying and enjoyable experience.
Picking Your Team
Pick the right team with which to compete. Most adventure races involve team events, although there are some very interesting solo challenges. Working with others is one of the greatest challenges of adventure racing, but it offers you great gain.
Pick teammates who have the same goals and objectives as you do. If some members just want to finish the race, while others hope to win the event, be assured that your team will not survive the competition. If you want to come out of the adventure race with your friendships (and personal sanity) intact, don’t ignore this most important rule.
Establish how your team will make decisions. Ensure that members have all of the required skills (e.g. navigation, whitewater paddling, horsemanship, etc.).
Your First Goal: Fun
Clearly, and realistically, state your team goals and objectives, then get
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everyone else to agree to them in full before starting. In fact, if it’s your first time competing in an adventure race, set no other team goal than to go out and have a good time.
Adventure racing is not so much about winning as having fun. In my first race, having no idea what to expect, my team didn't finish at all, but we had a great time. After several years of racing, our speed increased substantially, but had we gone with higher goals and expectations on our first time out, we’d probably have had a miserable time. We would have kicked ourselves constantly for not going faster, and possibly never registered for another race. Don't let that happen to you.
Choose Your First Event Carefully
Pick a very manageable race for your first challenge. Races like the Eco-Challenge or Raid Gauloises require huge commitments (e.g. preparation, and fundraising). Find a race that does not require a twelve-month commitment. In the United States, excitement generated by week-long races has spawned an increasing number of shorter challenges, including races that take anywhere from six to 48 hours. You’ve got other options available too that can help you prepare. Have you considered multi-day snowshoe races, rogaines, Iditasport, or ultra-run events, like the Barkeley?
Race Strategy
Prior to your first race, discuss goals and strategy again with your team. Talk about the start of the race, and the kind of pace you want to take. Many new adventure racers make the mistake of starting out too fast, particularly in longer races. Pacing is critical when Adventure racers negotiating part of the course. This could be you!
you’ve got five to seven days of nonstop activity ahead of you.
Don’t concern yourself with how other teams are doing; during a long race anything can, and likely will, happen. Settle into a comfortable pace for the whole team and ignore what everyone else is doing. Here are some specific strategies to try: • Assign one team member the task of reminding everyone else to eat and drink at intervals. Try setting a watch alarm to beep every 15 minutes, and call out “Drink!” when it goes off. Every other time, add “Eat!” to the call. • Watch out for teammates who aren’t eating or drinking regularly. They will quickly get into trouble. Give them some of whatever you’re eating. • Make sure everyone is urinating frequently; their urine should be clear. (These are good indicators of healthy hydration levels.) • Instead of the whole team stopping every time someone needs to urinate or get something from their pack, try having that person pick up their pace to go ahead, while the rest of the team slows their pace temporarily. The team will pass the stopped teammate, and can pick up the pace again when the teammate has rejoined them. This strategy allows a continued forward motion at all times. Just make sure no one is forced to expend too much energy when following this strategy.
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Photo by Martin Paquette. • Assign one teammate the task of monitoring everyone's condition. Have that person periodically request each teammate to rate how they are feeling on a scale of one to five (five means great/ strong). Develop a predetermined strategy for the team if someone experiences unacceptable pain or fatigue. For example, someone who describes his or her condition as a “five” could take the other person’s pack for 10 minutes to give them a chance to recover.
Recognize the Warning Signs
Pay attention and learn the signs your teammates exhibit when they start to experience trouble. For example, one person might start fidgeting with their pack or clothing when they don’t feel great. Another might become uncharacteristically quiet. Your teammates will learn to read your unspoken signals too. Listen to your teammates, and accept their help.
Don’t be surprised if you experience both high and low periods. Fortunately, when you’re feeling low, another teammate may be peaking and can help you. Remember, if you eat, drink and take care of yourself, a low point is only a temporary state. An hour later you’ll be feeling great again.
Most racers’ emotions cycle up and down throughout a race. Lack of sleep can result in mild hallucinations during a race. If you experience one, try eating something with caffeine, or sing or talk to your teammates. Typically, these
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hallucinations aren’t scary.
Wearing a headlamp can give you a kind of “tunnel” vision. Keep your lamp switched off as much as possible, or occasionally take it off your head and use it as a flashlight. Moving your headlamp around will break up the tunnel vision effect.
Occasionally racers experience post-race swelling of feet, legs, hands and face. During a long race, it’s possible for your electrolytes to get out of balance, resulting in this swelling. By eating salty foods, taking electrolyte capsules, or using some other method to replace electrolytes, you may be able to limit this problem.
Swelling can occur during a long race, making it difficult to get your bike or trekking shoes on. The swelling will go away after a few days.
Some people, especially those completing their first race, experience a mild post-race depression. If this happens to you, don’t worry. It will pass, especially if you begin to prepare for another race!
Physical Training
Prepare yourself physically in a manner that anticipates the way you expect to race. Running with a pack, and doing long hikes are excellent preparations. In adventure races, paddling segments often last 30 hours long; efficiency in your stroke is a key to survival.
Almost all events require swimming or wading through water. Your swimming pace is much less important than being able to manage a full backpack in soggy conditions.
Skills Required
Begin learning the skills required for adventure racing early; navigation is probably the most critical. To work on this, contact your local orienteering club. River reading skills are another key element. Instruction is generally available wherever commercial rafting trips are offered.
Rope skills required for racing are generally rudimentary; check with climbing schools in your area for instruction. Though you only need the fundamentals, don’t underestimate these; your safety (and that of your teammates) will be at risk. Practice these skills thoroughly.
Selecting Equipment
The equipment you select is dictated by the race: the terrain and climate, the expected disciplines and the safety requirements. Heed the race organizers’ suggestions. If they say you need some specific type of equipment, there’s generally a very good reason why.
Within the guidelines and requirements, you want to minimize the weight you’ll be carrying. Be innovative, but don’t skimp on safety. Races take you into places where few people go. Self-sufficiency is a key to these events. Don't count on race organizers bailing you out if you encounter difficulty. Have the necessary equipment to deal with emergencies, and know how to use it.
Health and Nutrition
Nutrition planning is another critical element. For events that last over eight hours, expect that you will burn fat as your primary fuel. Your body must be trained to do this, and you must plan your eating with this in mind. The race format will obviously play a major role in determining your plan. These will include the event’s length, the frequency of transition areas where you can eat, and whether support crews are permitted, or whether you must look after yourself.
Adventure racing offers unbelievable highs. As long as you’re fully prepared, it will be an experience you’ll love. About the author: Mark McCann is the co-founder of OUTLAST Adventure Racing with it's headquarters based in Ottawa. Mark has extensive experience with all aspects of Adventure Racing. (www.outlast.ca) Addtional contributions to this article came from "Adventure Racing–The Ultimate Guide" by Liz Caldwell & Barry Siff.
How to improve your footwork Why you should look down
Overlooking Important Details
Well, if you are like most beginners, chances are you have overlooked an important part of your anatomy: the feet.
Sometimes I feel more comfortable on a steep climb with good hand-holds, than on an easier route that requires more balance or tricky footwork. It’s natural to trust your arms and hands more than your feet; they’re closer in your field of view, and are much more agile.
The fact that most of us learn to climb indoors also contributes to the problem. While indoor walls provide an accessible and safe place to train, their steepness and texture offer little opportunity for the beginner to devolve as much weight to his or her feet as on real rock. But because legs are so much stronger than arms, it’s critical that you learn to use them properly and efficiently. Whether it is by trusting the friction of your shoes on a featureless slab, by finding a key toe hook on a steep problem or by confidently jamming a foot in a crack, knowing how to take full advantage of your feet on a climb is a skill that can lead to great progress.
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By Yann Troutet
SO YOU’VE STARTED CLIMBING, and now you can’t help but see the world as an immense playground. You do chin-ups on the kitchen doorframe, and you’d rather climb the underside of staircases. You’ve even detoured by the local schoolyard several times to exercise on the monkey bars.
Week after week, your fingers are getting stronger, your grip, more powerful. Soon, no climb will escape your arms and legs, right?
Shoes: They’re Critical
In terms of climbing performance, the most critical piece of a climber’s gear is the shoes. Climbing shoes help you direct the strength of your entire foot on the part of your sole that is in contact with the rock. But, because there is a variety of climbing terrains, there is also a wide selection of shoe designs from which to choose.
The more flexible a shoe, the more sensitive it will be. This sensitivity is helpful on technical and overhanging terrain. Stiffer shoes offer more support, hence good purchase on small holds and in cracks.
What type of shoe should a beginner purchase? For a first pair, a new climber is usually best to buy a fairly rigid model (typically a lace-up), with a symmetrical cut.
While experienced climbers will sometimes seek an extremely tight fit, this might not be the best choice for beginners. You cannot learn to climb properly if your feet are causing unbearable pain.
Keep in mind that climbing shoes stretch over time; expect it. Buy your first pair with this thought in mind. You want a tight, but comfortable fit. As you progress, you’ll soon want a second pair of shoes. Then, your first ones may serve as a comfortable pair for easier, longer climbing routes.
Smearing, Tennis Balls, and Blindfolded: Great Exercises
A few simple exercises will help speed the learning curve when you climb with your feet. The best exercises will be done outdoors, where you’ll find rock surfaces with various angles.
Start by wearing your climbing shoes as you walk around on some big, clean boulders. Without using your hands (a stick can be useful for balance), try walking up sloping surfaces. Let your heels fall into a relaxed position, and put as much of your shoe soles as possible in contact with the rock. (This technique is called smearing.) Concentrate on standing upright; notice how solidly your soles stick to the rock. Try this technique on surfaces of various angles to determine the maximum slope angle you can comfortably “smear.” Now walk down backwards and from side to side, until you feel confident on the rock. This easy exercise can be done at the
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beginning of any climbing day, and may benefit every level of climber, particularly when traveling to areas of new rock types.
Smearing is the essential skill for slab climbing. Slabs are rock faces that are less than vertical. In their purest form, they offer very few holds. Your arms aren’t much help on a slab, and because you must trust your feet to climb them, slabs are a great place to practice balance and footwork.
Set up a top-rope on an easy slab, then try these amusing and very beneficial exercises. Try climbing a route while holding a tennis ball in each hand, pressing the ball against the rock. How does this help you learn to climb? It allows you to use your arms for balance, but prevents you from pulling yourself up. This exercise will force you to take
Most novice climbers concentrate on developing their hands, and ignore their feet.
small steps, which is important. On steeper slabs with suitable footholds, try using only your elbows instead of your hands. Now try climbing down. If you repeat these exercises occasionally, your confidence level will increase noticeably.
As you reach near-vertical grades, you’ll need help from your hands and arms. Here’s a good exercise; climb using only one hand, while keeping the other hand tucked behind your back. Now using both hands, climb without grabbing any handhold above your shoulders. These exercises force you to put lots of weight on your feet. Climbing with a blindfold can also help you visualize your overall body position, and will teach you to adopt a stable stance. On vertical terrain, keeping your hips close to the rock shifts your centre of gravity over your
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feet, which relieves your arms. At this point, leg flexibility becomes a significant asset.
More Basic Footwork
After doing these exercises, you’ll develop considerable confidence in your feet in all types of climbs. For instance, by confidently twisting your foot into a crack, you’ll obtain an excellent foothold. Crack climbing feels very secure to experienced climbers, but it does require getting used to it. You’ll quickly become proficient if you make a point of practising crack climbing.
On small holds, use the edge of your shoe near the front of your foot. Using the outside edge of your shoe can sometimes put you in a better body position. On larger footholds, think of relaxing your calf muscles by putting your entire foot on the hold. In a corner, bridging (having a foot on each face of a corner) takes a lot of weight off your arms. Even the tiniest holds work for bridging. Watch for them.
In some cases, you may have to bring your foot up to a hold that you’re using as a handhold. Similarly, getting established on a ledge (to perform a mantle) requires confidence, balance and flexibility. The more you practice these techniques the more progress you’ll make.
Advanced Footwork
As you start climbing steeper, more technical terrain, you’ll have to develop creative footwork to make the most of available footholds. Knowing when to hook a heel or a toe, to flag a leg, to drop or bar a knee can make a significant difference on harder routes. There isn’t space in this issue to tackle these techniques, but you can learn a lot by watching people boulder at your local gym. After you’ve seen how someone else has conquered a problem, try it yourself.
Leg Training: Flexibility and Stretching
While advanced rock-climbing may require that you gain more upper body strength, your legs can repeatedly lift your entire weight without any specific training. However, what the average climber’s legs need is more flexibility. Having flexible legs allows you to bridge, take big steps and “mantle” comfortably and safely. It also helps you keep your hips close to the rock.
Stretching is the only real training needed for your legs. You can do it anywhere, anytime, and it’s very beneficial. Yet, somehow most climbers forget all about it.
Last Words
Good footwork is the basis upon which one builds sound climbing abilities. Make a conscious decision right now to practice your footwork. Not only can it result in significant gains, but you’ll also enjoy the experience a lot more.
Climbing is a creative sport. The exercises described here are mere suggestions, or starting places, for you to explore. Create exercises of your own. Cultivate your inner-motivation. Climb outside as often as you can, but most of all have a great time on the rock.
About the author: Yann Troutet grew up in Hull, where he started climbing in 1994. An enthusiast of everything upward, in 2001 he published a guidebook to some of Ottawa’s most popular climbing destinations entitled, Climbing on the Eardley Escarpment. He now lives in Sherbrooke, Québec.
LOST IN THE LOST IN THE GATINEAUS GATINEAUS How compounding mistakes How compounding mistakes left us alone and cold throughout left us alone and cold throughout the night. the night.
By Tony Gariano
“ME LOST IN THE GATINEAUS for 36 hours? I don’t think so.”
That would have been my response to anyone suggesting the possibility of me getting lost on the Eardley Escarpment, west of Gatineau’s Lusk Falls Trail. After all, since friends introduced it to me five years ago, I had completed more than 25 hikes there.
First, I had gone with groups who knew the trails well. Not all parts of the steep, winding pathways are marked clearly, but after a few hikes, I knew my way better and introduced others to Gatineau’s quiet beauty.
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As I led friends through the trees and scrambled over rocks, we experienced only a couple of missed turns. On one, I led a group along a path I had never taken before. We crossed some rough terrain, but ended up very close to our starting point. Terrific. No harm done, I thought. Besides, it was a great hiking experience.
On another occasion with a friend, we missed a turnoff completely. Our three-hour casual hike turned into a six-hour marathon. Finally, we found ourselves at a major road, a long way from our truck.
Together, we hitch-hiked and jogged back to our vehicle.
But in June 2002, I endured a hike on this trail system that I never want to experience again.
A Developing Crisis
Heather, Monique and I (all good friends), decided to go for a long Sunday hike. None of us had any commitments that day, except for me; I was invited to an early evening birthday party for a niece. That gave us plenty of time to forego the shorter (and well-marked) Gatineau
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Photo by Allen Macartney.
trails for a more demanding outing–something less congested with people.
We agreed to choose a trail in a nearby area, several kilometres west of the Lusk Falls Trails. Heather and Monique had not done this hike before, so they relied on me for guidance. At about 11 am on Sunday, we parked our car at the base of the Eardley Escarpment.
After putting water, juice, fruit and cookies in our day packs—enough for a three to four hour hike—we set off climbing. As it was a very warm day, we
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were dressed in shorts, T-shirts and good hiking boots.
The heat made the climb difficult, so we took our time and made several stops. Because we were burning so much energy, I suggested we go to a restaurant on Sparks Street after the hike to replace the hundreds of calories the climb was expending. “Great idea!” Heather and Monique cheered enthusiastically.
We followed the trail at the top of the ridge, heading westward, and eventually came to a large beaver pond. Here we stopped at a rock outcropping, opened our packs and soaked up the quiet serenity.
Soon we consumed our small lunches and water, packed up and resumed our hike. At this point the trail branched off in several directions. Continuing along what appeared to be the main trail, we looked for a pathway that would take us back down the ridge to our vehicle. Because none appeared, we continued.
Doubt rose in my mind, but I pushed it aside thinking, “No problem. We’ll just continue walking and look for another turnoff.”
Pressing On
Eventually the pathway petered out, then disappeared entirely. We looked to no avail for tree markings that had appeared sporadically along the trail. We couldn’t even find tramped down vegetation or exposed soil that would indicate a trail.
Of course, at this point we should have turned around and gone back the way we had come. But that would have meant a long, hot hike retracing our steps.
“Look, we’re probably still on top of the main ridge,” I reasoned with my companions. “We’ve just gone a bit too far west. All we need do is go down the ridge and find the trail at the base, which will lead us back to the vehicle. It’ll take less time than tramping all the way back that other way.”
Having never been on this trail, my companions had no reason to disagree, so we headed slowly down the hill.
What did we meet at the bottom? Not a wide, inviting trail, only thick brush. Nothing looked familiar to me.
We were lost, but I felt no panic. All we needed to do, I believed, was to head either west or south; either direction would lead us eventually to a major road. It was still early afternoon and we had plenty of time. In the few hours we had been hiking, our feet had covered a lot of ground, but it wouldn’t take long to get back to the vehicle.
From Bad to Much Worse
Our trip was not going well, but very soon it got much worse. First, we encountered a series of beaver ponds and small lakes. No longer were we able to walk in a straight line, but instead were forced to weave around them. This added considerably to our effort and discomfort. Then, we ran into a real problem – a leg injury.
While picking her way around water obstacles, Heather took a wrong step that caused her knee to lock up. Although she could hobble along at a slow pace with great difficulty, she could no longer bend her knee. Naturally, this slowed our pace even further. Where earlier we had covered several kilometres in an hour, now we crawled along at less than one kilometre an hour. A very small lake (100 metres across) and associated swamp took us nearly an hour to pass because of the uneven shoreline, boggy terrain, thick bush, lack of trail and Heather’s injury.
And did I mention the horrendous clouds of biting insects that continually assaulted us? Up on the ridge we had encountered almost no insects, but stumbling through swampy ground we met squadrons of hungry deer flies, mosquitoes and black flies. Then a thundershower stuck. It swept the skies clear of bugs for a short while, and provided us with a bit of fresh water. (Our water bottles had run dry an hour before.)
It was late afternoon by the time the rain stopped. I had my cell phone and a signal, so I called my sister’s home, knowing everyone would be gathered there for the birthday party. After explaining that we were lost in the Gatineaus, but confident about finding our way out, I added, “We’ll call when
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we’re on the road.” With these words, I hung up and Heather, Monique and I continued walking.
Another beaver pond appeared in our path. Rather than taking time to skirt around it, we decided to cross a narrow stream emptying into the pond. After checking the stream bottom for hardness, we sloshed across. The water rose to our waists. Soon we met another pond, and once more we forged our way across a stream, getting wet to our chests. Holding our day packs over our heads out of the water, we looked like infantry, minus the guns. To buoy everyone’s spirits I called out cheerfully, “This is just like being in ’Nam.”
By now we were completely out of drinking water and quite thirsty. After considering the dangers of drinking untreated water in beaver territory (i.e. giardia), we drank greedily from a warm, discoloured stream.
It was getting very dark. I tried my cell phone, but couldn’t get a signal. Discouraged, we continued walking through very rough and dense bush, but soon decided that it was too dangerous to continue.
Shelter Is Vital
“We need to find some high and dry ground to spend the night on,” someone said. We made our way up an incline (sometimes scrambling on all fours) to the top of a hill with a small clearing about 20 metres long. The spongy moss covering the site would have made for excellent bedding, but it was too damp. Because the exposed rock was dry, we chose this as our bed.
The temperature, which had hovered around 30 degrees Celsius during the day, had now begun to drop. A cool breeze that penetrated our damp clothing made us feel miserable. Heather, in much pain and discomfort, began to shiver. Soon her teeth were chattering like a typewriter. Was this the first symptom of hypothermia, we wondered? “Let’s find some shelter,” I said, “something to protect us from the cold and bugs.” While Monique tended to Heather, I broke a number of leafy branches off nearby trees and formed a thick blanket of branches over the two.
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This offered some warmth and relief.
Suddenly, at about 11:30pm, my cell phone rang. (Earlier I had tried to make a call, but the phone had gotten wet, making it impossible to call out.) It was my mother. The call lasted for less than a minute until the signal drifted off. During that short minute I learned that authorities had been contacted, but only my father was out looking for us at the time. Rescue would probably come the next day. Disheartened, I crawled under the mound of branches. Monique and I placed Heather between us, so she could warm herself with some of our diminishing body heat.
Sleep avoided us that night. The cold,
the bugs, the hard rock and a sense of isolation seemed to press in from all sides, along with the considerable weight of the branches.
Next morning, when the sun had started to poke some light through the trees, we rose from underneath our natural comforter. After checking my cell phone, to my surprise I found it had a signal. After some effort I reached my work supervisor. I filled him in on the situation, and told him approximately our position. He relayed the information to authorities. Now we knew a search and rescue effort was really underway.
All search and rescue manuals counsel lost people to stay in one place. It makes searching easier. So we waited. At one point, I climbed a tall tree to get a better view of our location and to flag down a passing aircraft, if any appeared. Several times small planes crossed through the area, but none noticed us. Once, a helicopter flew directly over our position, but completely missed seeing us wave an orange t-shirt.
Questions assaulted us: Is there a search and rescue operation underway? What should we do? Wait? Get moving?
Photo by Suzie Beaulieu. Try to rescue ourselves? Not knowing what was happening made waiting more difficult. It proved a restless morning.
We tried to keep a positive outlook, but it was difficult. My cell phone only worked sporadically. This added to the uncertainty. If we could start a smoky fire, that would help rescuers, we reasoned. But, we had no matches, and rubbing sticks together proved futile. Despondency descended on us.
Around 1pm, with still no sign of any rescue, we talked our situation over as a group. We needed to do something to maintain our spirits. Both Monique and Heather, who had shown remarkable good spirits throughout this ordeal, were eager to get going. We knew, roughly, the direction we needed to travel, so after more discussion and looking at Heather’s injured knee, we decided to start moving.
Monique took the lead. I stayed back with Heather to help clear the area in front of her by tramping down brush and breaking branches. Within 30 minutes, we hit another stream and a sharp incline on the other side. We made it across and up the incline, then headed into more swampy terrain. By this time we could hear aircraft flying around.
Around 5pm, at the end of a horrible walk around a swamp and after being attacked by every biting insect in the area, we sat down on a rock, discouraged. None of us wanted to spend another evening in the bush. I believed we were close to the main ridge, but didn’t know how far it was, or in what direction it lay.
“Listen. I’m going to try to find some high ground so we can figure out where we are,” I said. After a brief discussion, I left.
Breaking into a slow run through the woods, I scrambled up a small hill and then through some thick brush. Slowly the woods started opening up, until I could see rock outcroppings. The terrain looked like the top of the ridge–something very familiar. A little further, the proof emerged; this was the main ridge!
In no time, I retraced my steps to Monique and Heather; soon all three of us were at the top of the ridge where we had stood the previous day. My cell phone had just enough power to make one quick call, so we called the police and said we were standing on top of the ridge. A short while later an aircraft appeared overhead, and dropped a streamer indicating our location. In ninety minutes a rescue
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party (consisting of my father, brother, brother-in-law, and several volunteers) reached us just as the sun set on the horizon.
Found!
“Great to see you!” Our excited, cheerful yells rang out over the escarpment. It took some minutes to bandage up Heather’s knee in preparation for our trip down the ridge, but soon we were moving slowly through the dark using flashlights, looking for trail markings. Our spirits were soaring.
At the base of the trail, we met the rest of the search and rescue team. Here Monique, Heather and I expressed our collective gratitude, appreciation and apology.
By 11 pm Monday night, exactly 36 hours after starting up the hill, we were back in my truck. Over the next days, concerned with the mental and physical condition of each other, we kept in close contact. All of us nursed many cuts and scrapes, especially along our shins. Heather had the worst time, recovering from the knee injury, but when the next weekend arrived, we gathered at a friend’s place for a barbeque. Needless to say, our adventure proved the main conversation that evening. About the author: Tony “Wrong Way” Gariano vows to be well prepared for his next hike.
AND YOU? WHAT IS YOUR WORST OUTDOOR EXPERIENCE THAT GOT SCARY SUPER FAST?
WRITE TO US AND WE’LL SHARE IT WITH OUR READERS!
Send an email to: ThisReallyHappened@OttawaOutdoors.ca
A Simple Survival Kit
EXPECT PROBLEMS when going on a three-hour hiking trip. Here’s a list of basic items to take with you. All fit easily into a small day or fanny pack.
Map Matches or lighter Fire-starter Space blanket Small first aid kit Pocketknife Signaling whistle Compass 10 metres of parachute cord Rolled up, large plastic bag (for shelter) Extra water
Five Key Survival Ingredients
1. Attitude. This includes the knowledge of how to survive. 2. Shelter. Even a large plastic bag can provide shelter. 3. Water. No one can survive more than several days without water. 4. Fire. This provides warmth and comfort, and helps when signaling for rescuers. 5. Food. This is the least important item If You Are
Lost...
of the five, because people can live for weeks without food, but not without water. • Never move quickly or run. • Never split your group up. Stay together. • Find a place in the open where you’re likely to be seen, and wait for rescue.
CLIMBING Black Bear Slab
GO THERE
A beginner’s outdoor climb you can handle
By Yann Troutet
Photo by Carl Desbien.
LOCATED ON THE BLACK BEAR SLAB, the Bear’s Crack lends itself to slab climbing, even though it really is a crack. Black Bear Slab is a tiny cliff but it is very regular and has a handful of routes of varying difficulty. The Ron and John Cliffs are also just a few minutes away.
The Bear’s Crack can be led safely with a set of nuts, but can also be top-roped easily. The slab immediately left of the crack is a challenging 5.8 called Ursus Pro Minimus, a great place to measure your slab climbing skills. The crack to the right of the Bear’s Crack is The Right Paw (5.3).
The Black Bear Slab is located on the Eardley Escarpment, directly behind a new housing subdivision on Cartel Road. Parking on Cartel Road is not tolerated. Please stick to the described trail and be respectful of local landowners.
To get there, take highway 148 out of Aylmer. About 15 kilometres further on, there is a four-lane section of highway. At the west end of this section is a small shopping mall. Turn right on Lebrun Street just past the mall. Turn right again on a small lane. Park here. Walk along this lane toward the escarpment to a gate. Once through the gate you are on private land. Follow a track down to a partially washed-out bridge and up to a fence. Cross under the fence and across the field, leaning to the right, towards the tree line. Enter the woods and walk down and across a creek, then up a flagged trail behind the houses to the slab.
Recommended routes
In addition to this edition’s featured route, here is a selection of short local climbs that lend themselves well to the exercises suggested in this article. Divided by type of climb (slab, face and crack), the list covers a range of difficulty and thus offers a progression. The routes best suited for top-roping are marked with an asterisk. About the author: Yann Troutet grew up in Hull, where he started climbing in 1994. An enthusiast of everything upward, he enjoys all forms of climbing. In 2001, he published Climbing on the Eardley Escarpment, a guidebook to Ottawa’s foremost climbing destination. He now lives in Sherbrooke, Québec.
The Bear’s Crack:
Simon Villeneuve demonstrates perfect body positioning on The Bear’s Crack. Not over-gripped, the crack is used as a handhold. The right foot is smearing. The climber is looking down at his feet, not his hands. He is taking small steps. The right hand is used for balance and support, fingers pointing down with the palm against the rock. Climbing confidently, Simon hardly feels the need for pro...
Climbs nearby that you can do Slab climbs Face climbs Crack climbs
Crocodile Rock* (5.4) Gound Zero* (5.3) North Wall Route B* (5.4) The Bear’s Crack* (5.5) Jugness* (5.5) Fire Free* (5.5) Pascal’s Hole (5.6) Moonlight Delight* Morning Crack (5.6) Primitive Primates at Play (5.7) (5.6) Fern Crack (5.7+) Ursus Pro Minimus* (5.8) Gogo Gadget* (5.7) Colonel Buckets* (5.8) Primal Scream (5.9) The Face* (5.8) Grolsch (5.8+) Living Dead (5.9)
Reference: Climbing on the Eardley Escarpment, available at Mountain Equipment Co-op and Bushtukah
Right Arete: On lower angles, stand upright and keep your hands fairly low. For better contact with the rock, and to relieve your calves, let your heels drop to a relaxed position. The author, cross-legged, on Right Arete.
Photo by Y. Troutet.
Dôme:
Many climbs require little more than good balance and a head for heights. Souren Beylerian on Le Dôme, Charlevoix region.
Photo by Simon Villeneuve.
