A creek or river, ridgelines, valley bottoms, couloirs, and roads are all obvious terrain features that you’ll recognize when you hit them, even in a whiteout. These are obvious physical terrain features that you can use as a “handrail” to ensure that you don’t get off route. Once you decide on where to go, here are some strategies and techniques to help keep the squad together and to where you need to go. If you did your homework and have a good whiteout navigation plan, then you just need to follow your compass bearing. Much easier than trying to pull out your cell phone or a GPS in a storm.
#White out conditions zip
If you actually want to be able to use it in a whiteout, laminate the map or at least put it in a zip lock bag to waterproof it. A GPS will provide your elevation, but it’s nice to have a back up in case your phone or GPS unit runs out of battery. Knowing your elevation is essential when navigating in a whiteout. There are quite affordable altimeter watches now that (if calibrated regularly) are quite accurate. Touch screens don’t really work well when wet. Drawbacks to using your cell phone as a GPS unit is battery life, cell phones die quicker, and usability in wet conditions (like a whiteout). This can be a more affordable option than to drop hundreds of dollars on a stand-alone GPS unit. There are cell phone applications now like CalTopo and Gaia that turn your cell phone into a GPS even in airplane mode. Therefore, 198-180 = 18 degrees for the back bearing. In the navigation plan above, you can see on line one that the bearing from the car to the first waypoint is 198 degrees. Calculating the 180 degree opposite of your bearing to a waypoint gives you the back bearing. Just as important as knowing your bearing to the next waypoint is the bearing back to the previous one.
#White out conditions how to
Don’t know how to take a bearing or what declination is? Check out our Backcountry Navigation 101 blog. By recording the compass bearing in your plan to the next waypoint, you can be sure that you’re headed in the right direction (remember to adjust for declination). Where waypoints are the bread crumbs, bearings are how you navigate to the next bread crumb without getting lost. Your goal is to go then from waypoint to waypoint to get to your objective and then reverse the waypoints to get back home. Those could be an individual tree or large boulder on a ridge, or a lake, cliff face, drainage, highway, or larger scale feature.
They also work best at obvious terrain features that you can’t miss. Ideally, waypoints are placed at the start and end objective of your route, and anywhere a change in direction is required. Think of them like a trail of bread crumbs you can use to navigate through terrain and then also get back home. Waypoints are points placed along your route at regular intervals that are used for navigation.
#White out conditions pro
Curious how to make complex tour plans? Check out our Backcountry Skiing Pro Course for backcountry skiers and riders. Below is an example of a complex whiteout navigation plan that also includes UTMs, distance, elevation, and munter rates. These plans can be as complex and detailed as you’d like but need at the core three main details: Waypoints, Bearings, and Back Bearings. The easiest way to know where to navigate in a white-out is to be proactive and have a whiteout navigation plan. Heard the phrase “inside the ping-pong ball?” Below are the things you need to know to make the best decision on where to navigate. If you get caught out in a whiteout, especially in glaciated or snowy terrain with no distinguishable terrain characteristics, it’s easy to become disoriented. Handrails | Bearing Off | Travel Techniques How to Move (Strategies and techniques for how to travel and stay on course) Whiteout Navigation Plan | Navigation ToolsĢ. Where to Move (Tools for knowing where to go in a whiteout) This post presents tools, strategies, and techniques to keep in your quiver for those low visibility days.ġ. Whether you are a backcountry skier or mountain climber, learning the basics of whiteout navigation is essential for off-trail travel in the mountains.
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