For trekking that lasts for more than a day, food should be a basic part of your bag list. However, unlike food taken by other athletes, the manner of eating and the types of food that can be eaten are limited in order to keep your body in tiptop shape during the trip.
Mountain sickness caused by high altitude may pose a threat in the digestive processes of the body. Although this sickness may not be evident to some, eating the right food the right way would prevent any mishaps that could lead you to unpleasant results.
These are some tips you must bear in mind before and during the trekking:
Before the climb, eat a light breakfast. Of course, you wouldn’t want to be throwing up at the beginning of your hike, right? Nor you would want to be feeling all bloated, heavy, and sleepy during the hike? Continue the type of breakfast you have in your diet plan or if it’s quite the heavy kind, just cut back on the amount.
During the hike, choose drinking over eating. Hydration is key for the body to keep up with the conditions presented by the environment. Choose hot chocolate over coffee and herbal teas over black tea for the latter tends to dehydrate the body faster.
Prefer freeze-dried foods over beans and other canned foods. Considering that other types of food are harder and longer to cook, these freeze-dried ones are easier to prepare. However, this type drains larger amounts of water in order to be completely digested. In the situation where the body needs as much oxygen and hydration as it can manage to intake, it is preferable to keep off from things that would take away a large chunk of the body’s water.
Reduce the fat intake from foods before and during the hike. The fat present even in freeze-dried foods require more oxygen in order to burn. More than anything, the oxygen is the most important element in surviving the whole trip. Staggered breathing due to insufficient oxygen intake may cause other complications to the coordination of the body.
Eat a lot of carbohydrates. Cutting back on the fat intake may be good but the body still needs something to burn for energy. Increasing carbohydrate intake would make you last the day longer. Typical ratio of carbohydrates to fat to protein is 4:1:1.
The diet for the pre-climb is different from the diet that should be undergone during the climb. You must know the difference between the two and adjust them according to your body type and needs. Be sure to consult your physician about this to ensure a safe and healthy transition from one diet to another.
If other sports set up rules to keep the members in order and the whole setting safe, mountaineering would be no different. In this field, there are still rules and etiquettes being followed by hikers to ensure their enjoyment without sacrificing their safety and the environments.
These rules are not as rigid; however, the repercussions might cause negative effects to both the hikers and their environment in the long run. Here’s four of the basic mountaineering manners that one must need to know before starting the trek:
1.Body must be conditioned not only for one’s self but for also for the team. Climbing mountains alone would not only make the experience lack some luster, but it also poses danger to the person. This is one of the many reasons why mountain trekkers go in teams—securing safety. However, taking care of each other would only be possible if the body is conditioned to care not only for itself but hold long enough to also care for another.
2.All equipments must be checked more than twice to ensure safety. Over the years, more and more accidents in the mountains happen due to negligence. No first aids were administered or safety equipments were forgotten down at the base camp all because the climber “thought†everything was in the bag. Checking more than twice would cost nothing yet gain everything: enjoyment and safety.
3.Build rapport with the hiking team. Mountaineering is almost the same as
4.Know your environment. Not knowing the route and the specs of the mountain is as dangerous as not having the equipments during the hike itself. It is a necessary condition that the hiker knows details on the mountain’s path and the dangers it present. Researching on what kinds of floras and faunas grow in the region would help in identifying opportunities and threats of the hike itself. But knowing the species and the terrain is as important as knowing the weather conditions during the hike.
These four rules are the mere basics of what a hiker needs to know before climbing. Going for extra safety wouldn’t cost any harm so why not go the extra mile so the journey could be enjoyed a little bit more?
Mountain navigation is an often overlooked skill. Navigation by map and compass is a skill that will prove essential at some point in a mountaineer’s or mountain walker’s career. GPS navigation aids use batteries, and are often rendered unusable in extreme conditions. We will give you the skills to get to where you want to be, whether it be the top of some mountain, or back to your tent or snowhole.
A must for mountaineers, scramblers, aspirant mountain leaders and walking group leaders who wish to improve or learn from scratch.
Basics know how.. it’s not about just climbing mountains it’s about the wilderness and how to survive, and how to be one with nature.
Knowing the essentials, clothing and equipment. 10 Essentials, clothing, boots and equipment for day hikes or overnight trips – Examine traditional clothing and equipment and the latest high-tech gear and low-tech alternatives
Knowing how to prepare for the wilderness. Leave no trace; nutrition; conditioning, introduction to first aid; preventing injuries and handling emergencies.
Knowing the wilderness environment. Avoiding hazards and understanding weather for safe, enjoyable travel; where to go and how to get to the great places in the Pacific Northwest; introduction to backcountry navigation.
Navigation (Map and Compass). Navigation continued with experience in using Map and Compass. Get hands-on instruction in map reading, using a compass, navigating in the backcountry, terrain association and what to do if lost. Participate in demonstrations on GPS.
Wilderness Skills Navigation and Outdoor This field trip takes the students to a park to learn and practice their new skills on an outdoor challenge course where they learn using the guided Discovery instructional method while becoming proficient with the 10 essential.
1. Navigation
Added to the obligatory $7.00 topo map of the area and the $30.00 Suunto M3 base plate compass must be the ability to use them. This requires training, study, and practice. Navigating with a map alone is also a necessary skill. Attach a really loud whistle to your compass lanyard. Almost everyone will add an accurate $100.00 Garmin eTrex H GPS receiver. Learn to use map, compass and GPS together.
2. Sun Protection
Sun glasses and a sunscreen are an obvious addition to a pack. Sun protection should come from SPF 35 sun screen lotion, dark glasses suitable for altitude and reflective snow fields, and long sleeves, gloves and hat rated for strong sun. Have a sun skirt on the hat or wear a bandana under the hat and over your neck and ears.
3. Insulation (extra clothing)
This brings us to extra clothing – the most essential of the list. In Central Oregon, the weather can change in a very short time, leaving people shivering in shorts and vulnerable to rain, sweat and wind induced hypothermia. Hiking fast may keep your body heat up, until you “bonk” or “run out of gas” (glycogen), or have to hike slow with others, go slow to find your way or have to stop and tend an injured companion or stranger. The extra clothing must be carried in your pack, ready to be put on when you stop for a few minutes or several hours.
Cotton clothing, soaked in sweat, rain or melted snow, holds water and may loose up to 70% of its insulating value. Cotton clothing has caused the death of many people. Today’s layers of polypropylene, pile and Gortex are equivalent to the wool underwear, pants, shirts, sweaters and coated nylon jackets of the 1970s and before. Polypro, pile, thick synthetic insulation and Gortex had not been invented when Everest was first summited. However, the earliest climbers used layers 1. to wick body moisture, 2. to adjust insulation and 3. to cut off wind and rain. Remember, layers must be “pealed†to avoid sweat soaked clothes! All of this essential seasonal personal clothing and equipment must be accommodated in a light day/summit pack just large enough to hold it. Garments tied to the outside are likely to catch on something or get wet or lost. A larger day/summit/back pack is needed for the light but more bulky wool, pile, or down insulation layers needed in the winter.
4. Illumination
A small flashlight can assist in finding a lost or injured person. Many hiking groups have returned to the trailhead after dark. Headlamps now weigh in at 3 ounces! Extra batteries can be shared with your GPS.
5. First-Aid Supplies
Individual first aid supplies sized to the trip are a must. And don’t forget the toilet paper! First aid supplies can fit in a Ziploc bag and should deal with cuts and scrapes with small and large Band-Aids, Neosporin and mole skin. In June and July, add mosquito repellent for the woods. Have OTC drugs and a personal prescription pain medication for that broken ankle. Shoot for about 4 ounces for day hikes in the hills. Take a two day Wilderness First Aid class from the Wilderness Medicine Institute of the National Outdoor Leadership School. Put together your own individual and group first aid supplies listed on this website.
6. Fire
Waterproof matches and a fire starter can be combined in a couple of adjustable propane pocket lighters. Remember, when you most need a fire, it will be windy, wet and cold. Do not depend on being able to start a fire. Learn how to stay warm without a fire. Don’t try to be a “survivalist”.
7. Repair Kit and Tools
A small knife should be light and sharp – a tool kit knife is heavy and of little use. Carry light special tools for your skis, snowshoes or snowmobile. I carry the smallest Swiss Army knife and six feet of fresh duct tape.
8. Nutrition (extra food)
Extra food should be carbohydrates in the form of easily digested quick acting fat-free fig newtons, jelly filled breakfast bars or ClifBars that offer a bit of protein added to aid utilization. Glycogen (sugar or starch) is the one essential fuel that must be replaced during a hard hike or climb or an unexpected cold wet night under a tree – most people have ample stores of the other essential muscle fuel: fat.
9. Hydration (extra water)
Add extra water or the equipment to obtain it (stove for snow or a filter for summer), to your list. In the summer you may need to drink a gallon or more per day. In the winter you may be able to get by with three quarts if you are careful not to sweat. Use electrolyte replacement powder such as Gookinaid or Gatorade. Remember that only two quarts of water weigh almost four pounds. Use Nalgene or Platypus plastic bags that weigh one ounce per quart, not Nalgene bottles weighing 6 ounces each! I am not a fan of musty bladders, but they are popular at this time.
10. Emergency Shelter
Emergency shelter can range from a 10oz. Emergency Bivy Sack sold by Adventure Medical Kits for about $30. to a four season Gore-Tex $200. bivy bag and 20 degree sleeping bag.
You can not shelter in snow without an insulating pad such as the Cascade Designs RidgeRest three-quarter length, 9 ounce ensolite foam pad, strapped to the side of your day or summit pack.
Carry a light plastic snow shovel and know how to build a real snow cave designed to trap warm air with thick insulating snow with the entrance below the pad covered living area.
Four simple responsibilities of the backcountry traveler
Hikers, backpackers, peak baggers, alpine climbers, backcountry skiers, snowshoers, snowmobilers, horsemen, hunters and other outdoorsmen.
Tell a Reliable Person where you are going, what you are going to do and when you will return. Search and Rescue personnel will want to know where you planned to park your vehicle, its description and license number, what gear you have, the names, cell phone information and experience level of your companions. Of course, you must agree that you will call the Reliable Person when you return to town. Also, this encourages your thoughtful setting of a “turn-around” time for your adventure.
The Reliable Person must accept the responsibility to call the local County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue through 911 with the above information if you do not check in by an agreed-upon time. Your life may depend on a timely call to 911.
Experience tells us that the Reliable Person may not understand the importance of this responsibility.
The Second Responsibility of each individual backcountry traveler or climber is to be prepared with a light weight daypack and enough extra clothing, water, food and selected gear to survive an emergency stop of several hours or overnight. These Essentials are seasonal and should focus on keeping you warm and dry, hydrated, eating simple carbohydrates, and able to stay in one place. If you become lost, signal your location, perhaps with colored tape or a reflective “plastic 9 ounce bivy sac”, and stay still or exercise your large muscles at your marked position to stay warm. Do not try to find your way until you become exhausted, cold or dangerously wet. Wait at your marked location safely for rescuers.
Experienced mountaineers carry the traditional “Ten Essential Systems”.
The Third Responsibility is to have a topo map of the area, a declination corrected base plate compass and an inexpensive GPS that provides your coordinates. A small simple accurate Garmin eTrex H GPS receiver costs only about $100 everywhere, a simple base plate compass $35 and a 1:24,000 USGS Quad topo map, $7, total $137.
Experience tells us that you cannot get by with GPS alone – you need a topo map and declination adjusted base plate compass, and new skills to use them together!
The Fourth Responsibility is: Carry your common digital cell phone, turned on, in contact with any cell towers
Insure that you have the personal option to call for medical or rescue services. I would prefer to call for help on Friday morning at the time my leg was broken and not have to wait until Sunday at 6PM when I will be reported missing by my Responsible Person.
An important new free service is the ability of Rescuers to request from your mobile phone Provider, your general location triangulated from cell phone “ping” records or from a GPS chip in some new phones. Another option for many is to carry a $150 SPOT Satellite Messenger which can give your friends and/or 911 your exact GPS location.
Carry a personal cell phone turned on and positioned where it can best stay (warm and) in contact with the cell phone towers.
These five tips were written by a guy called Scott, and sum up the usual advice given to complete novices fairly well.
When moving up, stay as close to the face (wall) as you can, the closer your centre of gravity is to the wall, the less your muscles have to work to hold you. If your body is vertical, then all you need to do is stand in place rather than cling to the rock. It helps to climb with the inside edge of your feet, not the toes, to achieve this. When resting (and you should do this often to look down and check your footholds) straighten your arms (so you don’t tire them out) and lean back (ideally with handholds fairly high up).
Rely upon your legs more than your upper body strength. Your legs are much stronger than your arms so don’t just try to act macho by pulling yourself up the face (wall), just stand up!
Bring one foot up at a time, this will reduce the wear on your hands.
Try to position your hands and feet on the holds in the positions you will want them in for the next move. This will reduce the amount of switching and improve your speed and skill by making you plan your next move.
Don’t lean too far away from the wall when you are resting, when you are ready to continue it will just take more strength to pull your body back against the face. (This is more important on short climbs then long day climbs when there is more time to rest.)
To learn good technique, you need to climb hard routes to push your boundaries, but don’t forget you also need to climb easy ones on which to practise good technique. Your aim should be to climb easy routes with as little effort as possible.
Although not an altitude illness per se, hypothermia may be the most common problem for the unprepared mountaineer. When exposed to the cold, the first line of defense against a lower body temperature is our behavior. We put on more clothes (gloves, hats, long pants, etc.). if the cold and wind don’t allow clothes to meet the heat loss, we must increase heat production physiologically. We accomplish this though shivering. Unfortunately, shivering will only provide five times more added heat. When heat loss continues, to exceed heat gain, out body temperature will fall and hypothermia will ensue. Symptoms of hypothermia begin with peripheral vascular shutdown or skin vasoconstriction and progress from there.
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The skin becomes pale and cold
We lose our sense of touch and pain
Coordination diminishes and fine motor skills become difficult.
Shivering becomes uncontrollable and exhausting
Judgment and mental processes become impaired
Behavior may change. Climbers may become withdrawn and apathetic.
Walking may become difficult and stiff.
Shivering may cease and the heart rate slows.
As body temperature declines to less than 80 degrees Fahrenheit, individuals may lose consciousness, and the heart and respiration may stop.
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(Dougherty, Neil J. IV. Mountaineering Safety. Outdoor Recreation Safety. United States: The School and Community Safety Society of America, 1998.)
