Newsletter

October 2006

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Tips & Techniques

Leave No Trace - Principle #1, Plan Ahead & Prepare

Planning ahead and preparing is the first crucial step in any outdoor activity.  As it relates to Leave No Trace, this principle helps to minimize our impact on the landscape through good route selection, minimizing garbage potential, busy times, and unnecessary impacts resulting from epic adventures.

To help plan an outdoor trip and minimize impact, consider the following:

• Check for trail or campsite closures, weather, and trail or route conditions.

• Know the regulations and special concerns for the area you'll visit.

• Prepare for extreme weather, hazards, and emergencies.

• Visit in small groups. Split larger parties into groups of 4-6.

• Obtain the appropriate backcountry permits to avoid overbooked campsites.

• Select your equipment for LNT principles.

• Plan to use backcountry stoves for cooking.

• Repackage meals to help minimize micro-trash in the field.

• Consider avoiding areas of high usage during peak times.

• Use a map and compass to eliminate the use of marking paint, rock cairns or flagging.

Yamnuska Mountain Adventures (YMA) is a partner of Leave No Trace Canada.  YMA offers LNT trainer and awareness workshops.  To learn more about Leave No Trace, please visit www.leavenotrace.ca.

In The News

Antarctica '06

Dr. Heather Ross, Medical Director of the Heart Failure & Cardiac Transplant Program at Toronto General Hospital is on a mission – a mission to save the many lives affected by heart disease and heart failure.

This December, YMA mountain guides Dave Stark and Barry Blanchard will be heading to Antarctica to climb the Mount Vinson Massif with Dr. Heather Ross, Dr. Patricia Murphy, Ian Delaney (director of Sherritt International Corp.), Dale Shippam (heart transplant recipient & firefighter), and cameraman Yanick Rose.

Their plan is to raise awareness about how common, likely and devastating heart disease can be and to raise funds to support life-saving research into the best options currently available to save a failing heart.  Heather and her team have a goal to raise $1 million by December 2006, which will also be the beginning of a remarkable journey.  By taking this heroic journey to the outer edges of our planet, Heather and her team hope to bring to light how important heart research is in discovering new and better treatments to extend and improve quality of life, as well as to potentially find new cures to prevent the disease altogether through regenerative medicine. 

To learn more about their project, or to donate, please visit Antarctica '06.

Conrad Janzen - New Mountain Guide

Congratulations to Conrad Janzen for successfully completing the full alpine guide exam, and his last exam to earn his certification as an ACMG / UIAGM Mountain Guide.  Conrad grew up in Northern Alberta and has been passionate about the outdoors from an early age. After graduating from the Yamnuska Mountain Skills Semester, Conrad went on to forge a solid outdoor career with Outward Bound before returning to the Bow Valley to concentrate on high guiding and instruction. A gifted and talented instructor of rock and ice climbing and alpine mountaineering, Conrad has worked for Yamnuska for the last five years and has added particular value to the Semester program.

The Wapta Traverse - Hut to Hut Ski Mountaineering

This is the quintessential Canadian Rockies 'hut to hut' ski tour and one of the best ways to experience classical ski-mountaineering. The Wapta Icefields spread for many miles north along the continental divide from the Lake Louise area. With vast glaciers, easy peaks and a superlative hut system the area is perfect for a great ski traverse.

We offer two versions of the traverse: the 4-Day Basic Traverse and the 6-Day Extended Traverse. The Basic Traverse will suit those with more limited time and is probably a better option for less experienced ski tourers, it starts from Bow Lake. The Extended Traverse includes the entire Icefields and starts from Peyto Lake.

http://www.yamnuska.com/waptatraverse.shtml

Avalanche Safety Training Level 1 (AST1)

formerly Introductory Recreational Avalanche Course (IRAC)

Obtain the knowledge you need to make your winter travels far safer and much more enjoyable.  The 2-day course includes avalanche theory, route finding, and rescue techniques. Our  instructors are full-time professional ACMG guides and forecasters, their extensive personal experience in this field will add an extra dimension of interest to make their information and advice meaningful, relevant and fascinating.

Courses are offered in both Canmore and Calgary.  Avalanche Skills Training Level 1 (AST1)

Yamnuska Mountain Adventures

Suite 200 Summit Centre, 50 Lincoln Park
Canmore, Alberta, Canada T1W 1N8
toll free: 1 866 678 4164
tel.: +1 403 678 4164     Fax: +1 403 678 4450
E-mail: info@yamnuska.com

www.yamnuska.com  www.canadianrockieshiking.com