Today its time for the 5th of December, and a reminder of the safety always remember…When it comes to mountain Safety I can write a whole book or a pair of books about the topic. But let us start with a quote:  “Prepare and prevent, don’t repair and repent.” That’s a good start. This topic is more current than ever, with a lot of beginners in the mountains due to the pandemic. What is mountain safety? Well from my point of view it begins with your own knowledge and experience. Add the factor weather and how challenging environment you are adventuring in. So when you start the adventure, think over these factors and you will know how to act. If you want to challenge your experience, you might bring a more skilled friend or why not a guide? The basic for me in mountain safety will be; a good knowledge and experience in navigation. Well experienced with all the help device for the safety, such as 1st aid equipment, wind shelter, shovel, etc. And ”safety it something that happens between your ears, not something your hold in your hands.” In real life, it’s about having the right judgment. You will never have such a stress that you have to chance or be careless, its to late to regret when the accident had happened. When it all comes to its nature it is about not expose yourself or others for danger. And buy using your ”stomach” feeling, you will know what will be the right decision in a given situation. When it comes to mountain rescue patrol, and all there mission, we all from stand position can have opinion about have carless people are. But in the city life we don’t have any opinion’s of  people use 112 etc. Observe that I don’t mean that unnecessary rescue mission  is ok, but it is easy to to have opinion form the side. And with right judgement, you will call in the right time…And you, don’t forget to report to your relatives, your planes and when you will call again during your journey/adventure. And always bear in mind, you can never replace lack of experience with a tool or a gear. A new ice axe will not make you an alpinist…And always remember; never trust a guy with shiny gear. So even if you got a new shovel, with combined snow saw, you still need to practice within beore you can use it in hard condition in real life on the mountains..

 Mixed climbing under heavy weather – YouTube

Mountain safety advice from Tryfan, Snowdonia – YouTube

See ya tomorrow…

The fourth of December and about a qualification that will permit guiding in several nation. Today I will write about UIMLA IML. I will be doing it from two different angles. One side from the guide perspective and also from the client side. Bur let us first find out what a IML is. An IML is a person that has been trained and assessed against the challenging requirements of UIMLA. The IML qualification lets the holder lead groups in different mountains all over the world, where the skills and equipment of alpinism are not required. IMLs can work with groups on high altitude treks as well lead groups on snowshoes.

(Navigation training at the Swedish IML  training 2020 Photo Dominique Olbrecht UIMLA)

So from a guides perspective, why have a IML certification? As a guide you will have a huge responsibility, and for being able to live up to that this qualification will help you a lot. You will  not be standing in a complicated situation and not have the knowledge in judge making. The training is tough. First of all you need the Fjalledarnorm as a basic. Then you have to do the summer and winter training and add summer and winter assessment to that. The training include parts as navigation in forms of conditions, ways of travel, emergency bivouacs, river crossing, leadership including judgement training among others.

(Rope technique training at the Swedish IML training Oct. Photo Dominique Olbrecht UIMLA)

With the IML certification you have a real good ground to rely on. As a IML you as well must keep on your knowledge development, meaning you will always be a better guide. So if you will feel comfort and safe as a guide, you better become a IML.

(River crossing training at the Swedish IML training Oct. 2020 Photo Dominique Olbrecht UIMLA)

From a client perspective what is the value of a IML? Well here you got an approved, assessed mountain Leader. She/he will be ”battle tested” this qualification means that you got an real quality check of the guide. You will know that if something is going wrong, this guide will have it in control. You will also know she/he is always updated with latest in the area. This person is and work as a professional. She/he always do a security planning etc. This guide also have a very broad network of guides all over the world, which is a prerequisite as good as any.

More information about the IML you will find here: uimla | SFLO (svenskafjalledare.se) and UIMLA – Union of International Mountain Leader Associations

See ya tomorrow…

Some path we don’t know were they lead, as when we for example a new book read. So today it will be about book, and suggestions for how you can spend some hours in front of the bonfire with a good cup of coffee. 

The first suggestion of mine will be The Mountaineers: great tales of bravery by the Royal Geographical society. The book features fact files for over 100 famous mountaineers and stunning photography of the mountains they scaled, and contains rare artefacts that were found on their journeys, previously unpublished photographs, and specially commissioned route maps to recreate history’s greatest ascents. Mountaineers: Great tales of bravery and conquest: Royal Geographical Society, The Alpine Club: 9780241298800: Amazon.com: Books.

I also can suggest The Soldier: Respect is earned by Jay Morton. This guy got four years in the Parachute regiment, ten years in the SAS and two Everest summits in his CV. So here you will be involved in how to develop the physical and mental endurance and resilience.

And when it come to mountaineering technique I will suggest this two books: Climbing self rescue: Improvising Solution for serious situations. This book will includes fall on rock, glaciers etc. knots and emergency procedures. Helicopter support and also 29 different rescue scenarios. The second one will be UIAA Alpine skills: Summer. With its 340 slides with developing information for a mountaineerer it will be a good investment.

When it comes to books from the nordic mountains I will suggest Fjall i akvarell by Gunnel Lundholm. This contains paintings from a tour in Kebnekasie area and also a winter tour in Oviksmountains of Jamtland. Alf R Jacobsens Angrepp i Gryningen is a book about the battle of Narvik i Norway in April 1940. With Alf’s present way of telling, this book in very good.

See ya tomorrow…

Today we open up number two, and it is all about the weather for you. Heading for the mountains nothing else will be so important as the weather. That is quite funny, due to is there something which we cant influence. It is something we just have to relate to. But with competence/knowledge we can plan due to the circumstances. First we need to understand how the weather function. By ”reading” the clouds you can predict how the weather conditions will be. First we have the feather clouds, it is as it says feather like. They will appear high up and will have some foggy look. If the cloud got a hook in one of the ends, you can count on rain within 24 hours. The next variant will be the foggy clouds. This clouds got a lot of ice crystal’s, and often they build a halo around the sun. Also high up and you can count for rain within 12 hours. The layer clouds indicates it will be raining within a couple of hours. The sun will be covered more and more and it looks like it shine under a glass disc. The cumulus clouds are white and bumpy clouds. This clouds can be dark in the bottom, As long as they are as broad as high there will be no rain, and just overcast. During the day this clouds will grove in the height and in the noon it will be rain. But late evening the sun will be coming trough again. Thunder clouds is a sign to really notice. Now it is bad weather incoming. With its filamentous top and broad and dark bottom they are is to recognize. Ok so now we got the first knowledge of how to predict weather. We can also use some equipment for our help. The altimeter, is good to use. It is working related to the air pressure. If the air pressure sink, it will indicate that the weather will be bad. A barometer at is self is of course another tool to use. Also Silvas ADC can help you to check temperature, wind speed and altitude(air pressure). When it comes to winter activities the weather is more important due to avalanches, but that is a chapter for it owns. So if you are going to a mountain area read the prognosis and understand how the weather works in the area. Chamonix for example, in July normally a thunder cloud is build up during the afternoon. Knowing that you can plan your journey..

See ya tommorow…

1st. of December and the Calendar for 2020 starts today. Today we open the first door for this year. Today the knowledge of shovels are about to score, about which one to choose you will learn more. When you are hidden for the mountains during the winter you will need to have a really good shovel. This because of the presence of avalanches but also for being able to build a shelter and more. What is important to look at when choosing a shovel? Which material is the shovel build of, it should be stable to cope heavy snow. Metal is a stable material. Aluminum is good as well, avoid plastic when its not so durable. Next thing to focus on will be the shovel’s blade. The design of the blade as well as the size. Here it is a ocean of variants. So choose one that fits your backpack. The advice here becomes, however a shovel with as big blade as possible. It will help you to dig amount of snow easier. A blade with prickly edge will help you hew trough compact snow or ice. A one with more curved blade will help you to shoveling the snow in a better way. The shaft shall be adjustable. Because when shovel snow it is good with along shaft, and in a avalanche or in a snow cave/shelter it is better to work with a short one. There is also three different handle/grip to choose; D, L or T. The two last is best for to carry, but digging with gloves the D ones is preferable. The weight of the shovel is a good indicator for how stable it is. It is important that you have test it before you use it, and that its suits you and your special needs for the adventure. When it comes to clean avalanche shovels I will suggest this ones; Pieps shovel pro, Mammut alugator Light hoe, Black Diamond Evac 9 and Voile XLM. 

You can also have a combined shovel if you want, and here you got some suggestion of that. The Voile T-Wood Avalanche shovel has an integrated snow saw in the shaft. So here you got two tool in one.

BCA also got one shovel with a combined saw. The BSA A-2 EXT Avalanche Shovel system.  Also Ortovox got a shovel with a combined ice axe, so here you also got two tool in one.

As well BSA got one shovel/ice Axe tool. The Shaxe Tech Avalanche Shovel will be another example.

But my own first choice here will be the Mammut Alugator with D grip. This one is real reliable. In China soldiers train for being able to handle the snow. This might be something for you.

See ya tomorrow…