Page 7 - 2004 AMA Summer

It was not perhaps with the greatest enthusiasm that bodies began to move out of the warm minibus onto the snow-covered ground. The temperature was -10°C and it
was snowing. Bergans were loaded onto backs and we staggered out to conduct our initial acclimatization in a foot of
f S
^ • t
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freshly fallen powdered snow. November is one of the most unpredictable months in the Canadian calendar and we had just
got lucky, really lucky.
A steady, progressive training programme saw a busy first week of walking, ski training and lectures. Under experienced instruction we quickly developed our walking skills and rope work. The skiing was tough. Uphill was a pleasure! But trying to turn going downhill in 2 foot of powder snow with bergans on (although it sounds bliss) was in fact exceedingly hard work. After many frustrations, much swearing and a good few face-plants we began to produce the necessary skiing skills.
The majority of evenings dunng the first week were spent in lectures or skills periods. Cold weather injury, avalanche lectures and bear aware (a riveting video) provided us with a sound theoretical back­ ground. The skills periods of knot tying, rope coiling and roping up proved invaluable at a later date when we required these drills rapidly in sub-zero tempera­ tures.
The first week proved invaluable as a teaching tool. We conducted basic training gradually building up the altitude, the distances and the difficulty of the routes. Towards the end of the week we were turning turtle
Hailing onto our bergans with legs up in the air, skis everywhere, utterly unable to move) less frequently. We ensured that we varied the training to have one day walking and the next skiing so as not to overtire any particular.muscle group.