I've seen a lot of people climb. I can't begin to count how many but in 27 years of climbing it really is a lot of people. I've also seen all kinds of techniques applied in climbing and I can tell you for sure that some have been a lot more efficient and safer than others. The other thing that I can tell you about the techniques I have seen applied is that while you may imagine that the very best practices I have seen came from the most experienced climbers. This is far from the truth.

"Application of technique" in climbing is really about the appropriate selection of a technical system for a given situation. As climbers we have a "tool box" or "bag of tricks" that we can pull out in various circumstances. Hopefully we most often pick the safest and most efficient tool for the situation.

Climbers of all experience levels can only work reasonably with the tools that they have learned and they can only apply those tools effectively when they combine having learned good techniques in the first place with a lot of experience to know when to apply which techniques. The reality that I have seen out there is that a lot of climbers, including some very experienced ones, did not learn best practices in the first place and though they may have been climbing for a long time they have never had a chance to practice and apply the best techniques. On the flip side I have trained beginning leaders in appropriate techniques and found that even after a few days of leading instruction they might be leading safer, more efficient pitches than even a very experienced climber who did not have training in leading technique.

All of this is of course my pitch to go and get good lead climbing instruction from qualified instructors. Whether you are just starting out and want a solid platform to build your climbing career on or if you are already leading but would like to step back and rebuild your foundation with some solid bricks and mortar, a learn to lead course is going to be of great benefit.

Here's what one learn to lead student from many years back had to say:

"I started lead climbing after a three day course taught by Jan Neuspiel. We covered gear placement, anchors, rope management and multi pitch climbing techniques. This professional instruction proved priceless to me on so many levels. I noticed my base technical skills were at a higher level compared to more "seasoned" climbers. There is just so much ground level knowledge I gained that would have been impossible to replicate without professional instruction. As I progressed in my climbing, I teamed up with Jan as a climbing partner four years later on a 3000ft big wall on Baffin Island. I highly recommend this training to anyone serious about climbing safely and effectively." Guy Ridler, Courtenay B.C.

Having learned to lead safely a climber inevitably wants to get on to multi pitch rock routes. This is why I started climbing ... I wanted to get up things! Multi pitch climbing of course opens up a whole new can of worms and a new level of commitment and a need for greater skills. One of these skills sets is rock rescue which will be the topic of a future blog.

Be safe and have fun!

Jan

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Well it must be spring. May started out being quite busy with rock climbing under sunny skies and warm temperatures when suddenly we were out ski touring again! These are the wonders of living on the Island, sunny skies and warm rock in the valleys and great skiing up high. The way the schedule looks right now we'll get a little more ski touring in yet this month, still mixed with rock climbing courses. Then come June it's full on into summer activities with our first mountain skills course running 18-20 June (still a few spaces available) and rock climbing continuing apace. The summer is filling up quickly with a number of mountain skills courses already booked (the three day helicopter accessed courses continue to be popular, I guess it's the efficiency of landing at the foot of a glacier!) and lots of guided climbing. We're going to climb technical multi pitch rock in the alpine on Queen's Peak, we're heading to Rambler, Elkhorn continues to be a popular objective and as always there is interest in Colonel Foster. We're also heading to the Tantalus range a couple of times and there's talk of Bugaboos as well. On the lighter side there is lots of hiking scheduled as well both in the alpine and on the coast lines

Speaking of hiking we're excited about our budding partnership with the Strathcona Wilderness Institute. For those who do not know the SWI is a non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire awareness, appreciation and stewardship of the natural world through education and participation. The Institute embraces the goals of the Strathcona Park Master Plan to protect the natural beauty of the park while at the same time promoting public enjoyment and respect for integrity and completeness of the wilderness. Our partnership with SWI started this winter with our using their newly constructed Paradise Meadows Visitors Centre as a classroom for our avalanche courses. The space is perfectly located for our courses next to Raven Lodge at Mount Washington and the rent that we pay to use it goes directly to help the SWI achieve it's worthwhile goals. Definitely a win/win partnership in our view! So what does all of this have to do with hiking? Well starting this summer Island Alpine Guides in partnership with SWI will be running multi day hikes into the mountains of Strathcona Park. While the institute runs shorter interpretive hikes from the center at Paradise Meadows it is beyond their capacity to guide more committing mountain trips. Since IAG is perfectly set up for this with certified guides, land use agreements in place and fully insured, SWI saw us as the logical partner in this venture. Check out the publications, press releases and web site of SWI to see what they are up to.

At risk of going on too much I do want to mention one more exciting bit of news on the staff front at IAG. We are happy to announce the addition of Christophe Bonneau to our guiding team. Christphe is a fully qualified UIAGM mountain guide trained in France who has moved to Vancouver Island recently. He has guided some ski touring for us already this winter and is looking forward to a summer of alpine and rock activity with us both guiding and teaching. He is both professional and personable and looks forward to sharing his passion for the mountains with the Island Alpine community. Look for his bio coming soon on our web site.
Enjoy the spring and do get in touch to join us on one of our many adventures this summer.

Jan 

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I get a lot of questions on how to deal with human waste in the backcountry.  As individuals it is quite easy to head off into the bush and take care of business on your own.  A couple of things to keep in mind:

1. If possible dig a hole in the dirt at least 6 inches deep with a "bit of room to spare"
2. Cover up the hole with the diggings
3. Try and be at least 100 meters from a water course and be especially vigilant in areas near lakes or rivers that feed into lakes.

Toilet paper takes time to degrade heres the scoop and leaving little behind:

1. Get a little sharp stick about 12 inches long
2. Pile up the paper in a separate area.
3. Once done squewer the paper with the stick.
4.  Light paper on fire with lighter **be downwind of this stage!
5. Rotate paper around on stick as it burns
6. You should end up with nothing but tiny fragments of carbon
7. *** Take care if forest fire hazard is high!  

If your traveling in a large group, staying at a base-camp etc. Large amounts of poop can add up quickly.  The trick for this that we use is to get yourself a home-depot bucket with the secure lids (important!). Line it with a garbage bag and pop yourself a $10 plastic toilet seat on the top.  If you are at a basecamp a little container of lime is great to have to keep odour down.  Once done pop the lid on and out it goes with you at the end of the trip.

Couple of key points on this one:

1. Good buckets with good lids are really important.
2. No pee rule in effect as it gets really heavy.
3. Toilet paper in bucket is ok.
4. Put lid on at night or when leaving for the day so the local wildlife dont get any ideas.
5. Tuck tape to ensure lid does not come off as you really dont want the lid to come off.
6. Ensure you dispose of it correctly once home.  Tell the dump folk what you have and they will direct you accordingly.
7. Dont let it sit in the sun next to your garage for a month.

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We have had a great spring so far with lots of trips and courses on the go.  Our new spot described last time has had our guests raving and we have been using this area a lot lately.  Not only have had some great courses in there but we have managed to get a couple of possible first ascents in while we are at it.  A nice little 2 pitch rock route and a great mountain line up the Glacier and onto the summit of the Comox Glacier via the North Gully.  Check out the photo gallery for some great shots of this area (Mirren Lake).  Our new coastal hikes are starting to become popular with a few of these hikes running in July and August.  Looking for a get away this summer?  Check out our list of awesome hikes or Mountain trips.

 See you out there! 

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Cliff has been eyeing this route up for some time and finallly yesterday we went and had a look. Wow! Imagine hikiing for a half day to end up standing next to a glacier on Vancouver Island. Not the type of access we are used to in these parts but it is true. A beautiful walk through the forest and into a spectacular steep sided valley with waterfalls pouring off the walls. A short distance further and there you are staring at the seracs, poised in the heart of some of the most spectacular mountain wilderness anywhere. It's so close that we'll be doing day hikes into the area and will even do a four day mountain skills course there. We can "get to the goods" so easily in this spot that we spend less time getting there and more time on the mountain skills. As an added bonus the place is an amazing rock climbing venue. It will also afford the opportunity to do three day traverse trips that cover some of the most spectacular alpine on the island. Ah but where is it you ask?  Check out the photo gallery.

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