At the ACC Spring Board of Directors meeting, held in Canmore, Alberta on May 15th, representatives from ENEQ participated in an exciting discussion about the future of volunteer training in Canada. As a result of these discussions, ACC and ENEQ members have agreed to begin working, this summer, on plans to launch ENEQ courses through the ACC’s network of 20 Sections across Canada, likely in early 2011.

The ACC and ENEQ will also begin discussions on organizational arrangements to formalize this national training initiative through the ACC’s Centre for Canadian Mountaineering.

Commenting on the ACC/ENEQ agreement, ACC President Peter Muir noted that, “ENEQ has created an impressive training system that the Club is very pleased to be involved with. Access to UIAA-certified training for voluntary leaders and instructors will be a real benefit to our Club sections and to our members. It is clear that ENEQ and the ACC share a common vision for the future of our sport, and we are very pleased to be working with them on this project.”

In light of the ACC /ENEQ agreement, ENEQ President Ronald Whitehead noted that, “ENEQ has enjoyed working closely over the years with some of the eastern ACC sections such as Outaouais, Montreal and Ottawa on their training. We are very enthusiastic about the future of this collaboration on the national level, in order to help support all of the sections’ needs in training for their members. With its long standing history in mountaineering, the ACC’s national involvement will undoubtedly bring a strong mountaineering contribution to the current UIAA certified programs.”

Read more here: Warning regarding the presence of counterfeit versions of Petzl products

Ice anchor Workshop
Uploaded by Petzl.

“Reports from the field and press photos alerted us that the QUICKFIX is being used as a lanyard for attachment to rappel stations. For your safety, remember that the QUICKFIX is designed only for positioning in aid climbing. In this case, the climber must be protected by a dynamic rope. Warning: the QUICKFIX does not protect against falls.”

It must not be used as a lanyard (its strength is only 150 daN, or about 150 kg).
The strength of a lanyard must be at least 2200 daN, or about 2200 kg. Some climbers position themselves at the belay using their QUICKFIX, but in this case they must also be attached to the belay with the rope. Petzl recommends against this usage because eventually you may forget to attach yourself with the rope. Do not use the QUICKFIX on rappel.

QUICKFIX safety information – Info sécurité QUICKFIX from Petzl-sport on Vimeo.

DMM has released a video testing slings in Factor1 and Factor2 Falls:

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

Here are the results:

http://www.theuiaa.org/news_268_Russia-has-its-first-UIAA-certified-instructors

Kolin Powick, Mechanical Engineer at Black Diamond Equipment wrote an article about the dangers of using the Daisy Chain: “I see it all the time. People at the cliff with one or two daisy chains girth hitched to their belay loop or tie-in points, and using them as a personal anchor system when at an anchor. Wrong. Dangerously wrong.”

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