Mr Trail Safety Speaks!

haiku for winter trailrunning by Sri Roshi Mahand Isfast. Title in all lower case means its very sensitive and concerned.  Trail snow is gnar, dude. Microspikes scrape ice — surprise! Airborne panic… why? Sri Roshi Mahand Isfast flourished in the Late Hentai Period of the Gyoza Shogunate. He is believed to have lived and practiced in the Gojira Prefecture.

I'm digging a snow pit to look at snow layers, instructor Dave Beck is taking notes.  It will tell you everything you need to know, if you care to look. Dave Beck Avalanche Workshop, Meiss Meadows,  Feb 1989. In Feb '89 I took an avalanche-workshop/training class  with Dave Beck, up at Meiss Meadows south of Tahoe near Luther Pass, somewhere around 8,000'. We spent 3 days digging snow pits, snow analysis, XC skiing, etc. Looking at snow structure in a variety of scenarios. There's a world of wonder there. I also found out what its like to have an avalanche dog look for you. We went out in front of the cabin, six feet of snow. I dug a 4' hole. Volunteers? Me. I jumped in, wild-splayed, miming a probable avalanche-induced off-balance throw. The class backfilled the hole, and tromped out the fill and surrounding area. We waited 20min. I was covered, and it was dim. I realized my irises were flaring because it got light/dark/light dark. Everything was d...

  That was then, this is now. I remembered I had an ice axe and hammer. They were at home. I also had crampons. They were in the car. It would've been nice to have them. I was front-pointing a 30' section on a 45-degree slope of hard-crusted, packed snow. In snowshoes. Welcome to my world, late Saturday afternoon, on the chilled north-east face of Mt Lowe. A Priori: The Back Story All this was far in the future when Big Snow finally arrived in the San Gabriels this week. I pulled my straight-outta-1978 Fischer metal-edged cross country skis from their dreamless sleep. What the hell—I pulled the '89 Black Diamond Espressos too. I had hopes on getting them cleaned and waxed, but that was a long shot. And the snowshoes came out too. I wanted to have a full choice for winter fun. CalTrans saw fit to close the Angeles Crest Highway right above the blanco-y-blanco village of La Piñata. Snow? Landslide? Accident? I wasn't about to wait for a re-opening, so I busted a U and ...

Shit blows up, especially when you're smug and clueless. (Updated Jan 5, 2013) I love it when Hollywood assholes get lost in the mountains. It's right in line with "I HEART the planet" bumperstickers you see on their SUVs. Note: I also love seeing GOP lobbyists and Christian Taliban getting popped on morals and corruption charges too. There is no free lunch here. Back to the main point. This was too rich to ignore, from the February 8, 2005 LA Times. The Talmudic Annotations are in CAPS , for your conceptual pleasures. ============ February 8, 2005 CALIFORNIA 2 Hikers' Return Ends Search I READ THE NEWS TODAY, OH BOY... Crews weary from four rescues are relieved to see the pair walk down from Mt. Baldy. LOOKING FOR WUV, IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES -------- By Lance Pugmire and Janet Wilson, Times Staff Writers -------- Two hikers - a Hollywood screenwriter and the son of "Designing Women" actress Annie Potts STRIKE TEAM DELTA, STR...