The WildeBeat

Thu, Mar 29, 2007

Reprise: Mountain Rescuers

Posted at 09:00

/shows/outings [link ]

This outings program joins a training exercise of the Bay Area Mountain Rescue Unit (BAMRU). The rescuers practice their winter alpine rescue skills in the Carson Pass area, just south of Lake Tahoe, California.

Most search and rescue teams in the U.S. are all-volunteer. BAMRU is just one example. To find out about the mountain rescue teams near you, you can look at the Mountain Rescue Association (MRA).

This is a reprise of our edition #32 of March 9, 2006. We followed it with a companion edition #33, Wilderness Rescuing, where talked more to John Chang of BAMRU and Tim Kovacs of MRA about how you can get involved and volunteer for mountain and wilderness rescue teams.

• Show number 82 [MP3 format; length 9:56; 2,388,918 bytes]
• Show number 82, high-fidelity stereo [MP3 format; length 9:57; 9,558,383 bytes]
• Show number 82 script
• Photo album

Thu, Mar 22, 2007

Sheephole Valley Wilderness

Posted at 09:00

/shows/wild_places [link ]

This wild places program profiles the Sheephole Valley Wilderness in the Mojave Desert. This may be the largest waterless wilderness in the 48 states.

We hear from Steve Tabor, the president of the Berkeley, California based outings group, the Desert Survivors. Steve Tabor has extensive experience in the Sheephole Valley Wilderness, and may be one of the first in recorded history to cross it, unsupported, on foot. Dan Abbe, the Wilderness Specialist for the Needles Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management provides the official perspective on the area.

If you're considering visiting a desert wilderness, there are some things you should know. Steve Tabor got us started in our edition #34, Desert Backpacking Tips. Steve Sergeant visited the Sheephole Valley with the Desert Survivors last year, and produced our editions #35 & #36, Surviving the Desert, as a report on that trip.

• Show number 81 [MP3 format; length 9:59; 2,398,427 bytes]
• Show number 81, extended version [MP3 format; length 11:01; 5,294,581 bytes]
• Show number 81 script

Tue, Mar 20, 2007

The Best Wilderness At Night

Posted at 15:25

/blog/wild_places [link ]

In our editions 13 & 14, titled The Wilderness at Night, we talked about the value of dark skies, and the detrimental effects that artificial night lighting can have on natural ecosystems. We interviewed Chad Moore, a physical scientist with the National Park Service, and Program Manager of their Night Sky Research Program. In that interview, Chad Moore said that the darkest skies in the National Park System are at Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah.

According to our friend Jeremy Sullivan, editor of the Park Remark site:

Natural Bridges National Monument, in the southeast corner of Utah, has been named the world's first ever International Dark-Sky Park, as designated by the International Dark-Sky Association.

You can read the rest of Natural Bridges is World's First Dark-Sky Park at Park Remark.

We'd like to congratulate Chad Moore and the rest of the NPS Night Sky Research Team for this well deserved recognition of their work.

Thu, Mar 15, 2007

Fighting Animal Terror

Posted at 09:00

/shows/skills [link ]

This skills program looks at how to handle potentially dangerous animals in the wilderness. How afraid of them do you really need to be? Is this something that should prevent you from getting into the wilderness?

Steve interviews Dave Smith, a former backcountry caretaker at Yellowstone National Park, and the author of two books, Don't Get Eaten, The Dangers of Animals that Charge or Attack, and Backcountry Bear Basics, the Definitive Guide to Avoiding Unpleasant Encounters. Dave talks about ways to handle bear, cougar, and large herd-animal encounters.

Two great sources of information about bears are the Sierra Interagency Black Bear Group, and the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee. Also, check out our earlier edition titled Keeping Bears Hungry.

• Show number 80 [MP3 format; length 9:59; 2,399,454 bytes]
• Show number 80, extended version [MP3 format; length 15:53; 7,627,402 bytes]
• Show number 80 script

Thu, Mar 08, 2007

Counting Up Essentials, part 2

Posted at 09:00

/shows/skills [link ]

This skills program is the second half of a look at the ten essentials. Are there ten, and why are they essentials?

Since it's mysterious introduction by the Mountaineers early in the twentieth century, the 10 Essentials have been the list that everyone should know, and few could recite with certainty. In this edition, Doug Ritter, the executive director of the Equipped To Survive Foundation, and Amy Racina, author of the book Angels in the Wilderness, compare notes on some of their ideas of the 10 essentials. Amy finishes her story about her rescue from a life-threatening emergency in a remote location of Kings Canyon National Park. Doug completes his list of the Ten Essentials.

There's additonal information about the ten essentials, and a bonus audio clip, under the To find out more... link, below.

• Show number 79 [MP3 format; length 9:57; 2,391,427 bytes]
• Combined shows number 78 & 79, high-fidelity stereo [MP3 format; length 20:47; 19,968,905 bytes]
• Show number 79 script
• Show number 78 & 79, combined script
• To find out more...

Thu, Mar 01, 2007

Counting Up Essentials, part 1

Posted at 09:00

/shows/skills [link ]

This skills program is the first half of a look at the ten essentials. Are there ten, and why are they essentials?

Since it's mysterious introduction by the Mountaineers early in the twentieth century, the 10 Essentials have been the list that everyone should know, and few could recite with certainty. In this edition, Doug Ritter, the executive director of the Equipped To Survive Foundation, and Amy Racina, author of the book Angels in the Wilderness, compare notes on some of their ideas of the 10 essentials.

Next week, in part two, we'll finish Doug's list, and you'll find out what happened to Amy.

• Show number 78 [MP3 format; length 9:48; 2,354,179 bytes]
• Show number 78 script

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