It's a magnificent January day in
Denver.
Foamy lattι clouds bubble up in baby blue skies. It's
60-degree, long-sleeves, light-jacket, shorts and tennis shoes
weather - a great day for a hike up Long's Peak.
The climb is
invigorating, you show up your buds (or maybe you didn't bring
any) and decide to forge a new trail. But things change
quickly up here and suddenly the temperature drops below 5
degrees and the high elevation, approaching storm and rugged
terrain begin to weaken your resolve . . .
Oh, and there's one more thing: You're lost.
Visions of yourself - your flesh blue, eyes frozen wide
open, body rigid and stiff - invade your mind. Fear replaces
your blood with adrenaline and every inch of you wants to
bolt.
But where? Where did you come from?
You can't tell. As the wind kicks the night below freezing
and the snow starts to twirl and laugh in your face, Don
Davis, instructor at Wilderness Institute of Survival
Education, says there's something you must do: S-T-O-P. How
bearable, frightful, miserable or even deadly the night turns
out to be is entirely up to you.
"S," Davis said, is for "sit down, don't run off. You're
dealing with all sorts of emotions including fear and panic."
Most people who realize they are lost and stay put are
found within 1 mile of their previously known location, but
often a person's first instinct is to keep moving, he said.
Davis recalled a lost camper who left the tent at night
when nature called and went missing for 36 hours. Dangerous,
you bet. Embarrassing? That, too.
"T" is for think.
"People have survived with virtually nothing but keeping
their wits about them," Davis said, noting 80 percent of
survivability is mental attitude, 10 percent is equipment and
10 percent is skill and knowledge: What you've read, taking
courses and practicing.
"If you realize you're lost, be 'where you are' mentally,"
he said. "If you're in this situation, you need to forget
about everything else, forget about school, work, everything.
Your brain is the most important survival tool."
"O" - observe your surroundings. Consider the weather and
what you will need to do to establish shelter, Davis said.
Observe the condition of any others who might be with you. Are
they panicking? Are they injured?
Establishing calm and providing any necessary first aid top
the to-do list. Begin digging or constructing shelter and try
to find an area where a signal can be observed by aircraft.
Look for assets in nature. For instance, if you are close
to timberline, move up to set up a signal, then move back into
the protection of the woods.
"P" is for plan. Yes, this is going back to before you got
lost, but that is where survival in the wilderness begins.
"Letting someone know where you're at means someone is
going to miss you," Davis said.
Give a precise location, leave a map with the planned route
colored in. If you change your plans, leave the new route in
your car at the trailhead.
If you are going out for more than a day, put your used
socks in a sealable plastic bag along with the date in your
car or tent so dogs can find you and rescuers can determine
when you last touched base.
"Leaving clues is a lifesaver," said Davis, a member of the
Larimer County Search and Rescue Team since 1981. "If nobody
knows where you went, you're out of luck."
As you plan, it is important to realize that in winter, a
fanny pack stuffed with supplies is not going to cut it.
"Most people don't take seriously enough the difference
between summer and winter survival packs," Davis said. Summer
is much smaller."
Dressing for the current temperature and any multitude of
weather changes is a must. In the winter, start with the base
layer such as long johns (not cotton), follow with the outer
layer - fleece works well - and finish with the wind
protection layer.
Don't forget the gloves, hats (not a baseball cap, Davis
said; they don't protect from much of anything) and take an
extra set of warm socks in case your feet get wet.
Davis said socks work well as extra gloves, too.
"Most people don't think of that," he said.
In search and rescue, Davis said the Larimer County team
recommends the "no sweat" rule.
"If you sweat, you get wet. If you get wet, you get damp,"
he said.
Carry with you a shelter pack that is seasonal,
geographical and personal.
"You can't really buy one premade off the shelf," he said.
"You need to build one to meet your needs and not one based on
someone else's idea of what should be in it."
Having a tarp or a large piece of thin, sturdy plastic -
preferably a bright colored one that stands out - and 50 feet
of utility cord is the first step in wilderness survival. A
knife to cut the rope and a folding saw to cut branches to
construct a shelter and cut firewood is advised.
A folding shovel to dig through snow is another tool that
can simplify things and help save your life. If trapped in the
snow, dig a trench wide and deep enough to rest in
comfortably, cover it with the tarp to protect you from the
outside elements and carry a water-resistant pad to sit on to
protect from the wet and cold.
Always bring at least two liters of water, Davis said.
Hypothermia, frostbite and exhaustion are exacerbated by
dehydration and, in the winter, it is not always easy to tell
whether your body is water-deprived.
"You need water, and you need a way to purify water, a
means to heat water," Davis said.
Hauling around a 3-pound titanium, $35 pot is impractical.
"Every day you throw away something that works just as
well," he said. "A tin can is all you need."
Ability to build a fire is critical and having more than
one method of starting a fire is important. Davis recommends
taking the wooden, strike-anywhere matches in a waterproof
match case. You also should have other means, such as a
magnesium bar that has a sparker on one end and magnesium on
the other.
"You could also start a fire with two batteries and OOOO
steel wool," he said, noting three volts is all you need.
"It's a bit of a balancing act. It takes practice."
It is tough to find dry kindling in the winter, so it is a
good idea to take your own. Davis recommended including a
sealable plastic bag filled with 100 percent cotton balls.
"Slather them with Vaseline petroleum jelly and they act as
a real good fire starter," he said.
Much of what you take on the trip can double as a signal
for help. If the tarp is, say, blaze orange, your wind
protection outer layer and the pack itself is a bright color,
they draw attention against the snow and green ponderosa.
During the day, a fire can send up smoke.
"That always draws a lot of attention in Colorado," Davis
said.
At night, that same fire puts off a lot of flame and a lot
of light.
"When you build a survival kit, everything is
multifunctional," Davis said. "Signaling is all about trying
to appear bigger, drawing attention to yourself."
Two types of signaling are air-to- ground and
ground-to-ground.
A ground-to-ground signaling device simply is a whistle.
Air-to- ground devices include not only the smoke and flame
but also a signal mirror. Make sure it is a military-style
signal mirror that is made to be a signal mirror: two pieces
of glass laminated together with a targeting device in the
center and instructions on the back, he said.
"There are things out there that say they're a signal
mirror, but they're not," Davis said.
Other musts for a survival kit:
A map and compass, and the ability to use them,
"otherwise they're useless," Davis said. GPS devices are fine,
but "it doesn't replace a map or compass," he said. It is not
as reliable and they need batteries.
Food and whatever special dietary or medicinal
needs you might have. "Our recommendation is you don't eat
anything you have not brought with you," Davis said. "Most
people really don't know how to identify wild green edibles."
A thermos of warm liquid, be it coffee or soup, is the fastest
way to regain body temperature, he said.
Cell phone, but keep it off. "Cell phones are a
great tool, but when you're in the back country, they're not
for socializing," Davis said. "Charge it before you leave and
turn it off, take an extra battery. It does you no good if the
battery is dead."
Davis reiterated the best way to survive in the wilderness
is to not get lost or trapped in the first place.
"If the weather is getting bad, it's better to turn around
and go home than to make it to whatever your objective is," he
said. "Whether it's a peak or a lake or whatever, it'll be
there tomorrow, but if you make a bad decision, you might not
be."
Larimer County Search and Rescue responds to about 75 calls
a year concerning people who should have, but failed, to heed
this advice. Some never have been found. A professional German
skier, for example, still is somewhere on Longs Peak, missing
since January 1983.
"Rudi Moder . . . " Davis said. "There's got to be some
skis, clothing or remains up there somewhere. When time allows
. . . we're still looking for Rudi."
Survival kit:
From fall through spring, mountain weather is unpredict-
able and if lost in the backcountry, you easily could find
yourself spending the night in a snowstorm. Here's what to
take when venturing out.
Composite Shovel (only 23 oz., really)
Two liters of water and a supply of calorie-dense
food
10x10 Blue-Poly Tarp from S&O Corp. (8 oz.)
Folding saw
Waterproof matches, magnesium bar and cotton balls
covered in petroleum jelly
Knife
Compass (and map)
Emergency whistle
Rope or utility cord
Other essentials: An extra pair of socks; water-
resistant padding; warm liquid, such as soup in a thermos; a
tin can for heating water; signal mirror; cell phone
Check out WISE at www.WISESurvival .com or contact Davis
at
970-669-9016.
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