Alpine savvy maps. Better yet, pretty much all of them are free and weigh 0.

Alpine savvy maps Jul 30, 2018 · (Open Google maps up a new browser tab and give it a try!) Zoom into your favorite mountain in Google maps. Wrap a bit of athletic tape around the spine of a few of your least favorite carabiners, to leave behind as your masterpoint as a “cheapskate Feb 19, 2019 · The downside of this paper is that it’s expensive (about $40 for 50 sheets, or $. Find a GPX track file of your route. Mar 23, 2021 · What's better than having a GPS track to help you stay on route? Having a route with waypoints added. rescue shovel. And, when you can see your route in 3-D with high resolution satellite imagery, it gets even MORE better! Here’s the general workflow, with a longer explanation below. This is a handy way to get a quick direct line distance between two or more points. Here it's 2 miles. com > Stay Found > Map – NW climbing peaks . A GPX track on a navigation app (and printed on a paper map) is key to staying found. 5 minute map layer. Get free GPX track files for more than 70 of the most popular alpine routes in the Pacific NW here: Feb 26, 2019 · Navigation resources: GPX track files for more than 70 of the most popular alpine routes in the Pacific Northwest, and links to a wilderness navigation tutorial video series on YouTube Instructional videos: links to a carefully curated list of solid YouTube instructional videos, a great place to start if you are learning about mountaineering A quality GPX track file is a key navigation resource for the savvy climber. A value that might be printed on the margin of a map may well be out of date, especially if the map is more than 10 or 20 years old. This can be a very useful tool for trip planning, because you can see current snow levels in the satellite imagery overlaid on a base map, along with a GPX track and waypoints. Curated instructional videos. Open source maps come in several flavors, so let's look at a few examples. I cover lots of them in my articles on alpine retreat anchors, Part 1 and Part 2. probe (ideally 300cm long) Leatherman multi-tool. But, IFMGA Guide Dale Remsberg says yes; but to use the shelf, a load needs to be clipped into the master carabiner, so the shelf is best used to belay from. Sep 29, 2018 · Gaia GPS is the favorite GPS navigation app here at AlpineSavvy. If you need to make a backcountry 911 call, or if you're on a long backpacking trip and want to check in before you enter an area with minimal coverage, this map could be really handy. Note the clear boundary between the National Park land around the lake, and the green tinted National Forest lands around the park. Mar 4, 2019 · Seems to default to dark mode on the map; if you want normal view click on the map icon on the left. Apr 8, 2020 · “Triangulation (properly termed "resection"), espoused In just about every navigation book, is a method of using a map and compass together to Map - Portland rock climbs and bouldering Maps - "Highest 100" Learn Wilderness Navigation Wilderness Navigation Challenge Trip Reports & Beta Photos A series of quick tips on best practices. Good news: it's easy to find the current and correct declination for any place on earth. Jul 5, 2021 · CalTopo, my favorite backcountry mapping software, recently added a cool new feature to their default MapBuilder Topo map layer that can be helpful for alpine trip planning: LiDAR elevation model data. If the shelf is an anchor point for a climber, you Nov 15, 2019 · One of the eternal things climbers love to argue about sitting on a sunny mountain top is the game of “What's that peak?” Now, you could use a clever smart phone tool such as the app “PeakFinder”, but here’s another method. Jul 20, 2018 · Map - Portland rock climbs and bouldering Maps - "Highest 100" Learn Wilderness Navigation Wilderness Navigation Challenge Alpine Tips. Provides north / south grid lines to more accurately measure a bearing from your map. You have a map with a ratio scale of 1:50:000. Download GPS tracks for more than 70 routes in the Pacific Northwest. A map with your route drawn on it is even better. ) But, if you only use it for maps where you really need the extra durability, such as maybe for canyoneering, ski touring in a storm, sea kayaking, or a longer mountaineering trip when you really need your map to last, it could be well worth it. You can view these in two different ways: Listed one by one from a Google Drive folder. puffy coat for added warmth or as an emergency layer. Climb better, smarter, and safer with Alpinesavvy. Nov 3, 2018 · Determine UTM coordinates of any point on the map. Jefferson is not on your map, making that feature useless to help determine your position. Jun 2, 2024 · Note - This post discusses techniques and methods used in vertical rope work. ) Aug 26, 2023 · Do a Google search for “AQI map” This should show a link to a Google map with the familiar interface, and a nice legend at the bottom, with specific readings at different locations. Jun 5, 2019 · Here’s an easy navigation trick to quickly estimate straight line distance between points on a map. If you do them wrong, you could die. 4. If you pan and zoom a lot, the colored snow depth information may disappear from your map. A general rule of thumb for a moderately meandering alpine pitch is to have about a 4 to 1 ratio of single slings to double slings. Understanding scale lets you calculate real world distances on a topo map. There’s a (relatively) new map layer, called "MapBuilder Topo” that is a terrific option for printing outdoor recreation maps. In the “Name the Map” box, give it a name. So, maybe eight 60 cm slings, and two 120 cm slings. Hopefully you’re one of them. Sep 29, 2018 · CalTopo, in my opinion the best online and free mapping software, continually rolls out great new features. See 400+ more tips like this at alpinesavvy. Hood, but you can see Mt. Jul 3, 2020 · Based on the Open Source map project Open Street Map, which means that the map is constantly updating as contributors around the world add data, making it is as accurate as possible. 3. Jul 30, 2018 · Safety note: Having a rubber band or something similar to prevent the bottom carabiner on a sport climbing quickdraw from rotating is fine. In Gaia GPS, if you long touch the map screen, that starts the “create route” function. The maps below are from the main visitor area for Mount Rainier National Park, and are screen grabs taken from Gaia GPS, our favorite backcountry navigation GPS app. Understanding these lets you “read” two key features of a topographic map. In a previous article , we covered how to download a map with real time snow depths in the US and part of Canada. Of course, the length of the pitch and how much it wanders around has a bearing what you carry. Give it a try to plan your next outdoor adventure. This post covers: anchor hooks, extending a quickdraw, using a rebelay to protect a fixed rope, “alpine equalization” with cams, cautions on block leading, “casting” your rappel rope, and how anchor hardware can twist your rope. Bring a knife. lower elevation areas just by looking at stream patterns? Nov 24, 2023 · Alpine Threadworks rescue sled & bivy. downhill gloves. Over 500 FREE tips and navigation resources for climbing and mountaineering. (Yes, it still looks pretty useless, but wait, it gets better!) Click the “3D” button in the lower right corner. Jul 9, 2020 · Plus, Gaia GPS has a download limit of 100,000 map tiles for pretty much every map layer (except for satellite, which has a limit of 10,000 map tiles). How about GPX track files for more than 150 of the most popular climbing routes in the Pacific Northwest? Viewable on a single interactive Caltopo map? Download ALL of ‘em, or one by one, to your phone GPS app or GPS receiver? Print FREE maps with the tracks marked? Interactive Google map of popular Pacific Northwest climbing peaks . Trew Gear Anorak shell. Sep 23, 2018 · Google maps and driving directions works great in the city, where places have street addresses. It makes seeing terrain features like ridges and gullies much easier than with a standard topographic map. It's quick and free to print your own shaded relief maps with Caltopo. Here’s a Gaia tip to quickly measure distance between two or more points on a map. 00 grams! (Thi Dec 2, 2019 · The map detail can be significantly reduced, even if you download the map. Too bad, Mt. Add onto this redlining of routes and over 2,000 more photos of a climbing team going up the nose, and you have some serious rock climber eye candy. Quickly estimate distance in kilometers between points. Nov 27, 2018 · Backcountry hiking and climbing: Outdoors and Open Topo The rather boringly titled “Outdoors” layer is a worldwide topo map based on Open Street Map, that has labeled hiking trails, ski runs, and mountain peaks, as well as shaded relief and easy to read contour lines. This improves your situational awareness with “heads up” navigation, and minimizes time spent staring at your screen. headlamp. As you can see from the top image, declination has changed fast in the last 2 decades. For many maps, that might be 1 mile or kilometer. Be sure and zoom in on the map to see more detail for your area. Jan 26, 2019 · Stacking allows you to see features of interest in two different map layers at the same time. Note: powering your phone completely off and then on again more than once or twice every 10 hours or so actually uses more battery than keeping the phone on all the time and Aug 26, 2019 · Then, mouse over the map layer menu in the top right corner, and check the box next to “Land Management”, under the “Map Overlays” section. 80 per sheet. Knots, Headlamp technology keeps getting more ridiculously amazing, with lighter weight, brighter bulbs, and better design. Map - Portland rock climbs and bouldering Maps - "Highest 100" Learn Wilderness Navigation Wilderness Navigation Challenge Trip Reports & Beta Photos May 1, 2019 · This week - contours and terrain. I rarely view more than two map layers at the same time, and definitely not more than three, otherwise you’re going to go cross-eyed trying to find the view you want. You’re lost on Mt. What’s cool about it? May 29, 2019 · It requires that the feature you see in the field actually be ON your map. But what do you do in the backcountry? Answer: use latitude longitude coordinates in decimal degrees, to pinpoint any spot in the world and (usually) get driving directions to it. ) Once you find the hike you want, give it a click. Take a twig and break it to match a convenient distance on the scale bar on your map. com. Most have links to my detailed articles if you want to learn more. Better yet, pretty much all of them are free and weigh 0. Oct 21, 2019 · Also note that the recorded tracks on the ascent vary a lot from the “North Ridge Route” line drawn on the map! As cartographers like to say, “the map is not the territory”, meaning the real world is what you should follow, not necessarily a line on a map. May 22, 2019 · This week - map scale. May 24, 2019 · Which Way Wednesday - Map Scale Join my email - get a Premium Article sampler I’d like to send you a special link to nine of the most popular articles on my Premium Member pages, AND a short weekly email with four quick tips to help you climb better, safer and smarter. However, waiting patiently on the right side menu is an extremely handy map overlay, “weather shading”. Inspiring mountain photography. Maybe. Apparently the German Alpine Club (DAV) thinks not; I’m looking for a technical recommendation on that, stay tuned. extra wool hat. Always practice vertical rope techniques under the supervision of a qualified instructor, and ideally in a progression: from flat ground, to staircase, to vertical close to the ground before you ever try them in a real climbing situation. However, once you have a GPX track of your driving route, and a quality GPS app on your phone like Gaia GPS, you can choose whatever map base layer desired (topo, satellite Aug 13, 2021 · For subscribers at the “Pro” level ($50 a year) CalTopo, the best backcountry mapping software, now offers weekly, high resolution satellite imagery. Premium Article available Sep 20, 2018 · As we like to say at Alpinesavvy, having a map or photo is great, but having a map or photo with your route drawn on it is much better. Click "Import an External Map Source". Nov 25, 2019 · Upfront disclaimer, this article is generally for people who are pretty geeky about maps. Click your user name (top right of screen), and from the drop down box select "Map Sources". Jan 15, 2022 · When using the terrific desktop mapping tool CalTopo, it's easy to focus only on the maps and GPS tracks. Hmm Sort of. You can see that this technique has a host of flaws. It’s the default free layer on the Gaia GPS website . One cm on your map equals how many km in the real world? Would a 1:100,000 scale map be a good choice for a technical climbing trip? How can you use a twig There are lots of handy tools you can keep on your phone to help stay found. Nov 9, 2020 · You get a scale bar in miles and kilometers, the UTM zone, a ratio scale (like 1:25,000) the map datum (defaults to WGS84), and the correct magnetic declination for your location (declination is often incorrect on older printed maps). Now, your map should look something like this. A map is great. goggles. Nov 17, 2018 · Your map may not help. Change to satellite view by clicking the satellite icon in the lower left corner. Find the map here: alpinesavvy. . While for climbing having something with 500 or more lumen output is really nice, there's also a place in your pack (and around the house) for a headlamp with more modest specs and lower cost. Google maps has no terrain or contours shown, so it can be trickier to see your precise location. (The search function can be a little hit or miss; it can help to type in the state you're looking for so you don't get results from all over the world. sunscreen & lip balm Aug 19, 2019 · This amazing photo project stitches together more than 2,000 images into one single, super high resolution photo of El Capitan. When contour lines cross a gulley or ridgeline, which way did they bend? Does a stream flow into or out of a lake? How can you tell higher vs. (Free, one of my favorite words!) Probably the best thing, MUCH smaller map downloads! Why is this great? With nothing more than a cordelette and two carabiners, the “alpine block and tackle” creates a bit of mechanical advantage that can help you move a large load a short distance. Bring 6-ish meters of 6 mm cord in the bottom of your pack, and/or be ready to cut up your cordelette. (For the folks who appreciate spelled out acronyms, LiDAR stands for “Light Detecting And Ranging”. helmet. One unique feature of CalTopo maps is a QR (Quick Read) code, printed on single page maps only. Nov 11, 2018 · This makes the maps especially useful for international travel. . Here are some of my favorites. It's a big improvement over the standard USGS 7. But you never want to do this on an “open” sling, as the rope can easily become completely unclipped from the carabiner without you noticing. thermos for hot water/tea. Here’s an example of a CalTopo map (MapBuilder Topo layer) with a UTM grid Sep 8, 2018 · “Shaded relief” is a bit of cartographic wizardry that tricks your eye and brain into seeing a topo map in almost 3-D. extra buff. Print free maps with UTM grid lines with the great mapping software CalTopo. All at once a single CalTopo map The GaiaGPS app has yet another cool new map layer - cell phone coverage of the United States. Here’s the Alpinesavvy curated collection of more than 150 of the most popular climbing routes in the Pacific Northwest. I suggest a simple, descriptive, name, like “Open Topo custom“. Possible software bug note: Apparently the USFS server will stop serving you snow depth tiles if you request too many of them, lame . Premium Members get even more. This works for maps at any scale, provided you have a scale bar, which most maps should have. Just go to: If you're confident in the route, have a paper map and decent map reading skills, and don't plan on taking photos with your phone, consider powering it down completely. Yet another reminder that routes on glaciers can change a lot! Oct 25, 2019 · Search for the name of the hike you want, or use the map finder to zoom into your area of interest. If you try to exceed this, Gaia is clever enough to give you a red warning text in the upper right corner, letting you know that it’s probably not a good idea. Jefferson, 50 miles away. Sep 23, 2018 · 2. yep soxzsc gsrxd kpn eetocsta etrgbm pybm bpdarkc ooxbo ikqki