River Safety: Carabiner use on Whitewater Rivers

I can remember the incident like it happened yesterday. Working as a trip leader on the Nolichucky River, the day began like any other. The water level was a moderate 1.5 ft. We had a large trip about 4-6 boats as it was the middle of the summer and vacationers were coming to the river in droves to be part of the best water year on the Nolichucky in over 20 years. Our trip went through the class III rapid Last Chance without incident, and did the same at the first Class IV On the Rocks. As we made our way down the river and entered the Class III hydraulic known as Jaws smiles could be seen on the faces of the rafters, as well as the guides. As I made my way through Jaws I eddied out to set safety in case anyone swam. What happened next was an incident that I believe will stick with me the rest of my life. As the next guide passed through Jaws he leaned back to pry toward river left to set himself up to run the correct line at Snappy’s, after completing the stroke he attempted to lean forward and resume his straight posture and found himself connected to the boat. The guide upon leaning back to do his pry had leaned into his non locking carabiner which was used to connect his throw rope to his D-ring. As I watched the guide helplessly flop around trying to unhook himself I quickly made my way over to assist him. When getting over there I quickly was able to assist in getting him unlocked from this situation. However the look on his face and mine was solemn for a moment in a day otherwise filled with laughter, smiles, and excitement.
Locking Carabiner
Although this situation was a minor incident and could be glanced over and forgotten in days it has stuck in my mind for the last five years. Was it the fact that the guide locked to the boat was my brother? , the terror I saw on his face when he could not free himself? , or looking at it from a “what if” standpoint? , which has left this incident so etched in my mind (I do not know). However, as an ACA swift water instructor I do retell this story to my participants when explaining why we teach that locking carabiners be used in whitewater. The facts are simple climbing standards require locking carabiners on all anchor points (unless non locking carabiners are opposite and opposing). In whitewater the idea of opposite and opposing carabiners simply will not work as we have an uncontrollable force (the whitewater) which can come in any direction.
Whitewater Instruction Course


Whitewater professionals should be setting the model for this practice and although the ACA teaches these standards in their courses I believe a better job can be done of letting whitewater enthusiasts know the dangers of having non locking carabiners or “unlocked” locking carabiners exposed to whitewater.

I can not count the number of rafting guides I have seen from various companies throughout the years decked out with non locking carabiner hanging from the shoulder straps or sides of their PFD’s, or how often I have seen guides use non locking carabiners to clip gear or a throw rope to their raft. I encourage readers of this article to educate others of the additional risk of having exposed non locking carabiners on the river. It does not just create an unnecessary hazard for the paddler with the non locking carabiners, but also those paddling with him or her.

If paddlers decide to use a non locking carabiner it should be kept in the zipper pockets of the PFD or in other places unexposed to whitewater, such as inside a sealed dry bag. .
Demonstartion on how to set up a Z Drag for releasing a pinned boat
The river already poses enough hazards for boaters let us work together to eliminate one additional hazard through education. Our efforts will help us avoid reading a story that ends the following way:

The raft turned over and as the raft continued its way down the rapid the crew began to swim to other boats and eddies. However, one paddler was not able to get out from under the boat; he and the raft floated down stream with the paddler unable to get free from the raft. Once the rest of the paddlers got to the raft minutes later the paddler was no where to be seen upon retrieving the raft the group found that the paddler’s unresponsive body was still attached to the raft by a non locking carabiner.
Kayaking Pinball Rapid on the Upper Green River

Joe Moerschbaecher is an Amercan Canoe Association swift water rescue instructor. In addition to his swift water rescue courses he also does kayaking instruction and guided paddling trips through his company Pura Vida Adventures. To find out more about the programs offered by Pura Vida Adventures call 772-579-0005 or visit www.pvadventures.com

April Adventure Racing Camp provides fun, excitement, and challenge for all

Pura Vida Adventures hosted its first three day adventure racing camp of 2009 this past weekend on April 17-19. Over the three day camp participants learned how to read and paddle whitewater in inflatable kayaks, basic river rescue skills, proper rappel technique, rope assisted climbing , land navigation, utm plotting, and map reading.

Team Tantric at the river

Participants in this camp ranged from age 39- 72 and brought everything from intermediate adventure racing experience to no experience at all. In addition to the skills taught above classroom sessions talked about team dynamics in adventure racing, essential gear, types of races and what to eat. The camp participants were also offered technical gear advice, and advantages and disadvantages of different water treatment options, headlamps, electrolyte replacement, and knives from gear guru and owner of Looking Glass Outfitters, Phil Hoffman.

Team Tantric negotiating the rapids

Day one of the camp focused on whitewater including classroom sessions on what to wear and water reading technique, as well as, learning river rescue skills in a land based environment. The afternoon course work on the river was the highlight of the day as participants had the opportunity to practice the skills they learned in the classroom first by negotiating the class II rapids of the lower Green River, and secondly by having the opportunity to practice river rescue skills such as rope throwing rescues and whitewater swimming. The day ended with a discussion of the types of adventure races and gear demands for various races, including the ten gear essentials of adventure racing.

Stan Grochowski river swimming in the whitewater swimmers position

Reb McCown rappelling

While day one had found participants swimming in whitewater day two first saw participants suspended on a rope in mid air as they learned appropriate rappel and rope assisted climbing techniques. The afternoon was spent in the classroom learning how to use a map and compass. These classroom techniques were then applied and improved later that day as participants split up into two teams and navigated their way through a orienteering course, whose points they had plotted while learning UTM gridding. Day two would prepare the teams well for their five hour adventure race on Day 3.


Sinead Ingersol navigating in the backcountry

Sunday morning began with an opportunity for participants to share their experiences from Sat evenings land navigation course, as well as ask any additional questions they had about navigating. After a short break to prepare for the race the two teams Chaos http://www.teamchaosar.com/ and Tantric were given there maps and passports and given an opportunity to review the race course. After some final directions from the race director. The two teams headed to the start of the race.

Team Chaos at checkpoint 4 of the bike leg

The race was a rogaine style event with a maximum five hour time limit. For every 5 minutes late after 5 hours teams would lose credit for one points. Positioning would be determined fist by most points reached after penalty time followed by the total time on the course in case of a tie for points earned. The course comprised both trail navigation as well as off trail navigating and consisted of 4 foot points and 5 bike points. The teams were off after a split start where Chaos began on foot and Tantric began on bike.

Four hours and fifty minutes later the rookie master's team Tantric crossed the finish line after grabbing 4 out of 5 bike points and 2 out of 4 foot points. Finishing the course not only in under the allowed for time but showing that they had learned quite a bit of land navigation by grabbing one of the two off trail navigation points.

Team Tantric finishing the race

Team Chaos finished in a time five minutes faster and nearly cleared the course missing just one bike point to ensure they made it back to the start in the allowed time.

After the race the two teams shared their experiences and a graduation ceremony was held for all adventure racing camp participants.

Rich Ingersol of Team Chaos http://www.teamchaosar.com/ summed up the adventure racing camp with these simple words "thanks for a great weekend...definitely had a good time and learned a lot."

Pura Vida Adventures has additional three day racing camps scheduled for May 29-31 and June 25-29th. In addition interested participants can schedule their own camp date if they have three or more people and can choose to come for one or two skills specific days for any camp. Inaddition to the three day camps, Pura Vida Adventures offers five day comprehensive camps in the Spring and Fall. Please call 772-579-0005 or email contact@pvadventures.com for further detail.

Transylvania County North Carolina and Surrounding Area offer Rock Climbing Opportunities for All

From beginner to expert, from bouldering to multi pitch leads Transylvania County and the area surrounding Asheville has climbing opportunities that will provide challenge and adventure for participants of all ability level. Although this area of North Carolina is dominated by traditional rock climbing; there are opportunities for mixed and sport routes, which can be difficult to find without getting some information from local climbers.

For those novice and intermediate climbers looking to improve their skills you need to look no further than Cedar Rock, the Sunwall, and South Face of Looking Glass. These areas offer opportunities for top rope climbing as well as moderate lead routes with good protection. The “super classic” Nose route at the Sunwall is a must do for any climber who is competent and comfortable on a traditional four pitch lead of class 5.8 climbing.

Those climbers who are looking to stay close to the ground will find bouldering opportunities around the north and south face of Looking Glass.
For those looking for a guided rock climbing experience Pura Vida Adventures, offers guided rock climbing trips for beginners and instructional courses for those interested in learning more.
Additional information on climbing in the area can be found in “The Climber’s Guide to North Carolina” written by Thomas Kelly. Regardless of your ability level be safe, use good judgment on the rock, and know your limitations.

Joe Moerschbaecher is the owner of Pura Vida Adventures and works as an adjunct faculty member in Brevard College’s Wilderness Leadership and Experiential Education Program. He can be reached at contact@pvadventures.com.

Step by Step Explanation on performing a self rescue in Open Water

The technique described below is for performing a self rescue with a paddle float and bilge pump in open water.

The information here is not a substitute for instruction from a competent professional, but is rather a guide to use when practicing this skill. It is recommend that you practice this skill first in a controlled environment such as a pool and master it there, prior to practicing it on open water. The self rescue technique needs to practiced often to keep proficiency once it is mastered.

Equipment needed:

sea kayak

pfd

spray skirt

paddle float

paddle

bilge pump

Self rescue ocean/sea kayak

1) Perform proper wet exit
-----Grab the grab loop and pull
-----Push boat off like a pair of pants
2) Hold kayak and paddle on water surface
3) Flip kayak right side up
4) Grab paddle float place fully on paddle blade
5) Inflate paddle float
6) Insert other end of paddle under bungee and deck line (2/3 of paddle in bungees)
7) Climb onto kayak with stomach on stern deck, using one leg on paddle shaft for assistance. Note weight should always be leaning toward paddle float
8) Place both feet in cockpit, maintain a low center of gravity
9) Rotate body into proper sitting position rotating toward paddle float
10) Bilge water out of cockpit
11) Put sprayskirt back on
12) Remove paddle from under bungee cord and breakdown paddle float
13) Secure bilge pump and paddle float and continue paddling

Pura Vida Adventures offers instruction in this skill, as well as other skills used in sea and ocean kayaking, including navigation, chart and tide reading, eskimo roll, ocean entry and exit, expedition planning and logistics.

In addition to our open water kayaking courses we also offfer whitewater kayaking instruction courses.

Please contact us if interested in learning more about our services. contact@pvadventures.com 772-579-0005

Day 2 Biking into the Atlas Mountains

After a good nights sleep we were ready to begin the second day of adventure racing. Day 2 found us starting on our bikes with a 27 km bike on old dirt roads. The race start found us in the race pack battling the rolling hills that would lead to a long climb into the Atlas Mountains. After the first 15km the terrain took a sudden change that found us on the long hill climb into the mountains. This climb provided stunning views of the Atlas mountains and at the top we were rewarded with gogeous views of the canyon below. The road continued to parrallel the canyon until we hit the TA for the climb section.

Unlike many adventure races in the US the time stopped once you got to the climbing section. You were able to relax for a moment and enjoy the scenery that surrounded you before making your way down into the gorge and up the opposite side to complete a magnificent tyrolean traverse across the canyon which had created a stunning view throughout the entire climb on the bike. Pleased with our positioning through the bike leg we savoured the view of the magnificent land around us and enjoyed the ropes section across the canyon.

After completeing the ropes we were back on our bikes for another 24 miles of mountain riding through the Atlas Mountains. During this section of riding the temperature increased and the heat became a bit of an issue for the first time in the race. With about 6 km to go on the 24km second ride we were pleased to see that the rode got better making for easier and faster riding. After completing this second ride and increasing our position we got to the TA for another orienteering course. This course would prove to be longer with a max time of 1hour and 45 minutes and the same rules as the first days O course.

We began the course smoothly with a higher quality map which made the navigation a bit easier. We cleared a first point and then began a long hike up a mountain to a second point. After making the hump to the top and grabbing the second point we traversed the ridgeline to a third point which butted out on a pencil thin scree ridge. Grabbing the third point and feeling good about our navigation we felt we could get to more points prior to returning to the TA which would end the day of racing. Navigating our way down to point three the clue sheet said that the point was at the intersection of the trail and a creek. The placement on the map however seemed more on a finger above the creek. We navigated are way over th finger but did not see the point, so assumed it would be in the creek. However, when we got to the creek there was no bag. After wasting some time looking for the bag we decided that it was best to move on to the finish. The last point we were going to go for was worth only 15minutes and decided it was better to save our legs and gain the 15 minutes by finishing the course a bit early. We finished the day strong gaining 17 minutes by coming in early but a bit of frustration was still felt by the fact that we missed the last point we attempted.

That evening we were put up at the local school house provided another delicious meal and once again had an opportunity to learn about the local Moroccan culture as live traditional music was played in the camp. Talking with Team Breathe Canada we learned that the point we were looking for was actually located inside a hut that we distinctly remeber passing along the finger. Talking with the course designer over dinner he explained that the clue sheet that was translated for us was actually an older version and the clue was incorrect. He apologize for the mistake but we could not stay upset still pleased with our days performance and enjoying what the race had to offer through the first two days.

Race Days 1: Adventure Racing from the desert into the Mountains

Day 1

The first short leg of the course went by inconsequently as we made our way out of town, first by foot and then by ride and tie. This first leg was actually simply a prologue to the long day of racing ahead. Upon reaching the first TA teams split. We and another 19 teams headed out on a foot orienteering section, while the rest of the field started with a paddling orienteering section on a lake. We recieved that map at the TA and upon receiving the map the clock started. It was simple an hour and 15 minutes to grab as many points as possible 5 minute penalty for each minute late after 1hr 15min. Point value varied from 15 minutes to 40 minutes. There was for us however one catch. The map had no visible topographic lines. It did have shaded areas to assist with elevation change but these were an inferior tool to the contour lines that we can expect on all maps when racing in the States. I later came to find out that the land had very limited mapping and the maps we used were old Moroccan military maps.

Throwing us for a curve we spent about a half hour stumbling around before we began to figure out the maps and grabbed our first bag. Unfortunately the map, continued to add aditional challenges for us as we ended up only grabbing 2 more bags before we had to head back to try and beat the1 hr 15 minute cut off. We came in about a minute late and Julia and I both shared a bit of dissappointment with our performance on the foot o section.

Instead of getting down we took out our frustration out on the paddle. The map for the paddle was actually a satellite map from Google earth. The race organization told us that the rise in lake levels over the past few years had left other maps for paddling the lake useless. The satellite map was adequate for us as we we steam rolled the paddling portion completing the entire course and returning to the TA with ten minutes to spare.

Regaining some confidence from the paddle we headed out on the 38 km bike through the desert double track. The navigation on this portion was challenging but we performed well as teams flipped flopped positions throughout the entire ride. The riding was primarily double track trails which reminded me of some Utah riding. The scenery was primarily barren desert with a few rolling plateaus along the way. Toward the end we had a long climb up to an old historic ruin where we began another short memory based (picture orienteering section through the ruins).

This was one of many of the examples of how the race organization intertwined Morrocan culture into the race. Dodging normal tourist and gaining assistance from local people we made fairly short work of this section while still taking time to take in the historic sites.

A short 10 km bike section was all that lay between us and the end of day one. This last 10 km ride left some good route choices and are decision to navigate through some areas of flood plain and agriculture fields seemed to assist in allowing us to move in front of a couple teams.

The most frustrating part of the day came at the last point prior to the end of day 1. Located about 10 minutes from the camp we searched the bridge for the point that was located there. After looking high and low along the bridge we did not find the bridge. Assuming it had been stolen and watching teams continue on we decided to move on to the finish. At the finish we found out that the point was actually spray painted on the bridge and not knowing this we were not given credit for the point. The 30 minute penalty we recieved was a frustrating way to end the day. It was lost in translation during briefing that if no bag was seen at the point you were to look for the symbol in spray paint.

Day 1 was now behind us and we set camp and enjoyed the comradere of the race as we ate dinner under a traditional Moroccan dining tent and rested up and prepared for the second day of racing.

Day 3 Race Check in and Divulging Day 1

Day 3 began with the process typical of any adventure race, check in. Preparing our gear the morning of check in seemed unexpectedly easy compared to many of my past racing experiences. I hoped that the painless preparation process in preparing for check in would transfer to an easy check in as well.

I was very pleased when we stepped outside the hotel to see the check in and gear check process was very streamlined. The initial process included medical check where many participants presented physical forms and provided health insurance information to the race organization. Lost in translation was the fact that each participant was suppose to provide a medical sign off of good health during registration; we were pleased to see that this was not a big issue as the medical staff quickly took our heart rates and breathing rates and signed us of to begin the gear check of the check in process.

After having our climbing gear, bikes, and mandatory gear checked we were done registering and ready to see what we would be facing on Day 1 of the Transmarocaine Adventure Race

That evening all the racers gathered together for the race brief for Day 1. During this time we saw that day one would begin with a short run to one bike where teams would begin a short ride and tie section feeding into a split in the race. Following the ride and tie the adventure race would split teams into two courses. Half the teams would do an 1 hour 15 minute orienteering course and the other half would do a 1hour 5 minute orienteering paddle. After completing the first discipline teams would swap and complete the other discipline of the race. This would be followed by a long bike ride through the desert, and a short urban style orienteering section in historical ruins. The day would finish with a bike ride to the finish. The only catch to this race brief was we were provided a passport, which we were pleased to see the race management had translated to English, but we would not receive maps until we hit each particular portion of the course. This would be standard throughout the race and make the question of the map quality and route difficulty for day 1 a question to think about throughout the night.

After the race brief we had an opportunity to go as an entire race to a dinner hosted by the mayor of the town in their grand palace. We were welcomed with traditional moroccon music and we were provided with a grand feast. This would be the first indication that the Moroccon people truly invited us to visit their country and the race management had done their best to ensure that they intertwined us with much of the country's culture into the race as possible. After eating, singing and dancing teams slowly began to leave and head back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep before the racing began.