More Guides Training

Day 2 of training at Retallack, and after a few hours of class time we felt we should bust out for some fresh air.  Hey…the Monster needs some clearing, let’s go there!

It gave us a chance to review our wildflower identification skills.

Here’s a brief look inside the mind of Mac.  Operation Canary Freedom is on the horizon…

We had heard there were a few trees down, so Mike brought the saw along.

While Mike was busy, Lorraine put on a bit of a clinic on how to schralp some Kootenay singletrack.

Of course, the day wasn’t done.  There are always more scenarios to do.

This is one of the innovations we were practicing.  If you’re into the 1st aid, you’ll know that lateral packaging is becoming more and more prevalent, especially if you are transporting via heli.  It’s a great management strategy, but it can be a right bugger to implement.  We were practicing with some new toys like this wheel kit for the basket and also an inflatable litter for aiding with full body immobilization.  Mac has come up with this system that greatly simplifies lateral packaging while also improving stability both on the trail and in the heli.

As always, awesome training and I am totally exhausted by the experience.  No rest for the wicked, though.  Right back at it in the morning as the guests for the next three days are rolling in after dinner.

Guides Training

There’s nothing like the Kootenay’s.  Except maybe in the Lord of the Rings…  maybe.

Time for the annual guides training session at Retallack Lodge.  We have a ton of safety measures to refresh on, and also new wildlife regs to go over.  Gotta protect the bunnies and such…

Here’s the crew this year: Kinrade, Bri, Ryland, Me, and Lorraine.  ‘Raine is gonna want to kill me for this pic, but it makes me laugh so it’s worth it.

Alright, on to the scenarios.  Just remember that these are all for fun.  Nobody was actually hurt.  Here we’re practicing some high angle rescue and some innovative new packaging techniques (more about that later).

Yeah, I agree.   F*$k 24″ wheels.

If you haven’t heard, Retallack can be pretty steep in places.

After a hard day at work, we gotta unwind with some Indo Board Jenga.  It’s definitely as hard as it looks.

Game over, man.  Game over…

Retallack Training 2

Nothing like some real blood to get you in 1st Aid mode.

Linden may have earned the mountain bike porn name of “Shifty Drifter” for that particular move.  It was an impressive drift, too bad it was a bit too slick on the moss to pull back out of it.

Meanwhile…further down the hill.. AAAAAAHHHH!!!!!

Just kidding, we’re just practicing the stuff we all read about in Fifty Shades of Grey.

Don’t think of this as a free pass to ride like an idiot out there, but it’s cool to know that there’s so many dialled folks at Retallack.  It’s a new standard for training in our fledgling industry, and it’s right up there.  Pretty rad.