Training update: Reality Check

A sample of things to come. Vince drags the supply sled up the access road to Elfin Lakes

With now less than 25 days until departure, the reality of this expedition is beginning to set in. Transporting all of of our food, fuel and equipment across the Fedchenko for a month is going to get exhausting, and at times, painful.
It's not the kind of thing you want to experience at 5000 m altitude for the first time.

Training Day

With our team spread out all over the West Coast and interior BC this season, it's been hard to get together for another session of group training. Much of the party had not even met each other before, so we locked in the week of March 17-21 to get into the field and practice hauling weight and pulling each other out of crevasses. Emelie was unfortunately unable to attend with her guiding commitments, but the rest of us knew that this trip was vital to our overall success on the Fedchenko. 

Our original plan was to traverse the McBride range, a four day Coast Range classic that links the Spearhead Range to Black Tusk. About a week out we found out why people only head out on this traverse in the springtime, when weather is reliably sunny for up to a week. The McBride does not have the convenient exit routes that are available around the fringes of Garibaldi Park so if you get weathered out half way through, the retreat can quickly turn into a miserable death march, as Lee Lau's group experienced in the spring of 2007.

We made a plan B that would take us into the Callaghan/Brandywine area, but after our car load of broke skiers refused to pay a certain recreational provider's extortionate trail fees, we deferred to the well known Elfin Lakes area of Squamish. Weather was due to come in that night, so we set up our first camp a few hundred meters from the Elfin Lakes shelter. That way we could use the outhouses, but still go through the motions of setting up and taking down camp.

A pre-trip gear explosion on the living room floor at Vince's house

Day 1 camp

The storm did indeed hit, bringing about 15 cm of snow overnight. The next morning involved digging out our tents and otherwise trying to keep the rest of our gear dry. All challenges that will be a daily routine when weather hits us on the Fedchenko.

Enough Rope

One of the most important skills in glacier travel is knowing how to set up rope rescue systems effectively. With the group having been taught various techniques, we thought it wise to get everyone attuned to the same method of setting anchors, rigging pulleys and hauling our glacier partners out of trouble. Zeb is the most proficient rope technician on the team, so we followed his lead on digging t-slot anchors, tying Munter mule overhand knots and extracting our victim with a z-pulley. Carrying out this exercise on snow - with an actual person weighing on the end of the rope- was so much more effective than an indoor training session.

As part of his guide training, Zeb also needed to be able to construct an emergency shelter within a 20 minute window, which he demonstrated later that afternoon. A simple trench with room for two people and a lightweight tarp secured to skis and poles. Hopefully we'll be spending every night in out tents on the Fedchenko, but it's always best to be prepared for the worst if we get caught some distance from our base camp.

Zeb demonstrates his emergency bivvy, constructed in less than 20 minutes

Holly and Zeb test the emergency bivvy shelter

Traveling show

The next day it was time to break camp, getting into the groove of packing the camping equipment in the right order to be the most efficient with time and effort. Everything will be several times harder at high altitude, so getting the little things dialed in is all-important.

The four of us roped up on the skin track and headed for the east side of Paul Ridge, taking turns to drag the supply sled. Communication while on rope was crucial, as was keeping to a steady pace. After setting up camp for our third night, we allocated the rest of the afternoon for more training on lowering a victim in a sled and passing a knot. It's more difficult than it sounds, and while in theory it's the same knot over and over, the birds nest of cords and carabiners can get confusing for those not trained in the art. It was a long afternoon, but we all came away having learned something new.

On Friday the sun came out for our exit back to the car, passing the dozens of Vancouver skiers coming up to stay at the Elfin Lakes shelter for the weekend. Lunch in Squamish was a treat after three nights in the backcountry, we could only imagine what it will feel like after 30 days in the Pamirs.

VS

Four of the five members of Team Flow get together.

Hauling the sled with beautiful views of the Mamquam Icefields

Atwell will have to wait for another trip

Testing the new Sherpa 100 from our sponsor Goal Zero

Great times in the cooking tent