Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Technical Trainings


BAMRU has had a wonderful fall so far and suddenly winter is upon us!  We enjoyed what seems to have been the last of the warm and beautiful weather in the mountains with a few technical and alpine trainings (more on the alpine trainings to come!).


First we stayed local and refreshed our basic technical rescue skills.  We reviewed anchoring systems, mainline lowers, raises, rigging and pick-offs at our Redwood City facility (courtesy of the San Mateo Sheriff's Office) before moving to Mori Point where we got to run live systems over the edge.

Later we ventured to Yosemite for our advanced technical rescue training.  It was a warm and beautiful weekend in the valley!  We spent three days alternating between classroom learning and running systems in one of our favorite places to train.  We ran two line systems, first with the litter in a horizontal orientation and the next day, vertically (pike and pivot).  On day three was the grand finale of systems; a Kootenay highline over the Merced.

These trainings take a lot of logistical planning, safety precautions and time to execute.  Many thanks to the BAMRU team members and leadership who organized and proctored us for these invaluable exercises.