Health & Safety

Four main points to remember:

• Prevention
• Awareness
• Adaption
• Common Sense

Prevention is better than cure. It is difficult to overstate the importance of this age-old truism, however, if you happen to read through the entire Health & Safety section, you will notice I give it a very good try. In short, do your research, get fit and don’t bite off more than you can chew.

Awareness: Always be conscious of changes in the weather, terrain and your own physical and mental state.

Adaption: Adapt to the conditions at hand. Mother Nature may not have a copy of your trip itinerary. Example: If you are facing an exposed ridge walk and a huge mass of black storm clouds is heading in your direction, it is better to hunker down until the storm has passed or alternatively find a sheltered campsite and call it a day. The same principle applies to your own well being. Learn to differentiate between reasonable levels of discomfort and serious pain which may lead to debilitating injury.

Common Sense: Realistically assess your skill and experience levels. Nature can be very unforgiving to the unprepared.