Back number Vol 129 My opinions about the use of technology in the mountains

This story was written by Takeshi Tani                                     Translated by Yumiko Mori

In this post I will cover the topic about the use of technology in mountains.

Of course there are obvious rules, like bring back the stuff you brought in and try to limit the impact on the nature as much as you can. These are just a few examples out of common sense.

So here I am going to talk about the topic of technological devices that continuouslly being developed and appear in market.  Personally I feel some are useful and some can be aginst the concept of pure adventure.

When we are asked what is technology being used in the mountians, maybe GPS, cellphones are the items that we come up with.

Here are my thoughts about smartphone, radio, becon and In reach.

Becon

To be honest, there is nothing that can replace this amazing item.

The only reason that you go without would be to make your backpack lighter....Light and fast...? (Then do we also not bring a shovel and probe just for the sake of ligher backpack...?Really?)

Or ratehr for some people who do adventure that has higher risk of falling or doing super dangerous things than people who go for the terrain that possess the risk of avalanche might go without becon...(From Guide's point of view, I still don't recommend for not carrying it with you)

So I am strong advocate for the use of becon in the mountains! Above all, people can't find you if you got in an accident and don't carry it with you...

GPS

I guess it all depends on your skills of reading map accurately.  But GPS comes in real hand especially for ski traverse which covers great distance and also in case of whiteout. However, I still reccomend you to bring map and compass together... Don't forget to have the knowledge that actually allows you to read in case of emergency( Died battery....)

Smartphone, yes super useful item and many great map apps 

I heard some saying it only add extra weight, but for those there are watches that has smartphone and GPS  functions.  Also this is so useful to record your trip. Yet, some poeple would say just take a memo on your log book. 

One other thing I often hear is that people saying, if you rely on GPS all the time, you will lose your map reading skills. Personally I disagree with the thought and even I feel it can be opposite.

GPS and maps are necessary items

Even when I use GPS to plan a route, I still use maps at home as a part of preparation and how you read GPS is the same as you do with physical maps. So this combination makes me read maps more.

Since there are still lots of mountains that you can go without GPS, so I understand that some are reluctant to the use this technology. But for poeple who go to the mountains of flat terrains−skiing traverse, this becomes a life saver. 

In reach 

You can get GPS, Email function and furthermore, this gives you the latest weather forecast and also you can send out emergency rescue request

Spot 

This sends out your location, your safety and rescue request to the other party 

Radio and In reach, they will fall under the category of information so I am going to cover satellite phone and weather forecast here.

Radio 

Strangely many of us seem to have accepted its presence. Even the people who dislike the technology... Is that because it's being sitting there even before we do the much heated debate about technology use in the mountains??  But here I am, bringing them back onto the discussion table. 

I don't know why they don't get involved in the discussion often, there are not much differences in terms of the functions such as satellite phone or other newer inventions like Inreach.

Depends on the location, you can get the accurate weather forecast, use it as a communication tool to request for rescue. And above all this device functions with the use of battery. Yes the reason I included radio is that it uses energy that human being can't produce. So radio definitely should be called as a part of technology according to my definition. "The device that uses battery and gather information" Weather it's been there for a while or not. Let's not give them any excuses, we have to equally evaluate them together with newer devices.

Long long times ago, poeple were going into the mountains without any accurate weather forecast. The only thing that they rely on was from their experiences and observing the sky. Thinking about the  history of mountaineering is purelly fascinating.

Some go with the belief that you can use any device as much as you want until you get to the base camp and afterwards you can't...Well this seems to be vague... You can't tell what is exactlly the base camp and the definition of it are very subjective. In terms of the impact toward the nature, base camp is already in the mountains most of the case...  Some might think Okay, I am going to hire 100 skilled people to assist me to go mountains without the use of any technology... Obviously that's questionable idea as well.

Long story short, I accept the use of any devices that introduced in this post. Yet I know there are still space for discussion.

Okay then moving on to the next topic.

Approaching the mountains with the use of helicopter or Sesna. For most Japanese this concept can be the most difficult to understand and accept....Because we were grown up in the country that has paved road leading middle or sometimes to the peak of the mountain. Covered by gondola or cable cars.

Getting into the mountains with helicopter...? Isn't that cheating? But if you don't have a good access then why not. This often happens with countries of massive land. If there is no neaby town to start or any transportation in the area.

You are only going to say no to Sesna and Heli but other transportation method would be acceptable?? Then the questions continue like How about taking the Cable car at Chamonix Midi？Mountain train？Car？We can't stay at the hut？Even in the town that locates at the bottom of the mountain？Do we have to start from 0 altitude starting from the sea level？There will be never ending questions...

In Canada, there aren't much town at the bottom of the mountains so getting into the area using Sesna and Helicopter would be not unusual thing. It's quite common that the mountains are 100km away from the nearest town. In terms of the footprint, of course helicopter uses a lot of energy but when you think about how much energy and impact were given to the nature when they develop cable cars and operate them... 

We have no idea that how many years and months to be used in order to develop the cable car or set the train tracks in the mountains 

However what I can say here is that it's all depends on the mointains, the climbing style and objectives.

What I want to say is that having awareness of what you are doing, what other members are thinking and the importance of willingness to have an open discussion.

Having thought of I will do in my way no matter what or What those people are doing isn't pure mountaineering are just a few sad thoughts. As mountains lovers we should be open to other people's thinking and styles.

The tricky thing is that bringing unnecessary technology into the mountains seems to be regression but if those devices allow you to do new style of climbing or skiing, this is called progression.

The reason I talked about this is to have active conversations about mounineering.

As a guide who put the most priority on the safety. We are encouraged to bring devices that increase the safety. At the same time, as a climber, we still need to keep the pure essence of adventure.

Although there are many more devices need to be discussed, here are my opinion

Becon　◯

GPS　　△

Radio, Satellite phone, In reach△（Great for emergency but if you use this for constant weather update...?）

Helicopter, Sesna　△（Cable car,Gondola,Mountain train, Require further discussion along with the climbing style you prefer)

Like I mentioned a couple of time, we can't get the absolute answer. But having discussions might allow you to have completely new perspectibves and lead you to seek for pure adventures. I believe if you can ever do a single adventure that align with your thoughts, that's the most rewarding thing. And this is what all we strive for throughout the career as an Alpine Climber.

Thank you for reading.