Staying aware in the outdoors during the Pandemic

This outdoor summer has been pretty wild to say the least. I know that our normal routines around home is completely disrupted, so most of us are heading to the outdoors to reclaim some of our normalcy. Yet, this means that many people are up on the mountains and crags that have never been there before.

Part of our team are on Mountain Rescue Units and they are far more busier this year than they have had in any other year. Many of the stories that they come back from the field with are of day hikers who were not prepared for anything outside of sunny and clear weather. Others have seen people stuck up on the rock routes because they did not have all of the right equipment or know how to use it.

So with that, we’d like to remind everyone to take the time to do your research and pack the 10 essentials. Make sure that you study the weather and the routes. Look at historical records of what the routes and weather do at the time that you are deciding to do the trip. Make sure you bring plenty of water and some food (at least for a whole day or two), and cold weather gear (even if it’s hot when you start it might and probably will be cooler the higher up you go!). Have a gps- either on your phone or a handheld type- and make sure that you use it!

Most importantly- tell someone where you are going and when you are coming back. This is super important because if no one knows your missing then no one can find you!

Take the time to prepare before you head out and remember the ten essentials!

See you on your next adventure!

The Eller Adventure Team

As We Prepare For Returning to the Crag and Climbing

Hey Fellow Adventurers,

As we prepare to return to the crag and climbing we need to think about a few principles to help make the right decisions about climbing in this new era of public safety and health concerns.

The American Alpine Club has posted some guiding principles and considerations that I would like to pass on to you when you are going through your planning process for your trips and they are the same principles that we here at Eller Adventures are following, but always remember- have a great trip and stay safe:

GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

• Be respectful of rural gateway communities, and avoid traveling to these areas.

• Follow federal, state, county, and city health emergency guidelines and recommendations.

• Recreate close to home, don't travel to climb.

• Take cues from your local land managers and climbing organizations.

• Keep your outdoor objectives conservative. Climbing accidents will place further stress on first responders, search and rescue teams, and hospital staff.

• Be kind, respectful, and patient with one another during this time. We all want to feel safe spending time outside; let's work together to create an environment that allows this.

SHOULD I GO CLIMBING?

If you feel confident that you can safely climb in your area, keep the following questions in mind before heading to the crag.

Do I Feel Sick Or Have Reason To Believe I've Recently Been Exposed To COVID-19?

• Do not go climbing if you are feeling sick!

• You may be a carrier of COVID-19 without experiencing symptoms—be sure to make decisions based on the most vulnerable members of our community.

Who Should I Climb With?

• Climb with people from your own home. If you can't do this, consider climbing with just one partner.

Where Should I Climb?

• Individual counties may adopt more protective standards than others—check local regulations before deciding where to travel.

• Comply with all local climbing organization and land management guidelines.

• Restrict your travel and climb close to home. Avoid going to vulnerable rural or gateway communities.

What Should I Do If I Choose A Crag Close To Home, And When I Arrive, It's Packed With People?

• Have a plan B, or even plan C. If you get to the crag, and it's too crowded to maintain social distancing guidelines, head to another spot.

• Consider the conditions of your approach—is it vulnerable to erosion or damage if you have to leave the trail to maintain six feet of distance?

What Can I Do When I Get To The Crag To Protect Myself, My Partner, And Others?

• Keep your outdoor objectives conservative.

• Practice frequent hand sanitation before, during, and after a session.

• Treat the rock and gear as you would surfaces in town. 

• Wear a mask when near others.

• Avoid putting climbing gear in your mouth—your rope as you pull slack to clip, for example.

How Else Can I Help?

• Not everyone will be able to return to climbing at the same time. If you are lucky enough to have the opportunity to safely climb in your area, be considerate of those who can't.

• Continue to practice Leave No Trace principles.

• If you’re financially able to, support your local climbing organization.

COVID-19 and the Outdoors

Many of us here in the PNW are greatly impacted by the spread of COVID-19. Through the same preparedness and planning that we take when we go on our adventures in the wilderness and backcountry we can help protect ourselves that those we love.

Plan your trips out of your house with that same diligence that you do when you are planning a trip up a mountain. Check the weather, traffic, and ensure that you have all of your proper safety gear (wipes, hand sanitizer, and Kleanex).

Take safety steps while you are out. Much like on a mountain you watch the weather, maintain communications with your team, wear the appropriate kit, and drink lots of fluids. When you go out of your house, disinfect your car steering wheel, keep a small hand sanitizer on you to wipe your hands, don’t shake hands- do a fist or elbow bump, and limit person to person interactions.

If situations change in the mountain you hunker down and stay put- don’t get yourself overexposed and lost. In this new environment make sure that if you can stay home and self-isolate or quarantine then take that opportunity. This will help in slowing down the spread of the virus and help our EMS and Healthcare facilities from becoming overwhelmed and unable to save lives.

The lessons that we have learned over the years going into the wilderness, back country, and the mountains will help all of us make it through this cover-19 outbreak. We’ll all be up on the mountain sides once more before we all know it!

See you on your next adventure!

The Eller Adventure Team

Looking Back on the 2019

As we look back onto all of the great adventures we’ve had here at Eller Adventures with our friends and clients many stand out as amazing times!

From watching people’s skills grow as they take that first step onto the crag, to watching them make that first summit-we’ve been very lucky to be part of that journey. And for that we want to thank all of you!

There’s been some epic adventures this year: many new climbers had their first experience with outdoor rock climbing with us in Leavenworth! We all spend a lot of time in Icicle Canyon and had some epic routes climbed! We also got to take some wonderful first time climbers to Joshua Tree and share with them the mystic and wonders of that amazing place!

We submitted Mt Adams multiple times and Mt St Helens! But one of the firsts this year was going up Mt Hood with two clients from the previous years adventures- that was an amazing trip! We also had some personal trips up on Mt Rainer this year that allowed the Eller Adventure Team to build more skills to support you on your adventures with us!

We introduced many new clients to snowshoeing this year and taught them snow survival skills. This year we are going to introduce a snow camping adventure due to the requests from these adventurers! Our hope is to get up there and build some epic snow caves along with learning some great avalanche survival skills!

So in looking forward to the new year- the Eller Adventure Team would like to say thank you for all of your support and that we’re looking forward to seeing you on your next adventure!

Thanks

Team Eller Adventures

Winter Adventures Require Planning

Hello Adventurers!

The winter adventure season is in full swing now that we are heading into January. With that being the case there are many things to remember about this time of year.

Pre-planning for your adventure is a must! Check the weather prior to even deciding if you are going to head out! The weather up on the mountains change fast- on Mt Rainer for example it could be sunny and 42 then within 10 minutes become cloudy, mass fog, and 22 degrees! Make sure that you know what the weather is capable of doing.

Additionally make sure that you have all of the right equipment. Carry a gps- many back country skiers and snowboarders get lost at the bottom of their runs and find themselves in a scary situation. All of this could be avoided if you have a gps (at a minimum) and a map to go with it!

Wear the right clothing. Just recently Eller Adventures was part of a rescue team that had to go up and locate a lost snowboarder from the back country. The individual was out all night in low teens temperatures wearing only a light jacket and blue jeans. When we found the individual he was suffering from hypothermia- but alive! This could have been avoided if he had the proper clothing and gear!

Remember- winter adventures are some of the best and most fun times you can have up in the mountains! But they require a level of planning and preparation in order to ensure that they stay safe and fun!

Take care adventurers!

Team Eller Adventures

Fall Factors

One of the things that many people ask about and sometimes talk about without really understanding the science or math behind it is Fall Factors.

Fall Factors are a calculation of the risk / forces that impact a person when they fall from a specific location with or without pro.

Petzel has created a great article on it and I’ll share it with you:

Fall factor and impact force - theory

Fall factor and impact force are two important concepts in the physics of climbing falls. To understand a climbing fall, it is important to recall a basic law of physics: when an object falls, it stores energy.

Impact force

During fall arrest, this energy is dissipated by elongation of the rope, displacement of the belayer, the climber's body... Energy is transmitted to the belay chain in the form of force. This is the impact force. For the climber, it's the impact experienced during fall arrest.

We are often interested in the impact force transmitted to the climber, the belayer, and the redirect point.

This value relates to all of the important factors in energy absorption: rope elongation, belayer displacement, the climber's body, rope sliding through the device...

The impact force indicated on a rope corresponds to the maximum force measured on a metal mass (a climber) in the standard test conditions (see Impact force-standards).

Theoretical fall factor

The fall factor is often used to quantify the severity of a climbing fall.

It can have a value between 0 and 2 in climbing.

Fth =

Fall lengthRope length

Fth = theoretical fall factor

Fall length = length of the climber's fall

Rope length = length of rope between belayer and climber

The fall factor is the ratio of fall length to rope length.

In climbing the severity of the fall dœs not depend on the fall length, as the longer the rope, the more energy it can absorb.

In these two cases, the severity of the fall increases. The free fall length is the same. There is the same amount of energy to absorb, but the system is less dynamic.

Case 1

rope length = 10 m, fall length = 4 m so fall factor = 4/10 = 0.4.

The rope length is significant, so the absorption capacity is significant. The severity is low, so the impact force is low.

Case 2

rope length = 2 m, fall length = 4 m so fall factor = 4/2 = 2.

The rope length is short, so the absorption capacity is low. The severity is significant.

To learn more

In theory, the higher the fall factor, the higher the forces generated. The concept of severity as a function of fall factor is useful only with a dynamic rope. The longer the rope, the more energy it can absorb. The fall factor model is rather simplistic, as it dœs not take into account important factors such as rope drag, type of belay device, belayer displacement... In the following chapters, we will see the impact of some of these factors.

Actual fall factor

The theoretical fall factor dœs not take into account the rope friction against the rock and in quickdraws. This friction prevents the rope from stretching over its entire length. Thus, only a part of the rope (solid line) will absorb the energy of the fall: this is called effective rope length. It is therefore useful to talk about the actual fall factor. It is clear that if a climber dœs not take the necessary steps to avoid rope drag, the actual fall factor can quickly increase. In this case, the fall will be more severe for the climber.

Fr =

Fall lengthEffective rope length

Fa = actual fall factor

Fall length = length of the climber's fall

Effective rope length = actual length of rope in play

It's Been Busy!

Summer is in full swing and with that we’ve been on lots of adventures here in the PNW! So we figured we would stop for a moment and share some of our favorite ones (if you’ve been following us on Instagram you’ve seen a lot of them!).

First was our glacier camping and then summit trip up Mt Adams this year. Mt Adams is always a fun location to go grab some good mountaineering experiences. It has a lot of fun and challenging hiking areas, beautiful sites, and an amazing summit trek!

We also climbed Mt Hood this year too! Mt Hood was incredibly steep and far more technical than most people realize. Besides having to bring extra snow pickets and ice tools, it was an incredible experience- especially when you realize that you are inside of a volcano’s crater and you are climbing up the crater wall (unlike Mt Adams, St Helens, Rainer, or Baker where you are climbing up the outside of the crater!).

We did a lot of rock climbing in the Leavenworth area which is always amazing in its versatility and in the amazing views. But one thing some people miss out on because they get so mesmerized by the views is the amazing community of climbers out there! There’s no other place in the world like it!

We recently got back from a great trip outside of the PNW and meet up with some adventurers in Joshua Tree and got to climb some amazingly awesome crag routes! It’s a mystic place already when you look around and realize that this is one of the few places in the world where the Joshua Tree exists but then add to it the amazing rock routes and a person’s mind gets blown!!!

The rest of this month and going into August we are looking forward to joining some more amazing adventurers in climbing here in the PNW at Mt Erie and Leavenworth, along with doing some hiking up in the Nachez Trace area!

So what are some of your favorite adventures so far this summer? Let us know and we’ll post them to our page or tag you on instagram!

Better yet- come join us on our next adventure! Go to the contact page and become an adventurer!

See you on the crags!

Before Heading Into the Mountains

Before you head up into the mountains on these late spring / early summer days remember to do those basic actions prior to leaving that will lead to a successful adventure.

First check the weather forecast to include the avalanche dangers. The NOAA website has a great 10 day forecast that can be used even with just map coordinates. Once there make a plan for how that weather will impact your trip.

Next check with your local avalanche forecast organization. Here in the PNW we use the Northwest Avalanche Center (NWAC). They will tell you everything from the levels of hazards to the directions of the hazards and potentials of avalanche dangers.

Then go through and check all of your gear and double check your packing list- sharpen your axes and crampons, change out the batteries on all of your devices, and inspect all of your soft goods and ropes. Make sure you are taking what you need and not too much- every ounce counts!

Once all of that is done then go through and practice all of your skills: knots, self arrest, team arrest, team walking, land navigation, first aid,… all of these things need to be refreshed once in a while and need to be fresh in your brain when you head up!

Everyone needs to take the time to prepare prior to stepping on the mountain- from those who’ve never done it to those who’ve done thousands of time- if we take this time then no matter the outcome of the summit trip it’ll always be a good one!

The Basics

As we begin a great climbing season we need to remember that no matter what your experience level maybe- reviewing the basics is always a good idea!

Start with the rope: How do we care for the rope? What are the different types of ropes- and why is it important to know that? How do we inspect our ropes? When do we replace our ropes? All of these basics are important to ensure that when you load a force onto your rope it’s at the best that it can be!

Then move onto the knots: The Overhand knot, Figure 8 reweave, Figure 8 on a bight, Double Figure 8, Clove Hitch, Munter hitch, Double fisherman's knot, and all of the friction knots are just a few to start with. Once you can tie these without even looking then move on to some of the other less used knots.

The Gear: shoes, helmets, harnesses: how do we care for them, how do we know which ones are right for us, and then how do we inspect them to make sure that they are safe and ready for use?

The moves: How do we mantle? How do we gain hand holds in the crag? How do we grab jugs? What is a foot smear or how do we do a foot / toe jam into the crag? What about underclings? Try to teach these moves to a friend- after that learn some fun games that you can play close to the ground to help become better at doing those movements up on the crag!

These are just some of the basics to start thinking about and to start practicing as we enter the climbing season! Remembering the basics is the best way to improve on your skills as you climb!

As March Ends Climbing Season Begins

As the month of March ends and winter is slowly winding down, rock climbing season is ramping up. It’s time to make sure that all of your climbing equipment is ready for the season. Check out all of your webbing, make sure your ropes are clean and inspect them for any frays, tears, or abrasions. Start tying knots again and make sure you can do them with your eyes closed! Go to the garage or closet and take out your anchor board and start building some anchors, then practice cleaning them with your harness on.

These types of activities will help build that muscle memory that you’ll need up on the crag. That way you don’t lose any time trying to remember how to tie a quad anchor while you’re hanging on the bolts and your belayers is looking at you wondering “what is taking so long up there?” . But most importantly- replace any gear that isn’t up to the safety specs for your equipment. If you look at your helmet and say, “well….it might make one more season….” then go ahead and replace it! There’s nothing more important than your safety up on the rock- and make sure you bring it!!!!

See you on the crag!