Author: Rick Mc

Career gymnastics coach who loves the outdoors, and the internet.
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rest in peace Mark and Rob

Terrible terrible news. I’m still bewildered, angry and in denial.

Lifelong friends, Rob and Mark Glaser, were killed in an avalanche on Saturday, January 15, 2011 in the area of Burstall Pass, Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Kananaskis Country, Alberta.

Here’s the official notice:

The families of Mark and Rob Glaser are in deep shock at the news of their tragic passing. Both were loving husbands and fathers and will be greatly missed by their families and legions of friends. Both were seasoned back country hikers and skiers who shared a deep passion for the outdoors.

Mark lived in Calgary and was in the oil and gas industry for over 25 years including senior management positions in recent years. Rob lived in Bragg Creek and was a captain in the Calgary Fire Department.

The family respectfully requests privacy at this time. Please direct all media contacts through Ed Glaser (brother) at 403-470-3904.

Phone Ed or contact me. I’ll post updates here.

Mark Glaser

On this trip a few years ago Mark and Rob trained me in snow rescue techniques.

Rob was a firefighter, expert in all things backcountry. They had left their avalanche beacons in the car making family speculate that this ski was intended to be simply a short warm-up.

Saskatchewan Glacier

Over 30 years (1978–2007), avalanches have been responsible for 329 deaths in Canada, with a recent rate of 14 deaths per year. …

Avalanche accounts for over 90% of outdoor recreation deaths, most of those in Alberta or B.C.

Damn.

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5 Gut-Wrenching Hikes

hikingboots.com posted videos of what they call the 5 Most Gut-Wrenching Hikes on Earth:

1. Michielli Strobel, Italy
2. El Camino del Rey, Spain
3. Roche Veyrand, France
4. Lukerbad, Switzerland
5. Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia (3800m)

The via ferrata videos are scary. But nothing tops El Camino. I cannot believe that hikers are allowed on it !!

Click PLAY or go watch El Camino del Rey on YouTube in high definition 480p.

Watch the rest – Hiking Boots Blog – 5 Most Gut-Wrenching Hikes on Earth

Thanks Jeanette.

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hike Kachina Peak, New Mexico

Claire recommends this adventure.

Summitpost:

Kachina Peak is a picturesque mountain located in the Wheeler Wilderness Area of the Sangre de Cristo Range. It is best known as the summit of Taos Ski Valley.

This peak is most often climbed during ski season when powder seekers can hike from the top of lift # 5 via Highline Ridge.

This peak is not crowded during hiking season due to it’s close proximity to Wheeler Peak. The ski area makes Kachina Peak easily accessible, but above timberline this mountain becomes quite challenging. The route along the ski area boundary is class 3+ climbing to the summit. …

Lake Fork Peak (left) and Kachina Peak (right) from Bull of the Woods Trail Oct, 2004 - vinnypapa

See a gallery of summer hiking photos.

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what date does the sun start rising earlier?

Oh hiking guru …

Well, the shortest day of the year is December 21st in the northern hemisphere.

Must be that the sun starts rising earlier December 22nd.

Right ??


Wrong.

In Saskatoon, Canada the sun rose at 9:14 AM on December 22nd.

Then later for the next couple of weeks.

It did not start rising earlier until Jan 8th.

This little known fact has something to do with the Equation of time.

Warren Long noticed as he leaves for work around that time on a bike. And was wondering why he was not seeing sunrise sooner.

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Nordic Walking books

I took a close look at Nordic Walking by Malin Svensson. (2009)

Paperback and Kindle editions.

… Yet I’m still not convinced I’d benefit from hiking canes. I’m still suspicious Nordic Waltzing is a bit of a fad, especially in Europe.

… On the other hand, I don’t see the popularity of poles on the trail in decline. There are more & more each year.

Perhaps I need to get injured before really giving poles a fair try.
🙂

One similar book is Nordic Walking for Total Fitness by Suzanne Nottingham & Alexandra Jurasin

UPDATE: Check the comments for advice on poles from people who have actually used them. Buzz points out that almost all long distance hikers consider them essential, … the same guys who sometimes feel that toilet paper is a luxury.

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first person to hike the PCT?

The Pacific Crest Trail … follows the highest portion of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range, which parallel the Pacific Ocean by 100 to 150 miles (160 to 240 km). The Pacific Crest Trail is 2,650 miles (4,260 km) long …

In 1970, Eric Ryback, a 17-year-old student, was credited as the first thru-hiker on the trail and his 1971 book The High Adventure of Eric Ryback: Canada to Mexico on Foot focused public attention on the PCT.

Wilderness Press, publisher of guide books “The Pacific Crest Trail: Volume One and Volume Two”, raised in those books specific doubts about Ryback’s claim and produced evidence that he accepted rides for some of the journey. Ryback and Chronicle Publishers sued Wilderness Press but the suits were dropped in 1974.

The first person confirmed to have thru-hiked the entire PCT, as well as the first person to hike from south to north, was Richard Watson, who completed the trail on September 1, 1972.

The first woman was Mary Carstens, who completed the journey later in 1972 …

Eric’s book is sadly out of print.

(via Hiking Lady)

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GoPro wearable HD cameras

GoPro is the world leader in wearable HD cameras. You can strap a GoPro camera to almost anything, from the top of your ski helmet to the tip of your surfboard. The result is amazingly visceral, high definition video that gives viewers a front seat to the action. …

Sierra Trading Post – GoPro Highlights Video – 2010

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Amazon – GoPro HD Helmet HERO Camera ($299.95 right now)

Yesterday we tried one out cycling in snowy Saskatchewan. Worked well … until the batteries died in the cold.

UPDATE: Frank has tried many different models. He feels right now the best of the best is the Contour GPS Full HD Helmet Camera.

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Milford Track, New Zealand

If you checked out Jed Micka’s Hiker’s Haute Route, Chamonix to Zermatt trip report you know that they are detailed, amusing with superb photos.

Here’s one of Jed’s earlier treks, the famed Milford Track. He couldn’t get a spot for an independent hike … so signed on for one a guided adventure. … A guided adventure being the kind where you have hot chocolate waiting at the hut. And hot showers.

It’s a fixed itinerary:

Day 1: Lake Te Anau to Glade House
Day 2: Glade House to Pompolona Lodge
Day 3: Pompolona Lodge to Quintin Lodge
Day 4: Quintin Lodge to Sandfly Point

Back in 2002 Jed was a “rookie” hiker with new untested gear. He writes his impressions at that time:

… It begins with a boat-ride from lake Te Anau to a drop-off point, from which one must traverse wetlands, temperate rainforest, suspension bridges, and an alpine pass, before finishing some 53km later, at Sandfly Point, on the edge of Milford Sound. Because of the delicate nature of the ecosystem and the inherent danger to the hikers (for some portions of the trail are routinely submersed under the very heavy rain and others traverse avalanche fields … 56 in all!) …

After arriving at Sandfly Point, weary, bitten, yet still elated, we boarded a ferry that took us to Mitre Lodge, where we had rooms, a hot meal, plenty of wine, and a dry pair of clothes waiting for us.

And although the hike was nominally finished for me, I knew that it was just a beginning: an introduction to the world of trekking that had already infected me with a desire to explore other regions of the planet. With this in mind I carefully catalogued the gear that worked well for me, and that which needed to be remedied before my next hike …

click over to Jed’s site to read more – The Milford Trek

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Via Alpina trek 111 days

Do you know the Via Alpina?

After decades of hiking some of the world’s great trails, über-adventurer Brandon Wilson heard about the Via Alpina, paths running the length of the Alps across eight countries. Besides offering immersion into Alpine life and wilderness, it’d be the ultimate physical challenge. It meant climbing nearly 700,000 feet from valley to peak—over 111 days and more than 1200 miles.

Intrigued, he imagined it was a sort-of European Appalachian Trail, only with better wine.

Brandon and his wife in 2009 did 111 days across 8 countries.

Their adventures are chronicled in a new book, Over the Top & Back Again: Hiking X the Alps.

Sounds GREAT.

Read some review excerpts.

Why have I not heard of this author?

Backpacking Light has a new review with terrific photos – Via Alpina: Not Another Walk in the Woods

Brandon’s the award winning author of Along the Templar Trail. I’m adding both to my TO READ list.

Check out his website for photos and info.

UPDATE: “Over the Top & Back Again: Hiking X the Alps” received the 2010 Book of the Year Bronze Award (travel essay category) from ForeWord Reviews at the American Library Association conference in New Orleans.

For everyone who has gone digital, it has also just been released on Amazon Kindle (lighter to pack that way!).