HIKING NEWS ITEM

How to Stay Safe during Winter Hiking

FRIDAY, 22 DECEMBER 2006

Joe Kelley, a National Park Service veteran, says that blizzards make it hard for hikers, even the experienced ones, to survive.

Kelley has directed search-and-rescue operations in the Great Smoky Mountains and other national parks during his 30-year career. Hence, natural disasters and missing people are his field of expertise. However, he says that it's not the usual blizzard that provide the most problems but the occurrence of hypothermia. "It's rare to have problems with real winter hiking," he said. "We had more problems getting hypothermia in the late fall and early spring than we did in the depths of winter," he explained.

Bob Miller, a spokesman for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, says that clothing is an important consideration when hiking. To stay warm, hikers should stay dry or else it will lead to hypothermia. "You can get hypothermia just as easily here as you can anywhere," said current president Mark Shipley of the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club.

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