Winter Backpacking Safety Protocols are guidelines and procedures intended to protect individuals from harm in various settings. The development of these protocols is an ongoing project that begins with this centralized outline with links to safety information on this website.
The purpose of the safety outline is help winter backpackers easily access information that will to help them prepare for safer and more enjoyable winter backpacking experiences. This project will include creating new posts to fill in currently missing information on this website. Periodic updates will be added to older posts to highlight safety issues and include new information learned from experience.
The aims of Winter Backpacking Safety Protocols:
- Minimize risks
- Help prevent accidents and injuries
- Help ensure a safe backcountry experience
Key aspects of safety protocols include various types of procedures such as:
- Route planning (avalanche avoidance, etc.) and route testing
- Emergency response plans (how to be found, what to expect, what to do)
- Personal protective equipment (Understanding how backpacking gear is protective), the 15 Essentials, and helmets
- Techniques for conserving heat and staying warm (Hypothermia prevention)
- Safety tips for packing a winter backpack
- Moisture management techniques
- Aligning First-Aid kits with specific risks
- Training (such as beacon recovery practices, snowshoe techniques, navigation skills, stream crossing skills, and camp setup techniques for high winds).
Essential Elements of the Protocols
- Hazard identification
- Avalanches (Route planning and forecasting)
- Burns (stoves)
- Conditioning
- Cold exposure
- Cornices
- Crampons and ice axes (uses and injuries)
- Dehydration (water management)
- Falling ice or fall rocks
- Falling (Slipping on slopes and ice. Loss of balance or traction.)
- Fear and anxiety
- Feet and hand injuries (blisters, footwear to prevent frostbite)
- Forest fires
- Gear (forgotten, lost, or damaged)
- Helmets and head protection
- Heart attacks, strokes, etc.
- Hunters
- Hypothermia prevention
- Lightning
- Missing hikers (getting separated and/or lost)
- Runouts (unsafe)
- Snow Immersion Suffocation (SIS)
- Snow bridges
- Snow blindness
- Stream crossings
- UV Rays (Sunburns and snow blindness)
- Wells (tree wells, stream wells, wind wells)
- Whiteouts
- Wildlife
- Wind
- Control (hazard elimination, group practices, and gear selection)
- Camp selection
- Group safety culture
- Route planning and navigating
- Traction gear and selection (snowshoes, trekking poles and baskets, crampons and ice axes, microspikes)
- Training exercises
- Beacon recovery practice and shovel techniques
- Conditioning
- Navigation skills
- Camp setup in high winds
- Communication skills and strategies
- Communication between the lead navigator and sweeper
- Group discussion (Rest break and situation discussions)
- Group event planning, chat groups, permit information
- Emergency preparedness
- Gear: The 15 Essentials
- First-Aid Kits
- Avalanche gear: Transceiver, probe, and shovel (Beacon recalls)
- Contact information (Group organizer phone number, InReach numbers)
- Route information (distribution to attendees)
- Rescue expectations
- Car safety (emergency gear)
- Regular review
- Ongoing updating of the winter backpacking website
Let us know your thoughts and suggestions
Have I overlooked anything? I’m always looking for new ways to improve safety. Please share your ideas, experiences, and challenges below. Your comments and questions are welcome.