devices use on trail

[sarsmile]

While I agree that the ITC is not known for its sterling decision-making skills, my recollection of the broader discussion about devices is a bit different. As communication devices got lighter and service areas larger, there was an ongoing debate in the outdoor world about whether they should be carried or not. Some people thought that if they were available they should be used, and in fact that you were being negligent if you didn't bring one at least in case of emergency. Others felt that part of the magic of wilderness travel was *not* being able to communicate with the outside world, and having to be self-reliant even when things when wrong. I saw this argument play out for many years in the backpacking world where I spent a lot of time, and I think a similar debate occurred in the mushing community.

In the context of this broader debate, when the ITC restricted the use of devices I didn't see that as a lack of concern about safety (or of bending to corporate will, who if anything I suspect would have loved to find a cell carrier to sponsor the race). I saw it as sticking at least temporarily with the traditionalists, who worried that the old independent spirit of the Iditarod would be eroded if the mushers could call home from every checkpoint. I'm not sure I can find specific quotes, but my recollection is that at least at the beginning, many of the mushers were on board with this approach. And to be fair - I do think that there is a legitimate concern (in both the backpacking and mushing worlds) that newcomers to the sport who are used to our modern digital world may rely too heavily on these devices, and then be unprepared for what happens when the battery dies in the cold or there's no service in the middle of nowhere.

Anyway, my personal take is that the devices are here to stay, and so we should focus on figuring out how to use them fairly and safely, and not on trying to artificially keep them out of the wilderness. And I'd certainly agree that (not for the first time) the ITC was slow to think through the repercussions and ended up caught flat-footed on more than one occasion. If they had been more proactive they could have been a leader in establishing guidelines for appropriate device use; they absolutely failed to recognize and make use of that opportunity. But I'm not sure it's fair to say that they were ignoring safety or acting against musher interests when I suspect they were at least initially acting to defend musher preferences against encroaching civilization.

[Breeze]

Sars, I have to agree. For much of that hot discussion I was working in the preeminent location in the northeastern US for back country hiking, skiing and ice/rock climbing. National Forest, well off the road system. There was huge discussion at the time about cell phones, SPOT, other PLB's. I, too thought ( vociferously) that ITC had their heads in a snowbank and were way out of the technology loop. You and I and a lot of the musher community were vindicated when someone's ( Jim Lanier, I think, near Safety) SPOT from the Iditarod trail finally reached the emergency center, and they had to dispatch a AK State Police rescue chopper. All told, it was about 10 hours between SPOT emergency message and chopper landing and then to Nome and a wait for air transport to Anchorage.

Cell phones may not be better, but these mushers go out and lay everything on the line. They deserve to know that SOME emergency device will connect them with support, and feel justified in carrying a device they can choose as a back-up to a device required by ITC.

Oh, yeah, it is now law that the State of NH can fine you if you hike, ski or otherwise recreationally use back-country NH without carrying a cell phone. It's the first piece of your recreational kit any rescue officer from NH Fish and Game will ask for; it's assumed that if you don't have it, you went out unprepared. They aren't easy on you, either, when they bill for cost of rescue. If you are negligent by being unprepared, it could easily cost you $2 K USD for the assist out of your mess.

[braider]

The Quest has/has had emergency buttons on their sleds. Brent might of used it himself???

[Breeze]

Quest uses SPOT reporting, but YQ receives the initial signal and dispatches emergency response from their own race network. Provincial response is secondary as needed, and when the race goes across the AK/YT border, Quest still directs response on the AK side.

[sarsmile]

Thanks for that perspective, Breeze. I've been mostly in town these last 10 years and so I'm no longer up on the current conversations. But your comment on requiring cell phones in NH is fascinating to me. I wonder whether that's becoming more common everywhere, or whether it's specific to that area? I've done a bit of hiking in both NH and VT and I agree that they are among the more wild (and beautiful!) areas close to major urban areas, and therefore an easy place for inexperienced hikers to get in over their head. And I'd imagine that cell coverage is fairly strong for the same reason, making the requirement more reasonable. But on the few occasions when I or my friends had reason to use a cell phone in the areas where I used to hike (in the Rockies and the Sierras), it often required a significant hike (on or off trail) to get to a place where we *might* get a bar or two of service. And with no way to recharge the phone on a multi-day trip, we often joked with good reason that they were basically just metallic bricks.

I still brought one, and did my best to keep it dry and off so it would be available if I ever needed one. And I have helped with evacuations that were summoned by cell phone, although fortunately not emergency ones. But I definitely sympathized with my friends who didn't feel the benefits were worth the weight. I'd imagine cell coverage has improved significantly in the years since I was backpacking regularly, but I'd think there must still be large areas in the west (and certainly in Alaska) where it's limited, and where a requirement like that might do more to encourage hikers to make poor decisions than to summon help once they did.

You are right, though, that there are many options beyond commercial cell phones that are available these days, and if I were planning a lengthy wilderness trip in an area with limited cell coverage, I would definitely be looking into those.

[akaquaman]

Garmin’s In-reach devices work well in Alaska, although satellite service can still be limiting. I use one hunting, and I still have to wander around a bit or wait for the tide to go down to get a connection. Woods and topographic features can be limiting in that regards. The nice thing compared to a sat phone, however, is that you make your text whenever and then have it ready to send when the connection is made - then it’s done right then. I like the gps on it too, though its not the most powerful kind.