The Mountaineering Council of Scotland

Issue 8 June 2001

SAFETY AND TRAINING What's Happening by Fran Pothecary A look at recent and coming activities of MCofS that are supported by the sportscotland Mountain Safety Budget Navigation Courses 2000 Interest in these courses always comes from far and wide – recently a call came into the office from someone in Surrey wishing to attend! But they are predominantly aimed at local people and this is reflected in the format of two evening lectures followed by a day out in the local area. Last autumn's courses in Aberdeen and Inverness were very popular – the Inverness one was a "full house" for the second year running! We experimented with a bike navigation course, which didn't attract the numbers we had hoped for, but following coverage on BBC Radio Scotland Out of Doors programme we are hoping for more interest later this year. As change of emphasis this autumn, the courses will run over a weekend (non residential) to make the most of the short daylight hours and to ensure lots of hands-on navigation practice. They will be running in November in the Inverness, Stirling and Dundee areas. Winter Experience Lectures The format for these lectures changed quite a bit this year round. Pete Hill and Stuart Johnston were asked to put together an interactive talk on winter skills and these were held at TISO shops in Aberdeen, Inverness, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Although ticket numbers were limited by the choice of venues this was a regarded as being a good thing. The smaller, more intimate space meant that questions could be asked more freely, wine and popcorn were available, quizzes were set to test knowledge and workstations were available to look at different kit and enable Christmas pocket money to be spent! Feedback from the lectures was excellent and TISO are keen to be involved again next year. The Glasgow shop sold out three weeks in advance – so the message has to be, buy your ticket early. The Clachaig lectures were also set to be winners with record attendance for the first two – and then foot and mouth struck. A double blow with winter conditions being as good as anyone has ever remembered and the tourist economy of Scotland looking to have a boom time as a result. Avalanche Education Courses Three pilot courses were set up in February – two in the Cairngorms and one in the West. The courses consisted of an evening lecture followed by a day on the hill looking at pits, assessing risk, signs and symptoms of avalanche hazards and safe travel. Demand was much greater than anticipated – we managed to double up numbers on all courses. They were aimed at the general public i.e. hillwalkers, mountaineers, skiers and snowboarders who wanted to know a little bit more about avalanches without having to attend a five day winter skills course. We will definitely be running these courses again next year and would be interested to hear if a full weekend course (non residential and more expensive) would be more welcome than the 'evening plus day' format we have looked at so far. Contact the office with feedback. Water Hazards Video – Screen Stars Wanted This project is all systems go and filming was due to start in late April but, you've guessed it, foot and mouth has delayed our ability to look for suitable locations for shooting (film not animals!) and filming in the spring unless it is very wet, is looking increasingly unlikely. However the finance is now in place for the project and that was always going to be the biggest uphill battle. Sportscotland have come in as joint funders and underwritten the project - other contributors include the Duke of Edinburgh Award and Mountain Training Trust, as well as the Mountain Safety Budget and support from the SMSF. Numerous other people from the UKMTB, Outward Bound, Plas y Brenin, Glenmore Lodge and SMLTB have put their time and effort into helping with the script and making it happen. We are hopeful that we can still shoot this spring but this is dependent on being able to access (with a 4WD) some of the chosen locations. "Stars in their Eyes?" this could be your chance! The other thing we are looking for are four adults of mixed age and gender who would be willing to be actors in the video. This would involved two days of filming mid week, possibly at short notice, the willingness to get wet, stand around a lot and drink coffee, and get herded around like sheep. Expenses will be paid but absolutely no wet suits allowed! Seriously if you are interested, please contact Fran at the MCofS office by email on fran@mountaineering-scotland.org.uk University Safety and Good Practice weekend This was another foot and mouth casualty. Due to run over the Easter weekend at Glenmore Lodge, this event was aimed at Scottish University clubs (mainly mountaineering and hillwalking, but also other outdoor pursuits clubs such as canoeing). It has proved difficult to establish interest in this event even though the BMC/ Plas y Brenin event in October is so successful. That event however is usually only attended by one Scottish University club – hence the attempt to get something home-grown off the ground. It is always difficult to keep consistent contact with University clubs as their committees change from year to year, if not term by term but we have been pretty successful in the last couple of years establishing safety talks for clubs over the winter months. The Easter event has now been re-scheduled to November 24th/ 25th 2001 It isn't just theory and chalk and talk, it is about developing skills, looking at decision making and judgement in a very practical way and sharing that experience with other university clubs. You can't afford not to be there. Representatives of University clubs and non club members are welcome. If you want more information about this event contact Fran at the MCofS on fran@mountaineering-scotland.org.uk.

Board of Avalanches? by Gary Todd Tapping into a demand for more avalanche education, the MCofS organised three avalanche workshops in February of this winter just gone. The first and last weekends were targeted at walkers and climbers and were held in the Cairngorm mountain area. The middle weekend, 10-11 February, was run specifically for ski-mountaineers and snowboarders and based in Glencoe. Snowboarders in particular are a group who are increasingly venturing into more traditional winter-mountaineering terrain with descents of winter Munros using gullies and faces. The weekend started with an interesting and thought provoking 'theory' session on the Saturday night and was kindly hosted at the Glencoe Mountain Rescue Centre. On the Sunday and despite severe weather conditions, which meant that the Meall a' Bhuiridh ski lifts couldn't open, a hill based workshop was run. Initial instruction and practice using the new digital avalanche transceivers and avalanche probes was given and this was particularly helpful. The benefit of using the new digital technology over the older, analogue transceivers was discussed at length. The group agreed that a walk up the hill was in order and a useful site was found for examining and testing snow-slope stability. The use of ski and snowboard Rutschblocks tests were practiced and at a higher level, under the infamous "Fly Paper" ski run, the group discussed and practiced route selection and safe travel procedures. On the descent an 'avalanche incident' was created to test out the participants reactions, organisation and knowledge. This was an excellent way of consolidating the knowledge and skills gained during the workshop. On reflection, the participants found the small group size, the level of information and the skills presented during the workshop to be about right and would recommend this session to other ski mountaineers and snowboarders. Postscript: on 3 March, after heavy snowfall, a sizeable avalanche was triggered at the bottom of the 'Rannoch Glades' ski run on Meall a' Bhuiridh. A number of the descending group had attended the avalanche awareness session three weeks earlier and were practising safe travel procedures at the time.   TECHNICAL CORNER As part of this column in future issues we will be doing a series of brief snapshots of gadgetry available to mountaineers – mainly aids to navigation and to communication. Most of them are unquestionably an 'aid' but some might think of them as Things that Go Flat, Things that Fizzle and Spark if They Get Wet, Things that Require a Small Bible to Help Operate Them and Things that You Can't Use with Big Gloves On. This issue we take a look at mobile phones. Mobile Phones Functions Half the UK's population now owns a mobile phone. In the mountains they have three major uses: initiating rescues, telephoning for advice, and alerting the Police of lateness thus preventing a callout. Mobiles have the potential to cut down call out time for MR Teams because they avoid the need to walk off the hill to raise the alarm. They have definitely saved lives and it is estimated that over half all rescues are initiated by mobile phone call. In the future it is possible that mobiles will be able to be traced to their exact location rather like a GPS system. Limitations Most batteries are not designed in cold/ wet conditions and this can reduce efficiency of the unit. Batteries cannot be expected to function if they are not fully charged. Communication may not be good both ways – good communication relies on a strong signal connection between phone and aerial. Topography can be a big limiting factor as can your geographical location (although this is changing as more mobile masts go up). Mobile phones are delicate and the fact that they survive so well in a mountaineer's rucksack is a tribute to their design. Being in possession of a mobile may convince the owner that they can take more risks, that it is an 'insurance policy' so to speak. It may also persuade someone to request outside help too precipitately, without seeking to extract themselves from relatively minor difficulties. Does a mobile phone conflict with the quest for resourcefulness or is it a lifesaver? Probably both   Back to Newsletter index     next article

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