Safety standards when hiking either solo or in groups

Safety & Awareness
1

Hi, I just read the article of a 74year old man that was found dead in Tsitsikama after he stepped out of the (20) group to relieve himself.

In short, it seriously “p” me off when I read stuff like this. I used to be a diver as well and in diving there is a written rule that you always take a buddy with you.

There should be written rules about what and how a hike should be conducted. Safety first and safety last. You NEVER leave anyone of the group to go off on his/her own to do what ever they want. ( stick a buddy for a piss)

What rules should you say must be included on Hikers rules?

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Bizarre story, how did he die?

My basic idea (soft rule as I don’t enforce it on others) is “line of sight”…

I always make sure I can see those I’m hiking with. Thing is though most backpacks have whistles on their sternum straps, very shrill too, so calling for help shouldn’t be an issue. Unless you’ve just had a stroke, heart attack or fell into the abyss.

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Hi Carl,
I followed the storie on Media 24: https://share.google/OzSe6C9ZYViZmxlQD

The story read like this, Missing Tsitsikamma hiker, 74, found dead

The body of 74-year-old hiker Hermie van Zyl, who went missing on the Tsitsikamma hiking trail in the Southern Cape last week.

Anyway, a whistle is probably a good idea for a person but what if your hike where there is strong wind.

I like the idea a “line of sight “ but I can see to enforce that will be difficult. Especially when hiking with women. If they want to go, they want to be alone with nature.

Could be difficult situation. Still I like the idea. One can always keep the group to a forced rest and wait for the nature called person( and buddy)…

What do ya think?

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My experience with hikers is that we rarely hike with people who are inconsiderate twice. Unless we’re pricks too. Most hikers I know also tend toward the hiking solo style (with Spot or Garmin InReach devices) or hiking in small groups where they know the others, having taken the time to establish compatible partners. Large groups or groups of strangers tend to be the case with organised and paid for hikes with guides where the guide then assumes responsibility, or where someone assumes the role as ‘hike leader’.

I would imagine hiking draws a different kinda person to a diver (maybe), perhaps more inclined to independence, clues being walking into the mountains with your life on your back for multiple days – point being controlling them is like herding cats. Again, the larger groups are often clubs, big and small, or those doing some ‘bucket list’ thing they pay extra for.

As for hiking with woman, well, I think you know the answer there.

Ultimately Chris I reckon it’s just a matter of common sense:

Someone goes to the ‘loo’, give them a break, bit of privacy but don’t bugger of like it’s all about you and “your big experience”. So just wait for them. Well, that’s the kind of folk I hike with.

My feeling is also that the wilderness is inherently dangerous, if you go there and do stupid shit bad shit will happen to you, and even if you’re just out there. I also think the wilderness is possible less perilous than the ocean. I used to surf. I know what she’s like.

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Ye, I’m with you.

Funny enough, I use to be in a Varsity Hiking club and we all had the same thinking of what should and shouldn’t be happening on a hike. The biggest group that I hiked with was 26 people. We were all in our 20’s, all pretty fit and all considered hikers. I think that’s where my fondation of hiking was laid.

After that, I met a mate of mine that was into hiking and we use to do 3 day hikes in 2 days and still see everything that the 3 day hikers saw. We just lived on jelly babies for the whole hike through.

I think, to use common sense when hiking, either as a group of two or more makes the difference. Be compassionate and it will work for everybody.

I like what you said, “Someone goes to the ‘loo’, give them a break, bit of privacy but don’t bugger of like it’s all about you and “your big experience”. So just wait for them. Well, that’s the kind of folk I hike with.”

I think we think alike.

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6

…and on a finer point I think being underwater, full of monsters and dark currents, with a limited supply of air and a mask on your head limiting vision engenders quite a different experience to being out on a hike. Rules are vital down there. It truly is not our element.

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Carl, it’s not so bad. Once you calm down and remember to breathe, its quite a fascinating experience.

We used to go dive the ship wrecks on the west coast. The water is cool but you also get use to it.

South Africa got so much to give. I think that is one of the reasons why I also loved hiking. The exploration of South Africa.

Luckily, hiking hasn’t got so commercialise as diving, its expensive to go diving these days.

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Probably will get some hate for this (and its unfortunate he passed away) but things like this really irk me. We go from:

  1. Being free outdoors, tough it out and make good decisions to
  2. Oh someone died on Otter trail so now everyone needs to spent even more money for a physical (further pricing out locals who already struggle to find spots) to
  3. Oh someone who is 10 years retired died after having a pee (so now people are talking about line of sight, always go in packs of 40 and you must have a registered guide).

Honestly guys, accidents happen outdoors. When you are out of shape, risk increases. When you are older, risk increases. This isnt manufacturing/industrial, people arnt obligated to go hike, they do so at their own risk. Trying to create more and more rules to make hiking safer is the wrong direction to go. It raises the barriers to entry and reduces fun, which for me is the entire point on getting outdoors in the first place. Having medical certs wont reduce risk, since a medical questionaire isnt going to remove slip and fall and fatigue issues. Having line of sight wont prevent anything, youll just see the person fall in exactly the same way. So how did this guy die? Who knows, but skill is 100% at play, imagine a group of 20 people and no one asked after an hour where the dude that is 10 years before his statistical expiry date actually is.

I really hope they dont add more restrictions, its already hard enough to find people to hike with who are of similar skill, fitness and you get along with for people who arnt retired and have all the time in the world. Let people assume their own risk. (For reference 500+ hikes solo on table mountain and surrounds and never had an issue. Id even go as far as saying hiking with people increases risk because you feel like you have a safety buffer, when you are solo you know if you make a mistake no one is coming)

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9

Post deleted

Written on the fly.

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Hi, your absolutely right, one can hate you for it, but then again, it’s your choice.

To keep it short and sweet, some people SHOULD hike alone, not for cruel reasons but plain because no one is safe with you. If you don’t have the instinct to look after your hiking partners, you are better off on your own.

It is a good point on why 20 people didn’t ask after 20-30 minutes, where’s the dude that went to the loo? That I can’t answer, it blows my mind.

I like to hike in a group, if it is a group of 2,4,6 it doesn’t matter. I am compassionate about people, love spending time with them and doing that on a hike is so much better for me. There is safety in numbers, if something goes wrong, let’s say someone step into a hole and break a ankle, if you are alone you have serious problems but if you are in a group someone can look after you.

I can understand why there is restrictions about the number of hikers, it’s not safe to hike alone and for the same reason, it’s not safe to hike in groups more than 24 people. When the group is to large, they usually split in smaller groups and it is more likely for someone to fall behind or get lost.

Can I ask you, when you hike solo, do you take a satellite phone with you? If so, then your not alone, you have a network of people that can help you when something goes wrong. Food for thought.

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Hi,

No just have good ole Cell C. Except for Multidays where you need to be 2 people (except Cederberg) you always have at least some signal so never needed a sat phone.

Me, my gf and our other hiking partner all have the same mentality, go have fun and just stay focused. We have discussed this topic quite a bit and honestly on multidays especially we are always surprised to even hear about deaths or injuries. We have yet to say “oh sht this is dangerous”. Multidays feel almost especially safe trail wise, you are rarely doing technical scrambling, route finding is never an issue and you have enough supplies so it just comes down to staying focused and being fit enough. We all believe you carry what you need, and you get yourself off the mountain. (At least until you are a pensioner in which case slackpack away). We treat it as a fun sport/experience and rarely ever worry inherent dangers, we back ourselves to make good decisions in the moment and trust our technical competence.

I think the problem is a lot of people go from day hikes straight into 5 days (I did it myself the first time I did otter, solo), they underestimate just how much pack weight crushes you, especially when you dont have efficient gear and hauling 18kgs around for 5 days when the most you did before is 1 day and a backpack with a lunch bar and water.

Having done Otter twice, Tsitsikama twice, marloth twice (once in a storm), cederberg several times, drakensberg mini traverse via bells traverse we noticed a trend.

Popular ‘accessible’ hutted hikes tend to draw more casuals. They start at 06:00 in the morning, finish 19:00 at night (read very slow) and its ofen the first multiday they have done (Otter/Tsitsikama). Marloth and the bergs are considered hard, and we only ever see experienced people there.

Its a difficult balance for the parks, since on the one hand everyone at some point overestimates their ability, and/or underestimates the trail. I do feel people should be able to make that call for themselves and assume the risk to hike alone, even on multidays. I dont however think more rules are the solution, else it makes more sense to limit anyone who is obese and over 65 (something Otter used to do) rather than blanket rules for everyone.

Or maybe instead of rules someone who’s bored can build some sort of free platform where you can unlock access to hike solo if you have a hiking CV that shows the standard rules dont make sense to apply to you. On this site there is a European dude who came here specifically to hike, and had issues because he couldnt hike alone. Hes a total badass and if you see what he has done its pretty clear he has more competence than most of our guides. High altitude technical in Snow and ice is pretty much harder than anything we have as a structured trail. A platform like that might also help people better gauge their competence in a structured way that might even make hiking in SA safer. The amount of people in 2 years I had to help/rescue at Jonkershoek and India venster who clearly didnt understand the gap between platteklip/newlands ravine and those hikes is …. well every one(6 seperate occasions) of them. They think its just more of the same with slightly more use of hands when if they actually just did hikes in a certain sequence their skill would build predictably from on hike to the next and they would always be more safe.

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Hi there ( sorry, I didn’t get your name)

When I read your thread, I can gather that we may have misled you on what we meant by rules. When we spoke about rules, it’s more like guidelines on what to do when a situation becomes dangerous. Being a diver, I’m use to speak about “what if something goes wrong”

We are so used to everything that goes well that we tend to get relaxed about safety.

Originally, I ask for suggestions on rules (guidelines). We established that it’s not something anyone can enforce on your hiking buddies or groups but it is always a good suggestion to know what to do when things go south. I consider myself as an experience hiker, my first hike was in 1982 and I done many after that.

I thought about it many times, what if I don’t think about something stupid and get myself hurt, what measurements can I take to prevent being a casually.

If we speak out off experience, its easy to give guidelines on what to do and when to do it. So, what would you suggest would be a good guideline when hiking a 3 day, 7 day or more hike?

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13

Honestly, fitness/strength by itself will carry you further for 99% of the scenarios than any other type of prep/planning. Being able to do a full day of hiking in 4-6 hours and not be broken makes up for so many risks versus 6-10 hours because you arnt fit enough.

My gf did Hiddignh ravine with me on her 3rd hike, purely because she is strong and fit from Yoga.

The other thing is to pack less. It ties to fitness. You are extremely unlikely to starve to death. You probably dont need nailclippers, a second puffer, and canned tuna, apples ect. Minimize pack weight. Any over 13kgs for 5 days is overkill tbh. Less pack weight fatigue less risk of injury. Especially for females or males who are light.

Check the elevation and distance profiles for each day, and check that against what you usually hike. If you have only done max 13km and 800m gain with a 10kg pack and it was hard, you probably should avoid hikes that go to 16km+ and 1000m elevation gain, especially if its more days.

If you dont see someone for 10 minutes, stop and walk back to them.

If something looks too technical for you, look for a better alternative, if no alternative exists choose if you think the risk is worth it or rather back out and try again on another occasion.

If you made a mistake, then another mistake, stop and ask yourself if 1 more mistake will be too much risk. Dont progressively make more and more bad decisions.

Make sure you always have at least a good headlamp (Petzl, Black Diamond) and a way to recharge them on anything multiday. And a power supply for your phone, with a proper map app like Mapy.cz that works even with no signal.

Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate. Its unlikely youll overhydrate on a hike and is most likely the thing that will create risk beyond slip and falls.

I am also actually a believer of being as relaxed as possible. Stress is cumulative, mental and physical. Dont let 1 person do all the leading, swap out point duty every 1-2 hours. Everyone should be able to lead, read a gps map, make route decisions. And those in the back should also just check where splits happen. If you are ever even slightly unsure, take out phone and check the map.

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14

M Mmm, I’m impressed

For a man that doesn’t like rules you sure have a few good tactics.

I especially like "If you dont see someone for 10 minutes, stop and walk back to them.”

That will sort out loosing someone of your group. I also like to lead rotation, that keeps the hikers sharp and well balanced. I believe in a good stretch on flat ground and easy and lots of resting when elevated hikes pop up.

I never hiked with a cellphone. I got a satellite phone for emergencies but because my job requires being on my phone, I leave it at the car. I do have a solar charger that I connect on top of my backpack for the headlamp and aux powerpack. That is the only technology I carry with me. I like maps, their backlight never dims and they never require charging.

I do believe in lots of fluid, I use to carry a 750 ml waterbottle with me but luckily they invented bladders, now I packed that inside ontop of my backpack with the nozzle that hangs on my right shoulder strap.

Energy bars and bombs are a winner, I also spike my liquid with energy boosters. That keeps my fit till long after the day hike.

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