MTR Resources

The MTR Eastern Division has a number of useful resources for instructors and students alike. 
For Instructors:
GPS Units (Garmin Etrex 10)
  • 12 units in NJ and 12 more in NH that can be shipped to courses 
  • A baseplate compass is included with each GPS unit   
It costs about $20 to ship 6 units 1 way with insurance by USPS flat rate box. Shipping to the course is paid by the Eastern Division MTR program. Shipping back to HQ, or to the next destination, is paid by the Region offering the course where equipment was used, (covered by course fees).

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Ropes Box (includes webbing, ropes, carabineers, pulleys, etc.)  
This box costs more to ship than the GPS Units. Same terms for covering costs as the GPS Units, described above.
For Students:
  1. National Association for Search And Rescue (NASAR);  is a hub for all Search and Rescue information, from gear reviews to upcoming SARTECH
  2. Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK); The Adirondack Mountain Club website has a lot of useful tools both specific to the Adirondack region, and also to use as general guidance when exploring the wilderness
  3. Garmin; For any kind of outdoors adventure, a GPS Unit can provide useful, even if just used as a wearable tracker
  4. Silvia Compass - Essential for any kind of exploration, you can find reasonably priced compasses here 
Misc Links:

Backcountry Conditions:

Adirondack Mountain Club (trail conditions)
https://www.adk.org/play/hiking-information/hiking-in-the-adirondacks/high-peaks-trail-conditions-weather/

Appalachian Mountain Club (backcountry weather & trail conditions)
http://www.outdoors.org/
 
Randolph Mountain Club (Northern Presidentials trail conditions)
http://www.randolphmountainclub.org/sheltersinfo/weatherconditions.html
 
Views from the Top (trail conditions forum - requires invitation to post as member)
http://www.vftt.org/forums
 
Time for Tuckerman (ski conditions forum for Tuckerman Ravine and other NH backcountry)
http://timefortuckerman.com/forums/index.php
 
Ski conditions per sparse, sporadic reporting:
http://www.adkbcski.com/
 
More ADK ski conditions:
http://www.jackrabbittrail.org/conditions
 
Obviously not local to The Great Northeast, but provides good insight into real life examples of being in the mountains:
http://www.acmg.ca/mcr/archives.asp
 
Much beta can be found regarding mountain travel and mountain conditions:
http://www.neclimbs.com/
 
Much beta can be found regarding climbing technical rope handling and mountain conditions:
http://neice.com/
 
Skiing Focused:
Skintrack.com (blog focusing on backcountry skiing)
http://www.skintrack.com/
 
NE Rando Race Series (up & down ski races)
http://nerandorace.blogspot.com/

Weather:


Mount Washington Observatory (includes high summits weather forecasts)
http://www.mountwashington.org/
 
Eye on the Sky (mountain weather forecast)
http://www.fairbanksmuseum.org/forecasts
 
National Weather Service mountain forecast for NH
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/view/validProds.php?prod=REC&node=KGYX
 
Interesting idea, but I often find the forecasted snow totals are understated:
http://www.mountain-forecast.com/
 
Mad River Glen-centric, but much weather wisdom for the Northeast United States:
http://madriverglenweather.blogspot.com/

Navigation Tools:


CalTopo (free on-line topographic mapping for all of U.S.)
http://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=38.8,-98.4&z=5&b=t
 
Compass Reading on-line course:
http://geographyfieldwork.com/Compass/randomMap.html
 
Custom Maps:
http://www.mytopo.com/

Clubs:


Green Mountain Club
http://www.greenmountainclub.org/
 
Adirondack Mountain Club
http://www.adk.org/
 
Appalachian Mountain Club
http://www.outdoors.org/
 
Rescue Focused:


FEMA Incident Command System on-line course:
http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/courseOverview.aspx?code=IS-100.b
 
Mountain Weather on-line course (somewhat advanced):
https://www.meted.ucar.edu/training_course.php?id=4
 
Mountain Rescue Association:
http://www.mra.org/

Some lessons to be learned from North Country incident reports found as follows:
http://www.stowemountainrescue.org/mission-log

Hiker Hell – Learn from others mistakes and triumphs:
http://www.hikerhell.com/

Tutorials and Courses:


Leave Not Trace on-line awareness course:
https://lnt.org/learn/online-awareness-course
 
FEMA Incident Command System on-line course:
http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/courseOverview.aspx?code=IS-100.b
 
Knots:
http://www.animatedknots.com/
 
Avalanche safety route finding tutorial:
http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/training/online-course/reducing-risk/route-finding-exercises