What I Learned Backpacking in a High Snow Year
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- čas přidán 28. 06. 2024
- More specifically, hiking the CDT northbound in 2019. Snow levels in Colorado were over 400% of average in June, which offered ample opportunity to learn and grow, as well as excessive postholing.
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Table of Contents
0:36 - Snow travel skills
3:11 - Good judgment and humility
4:25 - Map reading skills
6:43 - K10s vs Microspikes
9:17 - Snowshoes
10:44 - River crossings
12:12 - Avalanche terrain
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RESOURCES
How to kick steps, plunge step, and use axe for stability - • Winter Skills - Using ...
Kicking steps in trail runners - • Kicking steps into har...
Using ice axe for self belay - • Mountain Minute;Using ...
Self Arrest - • Ice axe arrest / self ...
Skurka's early season conditions tutorial - andrewskurka.com/tutorial-bac...
Monitor snow levels here - www.postholer.com/snow-condit...
and here - www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/interacti...
or with Caltopo pro (not free) - caltopo.blogspot.com/2019/06/s...
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Gear mentioned in video:
CAMP Corsa Ice Axe --- amzn.to/3bkf3NE
Kahtoola K10 --- amzn.to/2xKNY8A
Microspikes --- amzn.to/2zmzj45
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2023 is an even bigger snow year, and it's great to have this info!
as someone who starts the PCT in 20 days this was extremely helpful thanks Dan!
Glad to hear it. Good luck out there this year and be safe!
@@DanStenziano thank you! I am watching your PCT videos, that snow through the Sierras looks rough congrats on finishing even when it got mentally tough!
I taught a class in mountaineering at the university I graduated from. We spent several Saturdays on self-arrest as it’s a critical skill for snow travel. It was always sobering for the students to see how many ways there are to get seriously out of control with an ice axe in hand, and how quickly it happens. You have to practice until the separate actions (arresting after falling head up, head down, and face up, face down. Each requires a separate response that has to be automatic before you should ever venture out onto steep snow or ice without a safe runout below.
“Freedom of the Hills” was our text. Read the section on snow travel. If you read it correctly, it will forever dispel the notion that you can watch videos and gain this or other mountaineering skills and be competent enough to be safe on challenging terrain in snow. When I watch people on CZcams doing insane things ignorantly, I’m amazed at the survival rate. (Of course the ones who didn’t get away with it don’t post vids) Also: real crampons won’t ever be comfortable without real (read: “heavy”) boots. And, I really enjoy your posts. Very inspiring. Especially the one where a nice young man shows real good judgment and the courage to bail on a bad situation. Stay safe & keep sharing your adventures. :)
I actually worried before posting this video that it might give the impression that self arrest is less serious than it is, or that a physical skill can somehow be absorbed just from watching a video. That was definitely not my intention. And to be fair, while I have practiced self arrest, I'm sure that myself and many other hikers who go out in these conditions are not as competent at it as we should be. You're also the second commenter to mention Freedom of the Hills, so I think I'm going to have to finally get around to it.
Anyway, thank you for the honest comment and for going easy on me 😅
I looove snow :) My favourite way of hiking and backpacking in snow is definitely on skis!
Haven't tried any myself, but I've seen plently of less clumpy crampons than those you have. I've heard great things about both Black Diamond and Petzl for crampons.
Lol clumpy is a very accurate way to describe my crampons 😫
Someone else recommended Petzl too, specifically these www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Crampons/LEOPARD-FL which look like they might work with trail runners.
And I wish I knew how to backcountry ski! Someday...
Good stuff! Thank you for sharing!
Great content as usual
Very useful and informative.
Thanks for sharing..
Dan, this video IS very helpful, thank you! I appreciate the awesome content that you continue to put out. I intended to pick up more winter skills than I actually did this last winter. I’ll have to be more intentional for the coming winter and have saved this video for later review.
upping the video quality well done, chief
Excellent video, thank you for making it! So many hikers focus on gear but not on the skills that accompany it when there's so much value in them.. thanks!
Yeah boyyyyyyy
great tips Dan.. it'd also be interested in a quality pair of those hybrid spikes. i'm guessing double up on socks or even wearing neoprene ones still wouldn't have saved your big toe tendons?
Not sure about neoprene- possibly. I was wearing pretty thick wool socks though and that didn't seem to do a whole lot. It also didn't help that the lone peak has a fairly thin upper.
dan,
do u plan to cover tent, cooking, potty and cothing issues related to heavt snows ????
Was not planning on doing another video dedicated to snow, but I do touch on my tent and clothing in previous videos such as this one czcams.com/video/XwrM1FmmJuc/video.html and this one czcams.com/video/X_1DEtxqRMw/video.html
Dan, TiCa Ice Tool suluk46.com/product/tica-ice-tool-r5/ It's not a UIAA certified Ice Axe, but you don't need a technical ice axe, at 134g or 4.8oz for a 65cm its nearly half the weight of a Corsa. Oh how I wish Santa would bring one.
Those do look awesome. I think I'd rather get the titanium than the carbon shaft though. I feel like carbon fiber is a little flimsy for an ice axe. Anyway, couple one of these with the petzl snow leopard crampons someone recommended and that would cut a huge chunk of weight off what I used on the cdt.
Any thoughts on the Vargo titanium pocket cleats? See Richard's review at the site re securing them: vargooutdoors.com/titanium-v3-pocket-cleats.html. Or the Hillsound trail crampons? www.hillsound.com/products/trail-crampon
I think the pocket cleats look great for less intense stuff, like late June/early July in a regular year when there's already some steps kicked and not too much snow. Good to know they work well with Altras.
The trail crampons look like they'd be an improvement over Microspikes, but still the same basic design. The trail crampon pro looked good, but Hillsound say you can't use them with trail runners :/
50 cm or 70 cm ice ax
Mine is the 60cm, but I think 50 would be fine unless you're on the taller side. You don't really need the extra length since you're not walking with it that often like a mountaineer would. For backpacking you're just taking it out for occasional steep angles and in that case the shorter length makes sense.
suggestion - don't hike in the snow :) good job though!