In the backcountry, there’s a fairly common practice to bring a single GPS communication device per group. A recent episode of the Coldfear podcast has us rethinking that calculus.
With hours of physical therapy time accrued since early April, I’ve scoured Apple Podcasts for stories and interviews that resonant. (I’ve needed something to make the gym time pass by.) According to Google, about 843 miles from Bend by road sits the worldwide HQ for Coldfear. If you are particularly into ice climbing, check out what Coldfear offers.
Aaron Mulkey is the force behind Coldfear, and he has a podcast. The eponymous podcast, Coldfear, ran a recent episode that hooked me for the entire 1:14:38 duration. The episode of note is #14, Falling 40mph off the Grand Traverse. Backcountry skiers, this is not the Grand Traverse race from Crested Butte to Aspen, but the classic high peaks technical climbing traverse in the Tetons. It’s a big outing.
The episode follows two Salt Lake climbers on their journey and details an accident early in their adventure. Several things played a hand in the subsequent rescue: luck, cool heads, and the supremely pro climbing rescue team in Teton National Park.
One climber (we’ll call him climber #1) slips on an icy section of rock and plummets roughly 550 feet. The falling climber comes to a rest. Climber #1 has the lone rope and crampons, which, in hindsight, would have made accessing the fallen climber easier.
However, technology’s role in the rescue is the key to our retelling here on The High Route. The climber higher up on the slope (the one who had not fallen, climber #2) has cell phone service. He calls the Jenny Lake Ranger Station and eventually contacts the appropriate people. Undoubtedly, communicating directly with the rangers/emergency services via a cell phone is critical. A helicopter made a first pass on the scene in roughly 40 minutes.
In the event there was no cell service, climber #2 possessed a Garmin Inreach—a GPS communicator allowing two-way text communication. It is safe to assume that absent cell service, climber #2 would have triggered the InReach’s SOS button to initiate the rescue.
Mulkey raises an excellent point late in the episode that relates to redundancy. In this case, redundancy doesn’t involve an analysis of climbing anchors or the calculus of carrying multiple first-aid kits, crampons, two ropes, etc.
The Garmin InReach MINI, a fairly common GPS communication device. At ~100g, having several devices per group isn’t such a bad idea.
We can posit the outing and the fallen climber’s fate having a grim outcome had no communication been possible. Imagine if climber #1, badly injured, had the lone InReach and was either unconscious or physically unable to trigger the SOS. What transpired during the accident and subsequent rescue was a near best-case scenario. Again, climber #2 had cell service; if there was no service, he had the InReach.
In the episode’s brief show notes, Mulkey writes, “Lots to learn from this story. You won’t take just one GPS communication device into the mountains ever again.”
***
The who-carries-the-InReach conversation usually goes like this: “Hey, I’ve got the InReach. You can leave yours at home.” The one-InReach-per-group axiom seems the norm in the circles I’m heading into the mountains with. Episode #14 of the Coldfear podcast has me rethinking that. At about 100g per unit, the Garmin InReach MINI/MINI2 is good insurance. And if each member can carry an InReach, the insurance is enhanced.
I highly respect the younger generation’s ability to see an InReach as an asset, not a weakness. The young climbers/backcountry skiers I know perceive an InReach as a tool of last resort when it all hits the fan.
Still, the question of cost becomes an issue for many. For now, I don’t have an answer to solve the cost and access to technology problem. (My monthly service for the InReach MINI runs ~$12, and an InReach MINI 2 costs $400. We’ll have more on GPS communication devices later in the season.) However, I have the answer for the inevitable early AM question as we stumble out of the car at the trailhead: “Who’s carrying the InReach?”
This is a very good point. I will reconsider this!
In climbing I usually think about redundancy through the framework of 1: “if this items fails, will it be catastrophic?”
Followed by 2: How big are the drawbacks (extra time using the redundant gear, extra weight)?”
And finally 3: “what is the likelihood of this item failing?”
If I apply that framework to an Inreach:
1: yes, kind of. If outside rescue is required, lack of communication is probably very dire
2: small. Just the small weight penalty.
3: as you point out, moderately high, in the sense that many of the cases requiring an outside rescue might have the victims device damaged or not usable by them
As someone who mostly tours and rides bikes in remote places alone, the inReach mini has been my best friend and allows me to communicate with my wife when I’ll be late or need a pickup. I’ve only had to use the SOS once in about 10 years of having such a device and I may not have made it out if I didn’t have the inReach. It’s the best insurance plan you can have IMO and everyone should have one, even just for just the ability of others to track your route and txt when there’s no cell service — especially when you’re out there solo. It’s the weight of a Clif Builders bar (100g is so light yet we all are bummed when our skis or boots weight 100g more than your buddy’s).
I’m curious how much thought people put into where they keep it, the advertised method of clipping it to a pack strap is something I would never do. I immediately took the carabiner on mine off (#ul) and always keep it in a zipped pocket on my person so that if I were to fall and lose or otherwise get separated from my pack I still have access to it.
You’ve got me thinking. My go-to is clipped to my pack if climbing/skiing with the stock mini-carabiner. Sometimes, depending on the pack, I keep it zipped in a handy pocket in the pack. No matter, my baseline is I must be able to reach the device unimpeded when wearing the pack. I can barely stand anything in my pockets while touring and have just become accustomed to a transceiver in my pant pocket. But, lose the pack, and I’ve got some issues in an emergency. And I can think of many scenarios where the pack could slip away, or rip off my body in a violent fall. Maybe time for a re-think on my part. (Note to self: According to Edgerly in the video linked above (in the story), he states the EMI from an InReach is only an issue when “touching” a transceiver. This seems like a problem that is easily mitigated.)