This is the first of what is scheduled to be a series of 6 webinars. In this 90 minute webinar Cyril Shokoples will discuss current and emerging best practices with regard to rappelling and rappel safety. Cyril is an ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide, an ITRA Level 3 Rescue Instructor and owner of the company “Rescue Dynamics”. He joined the ACC in 1974 and has been a member ever since. He was inducted as an Honorary (Life) Member of the Alpine Club and has taught courses and guided for the ACC for decades.
A number of years ago Cyril dove into researching rappel accidents and compiled a massive amount of data on how rappel accidents occur. He was driven to do this research when one of his friends had a near fatal incident on Mount Neptune. His research led to the development of the BRAKES rappel safety checklist. Last summer the death of a friend, one of Jasper’s well known and experienced climbers, while rappelling off a single pitch sport climb compelled him to revisit this important topic. 45 minutes of this presentation will include parts of a video presentation filmed in the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies where Cyril chats about all kinds of techniques and toys we use for rappelling. The BRAKES check will be discussed along with some of the sobering data on rappel based accidents.
Some technical details every participant needs to know: There will be a maximum of participants admitted to the webinar, so sign up early. If you are not going to attend please cancel your participation so someone else on the waiting list is allowed to attend. If you do not cancel and do not attend you may compromise your ability to sign up for any of the future webinars in this series.
This webinar will be presented using the Zoom platform. To limit the potential for the unfortunate phenomenon known as “Zoom Bombing” where uninvited guests disrupt presentations, Zoom has updated its software and we are undertaking a few additional recommended steps. Prior to joining, you should download the most recent version of Zoom or you may not be able to log in. You must sign up on the Calgary Section website as you would for any ACC Calgary trip. If your name isn’t on the sign-up list you won’t be allowed to connect to the webinar. Once you have signed up you will be sent an email the day before the webinar with the link to attend.
You are encouraged to connect to the webinar 5 to 10 minutes early where you will find yourself in a “waiting room”. A co-host will check your name and email address against the sign-up list before you will be admitted to the webinar. Note that if you attempt to join using a pseudonym other than your real name you will not be admitted. When you connect to the webinar your microphone will be muted and screen sharing and chat will be disabled, so this is not like a zoom meeting in that respect. No logins to the webinar will be accepted after 7:10 PM so please don’t try to sign in late.
There will be specified times during the session where questions and answers will be taken, at which time chat with a co-host may be enabled or your microphone may be turned on at the discretion of the hosts.
Don’t miss it!
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