This is a new and unique proprietary course
created by Cyril Shokoples and brought to you by
the Training and Leadership Committee – first
time being offered!
The trend towards lightweight rope kits for ski
touring and glacier travel is here. Do you know
the options available and limits of each system?
Are you considering a new rope for winter
touring? Are you amazed and yet a little confused
by the many options? Can I lead on it? How do I
rappel on it? How about on a single strand? How
would I ever ascend it if I had to? How about
crevasse rescue with it? What about my toothy
Tibloc™ or a camming Ropeman™? This course will
help answer your winter rope questions and
perhaps answer a few questions you probably
didn’t know you had.
Itinerary
This 2-day Advanced Winter Rope Techniques Course
will be offered by professional guide Cyril
Shokoples ACMG IFMGA UIAGM. The course will be
based from Lake Louise.
The ropes that will be used on the course will
be: Sterling® TRC™, Edelrid® Rap Line 2™, Petzl®
RAD™, Mammut® 6.0 Glacier Cord Dry™ and small
diameter half and twin rated dynamic ropes.
Areas we will explore, and practice include:
• When and how to use toothed devices (i.e.
Petzl® Tibloc™ and Microtraxion™, Edelrid® Spoc
™) and equally important, when not to.
• When and how to use the force limiting
Rock Exotica® Quickie Ascender™ and Descender™.
• What accessory cord to use for what
purpose (diameter, pinch test).
• What about brake knots?
• Should I get static or dynamic cord for
my next ski touring rope?
• When and how to use (or avoid) which
ropes for glacier travel, shortroping and lead
climbing.
• Rappelling & ascending on the lightweight
ropes listed above.
This is meant to be a very hands on course with
lots of field work to put your skills into
practice. The first morning will be spent in
theory getting familiar with all of the
specialized new cords and the devices that are
used with them.
This course is arranged through Rescue Dynamics
and is taught by Cyril Shokoples, an
internationally certified mountain guide and Past
President of the Association of Canadian Mountain
Guides. Cyril has received the Distinguished
Service Award from both the ACC and the ACMG. In
2013, Cyril was inducted as an honorary member of
the ACC. He has taught the ACC's North Face
National Leadership Courses for the past 20 years
and has a long history of instruction with the
Calgary Section.
Required Items to Bring:
You will be required to bring a fairly
extensive
list of gear (that you likely already own.)
Most
of the specialized ropes and compatible devices
will be provided. If you already have a
lightweight rope kit you should bring it to the
course in addition to the items in the gear
list.
•Appropriate clothing for standing around in
frigid winter conditions
•Food and drinks (thermos?) for eating lunch
outside
•skis or splitboard with boots, poles and
skins
•Ski straps (2)
•Harness in good condition – that you would use
for glacier travel
•Ice screw – 1
•Non-locking carabiners – 4
•Locking carabiners – 2 standard style (see
also
the HMS carabiners below)
•One triple action auto-locking carabiner
(mandatory) [Ideal is a triple action carabiner
with captive eye such as the Black Diamond
Magnetron Gridlock biner or the Edelrid HMS
Strike FG Triple Locking Biner, available from
MEC)
•TWO matching HMS or Pear Shaped locking
carabiners with I-beam style construction
(mandatory) such as the following (many
available
from MEC): Petzl® Attache Screw-Lock Carabiner
or
HERA Attache Screw Lock Carabiner, Petzl®
William
Screw Lock Biner, DMM® Phantom HMS Locksafe
Carabiner, Edelrid® HMS Strike Screwgate Biner,
Black Diamond® Vaporlock Screwgate Carabiner
•Rope – half or twin rated climbing rope less
than 9mm diameter (1 for every 2 participants)
•Rappel ring with 20 kN or higher rated
strength
(mandatory)
•Sewn sling / runner (mandatory – one 120cm and
one 180cm sewn sling and one 240cm sewn sling.
Must be Dyneema or Spectra. MEC does not
currently carry the 180cm length but they’re
available online from
https://www.monodsports.com
or from stores that sell Mammut® Contact™ or
Petzl® Pur'Anneau sewn slings. Contact Cyril if
you can’t get the 180cm length.)
•5m or 6m length of 7mm accessory cord –
one
•10m of soft, supple 6mm cord [ideal is
Sterling
cord - online or from Atmosphere]
•3m of 5mm cord. (mandatory) It must be very
soft
and very supple as it will be used on ropes as
thin as 6mm in diameter. Cordage typically sold
at MEC is too stiff and does not work properly.
[Ideal is 5mm Sterling cord - online or from
Atmosphere or from Vertical Addition in
Canmore]
•Sterling® 6.8mm X 13.5” Hollow Block™ sewn
loop
•Black Diamond® ATC Alpine Guide™ Belay Device
(mandatory) for small diameter ropes
•Pulley (mandatory) - one lightweight pulley
[Preferably of the Prusik minding type – Prusik
minding pulleys sold by MEC function very,
very,
very poorly, or not at all, on small diameter
ropes – best is the Prodigy PMP™ (24kN -
nominally for ropes of <9mm but functions
perfectly on ropes <10mm – online from
https://ctoms.ca / a limited number can be
obtained from Cyril]
•Ice axe
Recommended Items to Bring:
•Mammut® Nano 8™rapppel device (optional, but
something to think about if you routinely use
very small diameter ropes for rappels)
•Progress Capture Pulley (optional but
recommended – Petzl® Microtraxion™ or Edelrid®
Spoc™)
•Petzl® Tibloc™ (optional, but the new version
is
better than the old one)
•Beal® Escaper™ rope retrieval device (very
optional) (bring it if you have one but do not
buy one for the course / available from MEC and
many other stores)
Notes:
The Process to sign up is as follows:
Register and place your name on the wait list.
Email a description of your experience to Rick
Bennett, Chair T&L Committee at
rickbennett28@gmail.com with the following
words
in the subject line "Application - Lightweight
Rope Kits Course"
Upon acceptance to the course, make your
payment
within 2 days by clicking the Buy Now button
below.
You do not need a PayPal account. You can pay
with a credit card.
Once you have paid, take a screenshot of the
receipt PayPal displays and send it to the to
the
trip coordinator who will put you on the
registered list
Course fee $305.00 inclusive of GST
Once payment has been received by the Club
Treasurer you will be moved to the confirmed
list. There
will be no refund for cancellations. Courses
will
run regardless of weather unless the guide
deems
conditions unsafe then a back-up option may be
executed. This is to be decided by the guide
the
evening before.
Cancellation Policy If a participant is unable to attend a paid course or trip, there will be no refund unless the participant finds a suitable replacement that is acceptable to the trip coordinator. Acceptable waiting list candidates will have priority. It will then be the participant's responsibility to recover funds from the replacement. If the coordinator cancels an event, participants get a refund (less any non-recoverable costs). Note that ACC National does not refund hut fees due to weather, delay, closures, or any other reasons. The Calgary Section of the ACC is a not for profit club and we only charge attendees what it costs us to provide courses or trips.
Trip Feedback If you have any feedback, positive or negative, concerning this trip or any other, we want to hear from you! You can send any feedback you may have to the Section Chair.
Registration for this event closed on Friday, January 10, 2020 at 12:00 AM.