Alaska is a state that offers unparalleled access to outdoor spaces and recreation, and with summer now here, many Alaskans are heading out on adventures.
To help prepare for the season, we spoke with outdoor safety instructors Deb Ajango and Luc Mehl on Talk of Alaska about their tips for staying safe outside. (Listen to the full episode here.) We also asked our listeners and readers for their advice, and we heard from many of you.
From knowing your limits to staying flexible, here are six of the top tips shared:
(Answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity)
1. Share your plans, but stay flexible.
“Tell someone where you’re going and your expected arrival time back. Contact them when you return or have them reach out to you. If you don’t return and they can’t reach you, alert emergency services. Put your contact information inside your backpack, same for cars left in the parking lot.” – Wendy in McCarthy
“Always let someone know where you’re going. Even if it’s just a two hour walk.” – Sheri in Palmer
This was the most common piece of advice we received. Any time you’re headed out, make sure someone who isn’t going with you knows when and where you’ll be. Ajango echoed that during Talk of Alaska, but added that it’s important to build some wiggle room into those plans.
“If you look at, again, accident causation…what are common contributing factors? One is people who feel a rigidness to follow a schedule,” she said. “Not only have a trip plan, which doesn’t have to be this rigid thing, but make sure that people know where you’re going to be so that if something bad happens, they can help you.”
2. Bring an emergency communications device, but don’t let it change your risk tolerance.
“Have some sort of two way over the horizon satellite communications device.” – Erin in Anchorage
Satellite communications devices have come a long way in the last several years, with many smartphones now coming equipped with the ability to send SOS signals via satellite. Mehl was a proponent of the technology, but shared some caveats about its drawbacks.
“The consequence of making it so easy to hit SOS is that there are a lot of false SOS’s, and so the search and rescue communities can be stretched thin, and maybe less able to respond to real emergencies, so that’s a concern,” Mehl said. “But then on the other hand, the folks I’m hearing from, they’re saving more lives, like getting more calls means there are people getting rescued from situations that maybe were life-threatening.”
Ajango warned about complacency, citing a theory known as risk homeostasis.
“Bringing in technology can indeed change your decisions and give you a different risk tolerance,” she said. “And so you absolutely need to keep that in mind…Your cell phone, and your inReach, isn’t going to save your life, so don’t change your decisions, don’t take more risks, just because you have this communication method.”
3. Know your partners, your limits, and how to communicate them.
“Take a swiftwater rescue course with the people you get on the water with.” – Justin in Anchorage
“If your plans require a certain amount of skill, fitness or risk assessment, know your partner(s). High consequence terrain is generally not a good place for a first date.” – J. Leslie in Seward
It’s very important to know that the skill levels of your adventuring partners meet the intensity and difficulty of the activity you’re planning. During Talk of Alaska, Ajango stressed the importance of honesty when discussing experience and knowledge.
“I heard this PhD dissertation one time, and they talked about, in the outdoor industry, what is the most common fear of all adults in the outdoors? It’s a fear of looking stupid in front of your peers,” she said. “If we’re afraid to look stupid in front of our peers, we’re not going to admit that we don’t know about a river crossing or a bear.”
That need for honesty applies during an activity, as well as beforehand. Mehl encouraged honest communication about energy, injury and overall mindset during an adventure, and suggested modeling vulnerability for those who might be hesitant to express themselves. As an example, he recounted an experience with longtime Alaskan guide Joe Stock.
“He kept expressing some discomforts, or needing a snack or something, and I was like ‘no way, Joe is not actually feeling that way,'” Mehl said. “But he was adopting this presence that made everybody in the group feel comfortable taking a break or expressing discomfort, and that really stuck with me.”
4. Take out the earbuds.
“Be aware of your surroundings. Take off your earbuds and pay attention.” – Dave in Homer
Listening to music through earbuds or headphones while outdoors severely limits your situational awareness. There are a lot of consequences to that, but the biggest concern in Alaska is around bear safety.
“They want to avoid us, give them warning, and that’s the whole- no earbuds, make noise,” Ajango said.
5. Think about what could go wrong, how to prepare, and how you will react.
“Local person/knowledge, a good plan, a Plan B, a self-rescue emergency plan/supplies and inReach as backup.” – Facebook commenter
Much of Ajango’s work has to do with preparation. Through the courses and consulting work she does, she teaches people preparing to go out to think through the different potential hazards and how they will react if something goes wrong. She often uses video to show people how their bodies should move and react, for instance while using bear spray.
“If you run into things you’re not familiar with, if this is new or different, it’s not routine, then the brain is going to respond by secreting these chemicals, which are, we say, stress chemicals, and it’s going to make it really difficult to perform well and make good decisions,” she said.
When considering hazards, Mehl and Ajango gave five broad categories to think through: the terrain, the weather, the activity itself, the equipment, and the human dynamic-yourself and your partners.
“And so for each one of those, even on the drive to the trailhead, we can have that little chat in the car and say like ‘what might go wrong with this terrain? What might go wrong with the weather, did anybody see the weather forecast?'” Mehl said. “It’s been pretty easy informally, and then I do it quite formally when I’m teaching.”
6. Have fun and go outside!
Ajango and Mehl both work in a field that requires frequent communication about risks, hazards, and things that can go horribly wrong, but they still encourage Alaskans to get outside and enjoy everything the Alaskan outdoors has to offer. Good preparation, planning, and communication are the keys to staying safe while enjoying the natural world, and for both instructors, the benefits far outweigh the risks.
“Without any hesitation, I can say that my time in the outdoors has been life-changing, and life-shaping, and life-forming,” Mehl said. “It’s helped me in my relationship, and it’s helped me with my mental health… It’s hugely rewarding.”
“This is such a cool place to live,” Ajango said. “Just learn to be prepared.”
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