From March 8-14, ATS will be offering an incredible expedition trip through the hidden side of Death Valley. If you are interested in our Death Valley Adventure Expedition, please visit www.alpinets.com/death-valley-adventure.html to learn more and register. Read on to discover the hidden side of this desert called Death....

Both rugged and delicately beautiful, Death Valley National Park is a land of extremes. Located in southeastern California, about 150 miles west of Las Vegas, the park features desert land, canyons, and mountains. About 800,000 visitors come to Death Valley National Park each year to view this varied landscape.

Death Valley National Park is a place of radical geography: It owns the distinction of having the lowest elevation in the Western Hemisphere (282 feet below sea level near Badwater) and protects Telescope Peak, which has an elevation of 11,049 feet. At the higher elevations, desert fir, spruce, and quaking aspen are found in abundance in stark contrast to the plant-less desert floor of the valley.

Death Valley's landscape encompasses numerous ecosystems and destinations of interest, including salt and alkaline flats that stretch for miles, broad regions of sand dunes, winding ancient canyons, multicolored rock cliffs and ridges, and historical sites. Although the average annual rainfall is less than two inches, Pacific storms occasionally roar in and cause flash floods that wash out roads, trails, and campgrounds. On most days of the year, however, Death Valley is a sunny paradise where one can experience great solitude and tranquility. In the wintertime, it is a haven for "snowbirds," who park their recreational vehicles and stay for weeks, sometimes months.

Because of its unique climate and geography, Death Valley is a realm unlike any other, except perhaps the Dead Sea region of Israel (which is even farther below sea level). Death Valley is a place where life has been largely stripped away, and the original surface of the earth can be seen, naked and bare, in its pure and elementary shapes. Line, form, and color reign here -- not humans, beasts, or nature.

Perhaps because it feels so prehistoric, the desert landscape of Death Valley fascinates visitors. But there is much to see beyond the natural landscapes: Ghost towns of old silver and borax mining communities illustrate the richness of the valley's earth.

Few places are as foreboding -- or as beautiful -- as Death Valley National Park. Sprawling across 3.3 million acres of the Mojave Desert, the park is almost completely surrounded by mountains.

To the east, the bare walls of the Amargosa Range rise steeply from the desert floor, forming the sawtooth peaks of the Grapevine, Funeral, and Black mountains. The range is creased by dozens of deeply eroded canyons, exposing layers of pastel-colored sediments deposited millions of years ago by a series of ancient seas.

To the west, the Panamint Range rises to some 11,000 feet and is peppered with the ruins of mining camps where prospectors once searched for gold, silver, and later, borax. The mountains and canyons are still cross-hatched by old mining roads, many of them now used as hiking or four-wheel-drive trails.

This is a harsh and unforgiving land. Less than two inches of rain fall annually, much of it in brief showers that may last only a few minutes. Summer temperatures routinely soar above 120 degrees, while winter temperatures commonly dip below freezing. Expecting a heat-scorched desert, first-time visitors are often surprised to see a dusting of snow atop the highest peaks as late as March or April, when the weather on the valley floor is already quite balmy.

Between the mountains is the valley itself, about 140 miles long and as much as 16 miles across. Here, sand dunes are sculpted into ever-changing shapes by the ceaseless action of the wind; salt flats shimmer in the heat; and knobby crystal formations (such as those at the Devil's Golf Course) sparkle in the sunshine.

Despite its treacherous terrain, Death Valley has been occupied by various settlers -- mostly as a result of the successive discoveries of silver, gold, lead, copper, and borax on the lands. On the next page, learn about the remaining ghost towns in the valley and about the remnants of an unfinished castle at the foot of the Grapevine Mountains.

Death Valley's name came from a party of travelers who, in 1849, made a disastrous short-cut across the region to the California gold fields. Before departing, the survivors cursed the valley and gave it a name, saying: "We took off our hats, and then, overlooking the scene of so much trial, suffering, and death, spoke the thought uppermost in our minds, saying, 'Good-bye, Death Valley.'"

Two decades later, a band of outlaws hiding out in the Panamint Mountains unexpectedly discovered silver in Surprise Canyon. By 1874, Panamint City was a booming mining town with a population of 2,000. Two years later, a flash flood wiped out most of the town. There are similar stories for many of the ghost towns that are scattered throughout the valley: Ballorat, Chloride City, Leadfield, Harrisburg, Greenwater, and Skidoo.

The largest of the mining communities in Death Valley was Rhyolite, whose heyday spanned seven years in the early 1900s. The ruins of Rhyolite are fascinating to visit today. The train depot, jail and bank buildings stand empty in the forbidding Mojave Desert, a testament to the inhospitable nature of Death Valley.

Questions about this article or the March expedition?
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Joshua Tree National Park is one of the most popular rock climbing areas in the world. More than 4,500 established routes offering a wide range of difficulty are concentrated within about 100,000 acres of park land. Over one million people visit Joshua Tree each year, many of them rock climbers. The National Park Service mission requires park managers to provide for the enjoyment of the park by today’s visitor while conserving and protecting park resources for future generations. Dramatic increases in the number of visitors engaging in rock climbing contribute to an already difficult, sometimes contradictory, task. Park managers are concerned about trash, soil erosion, vegetation damage, human waste disposal, natural and cultural resource protection, and the quality of each visitor’s experience.

Climbing Management

Guided by the provisions of its Backcountry and Wilderness Management Plan, the park is working with the climbing community to implement a comprehensive approach to climbing management. The park’s goals are to restore to a natural condition those areas already impacted by climbing, to mitigate future impacts, and to prevent the cumulative impacts of climbing from increasing to unacceptable levels. A committee comprised of members of the climbing community, conservation organizations, and interested individuals is providing recommendations to the park on a variety of climbing-related issues.

Under the provisions of the Backcountry and Wilderness Management Plan, climbers may replace existing unsafe bolts, and new bolts may be placed in non-wilderness areas through a monitored process. You may obtain a checklist of bolting guidelines for non-wilderness areas at entrance stations and visitor centers or download a copy in PDF format (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, available free from the Adobe website). You must obtain a special-use permit to use a power drill in non-wilderness.

Bolting in wilderness is currently prohibited. A permit system is being developed for installing new bolts in wilderness with the goal of ensuring that the cumulative impacts of climbing in wilderness not exceed 1998 levels. Placing bolts in wilderness with power drills will not be allowed.

General Climbing Regulations

• It is prohibited to initiate or terminate a climb in an occupied campsite without prior permission of the occupant of that site.
• The use of any substance, such as glue, epoxy, or cement, to reinforce hand or footholds is prohibited.
• “Chipping” or enhancing hand or footholds is prohibited as is removing vegetation or “gardening.”
• Climbing within 50 feet of any rock-art site is prohibited.

ATS is proud to be a permitted, insured, and licensed provider for rock climbing courses in Joshua Tree National Park. All Joshua Tree permit-tee's must be taught by an AMGA TRSM or PCIA certified climbing instructor. Know before you go! more >>

The West Coast Canyoneering Method (WCCM) was developed by Alpine Training Services in response to the growing need to collaborate innovative and proven technical safety systems with progressive psychological training. ATS combined these three elements to create the safest & most effective canyoneering training protocol in the world.
Canyoneering originally began in Europe. By taking a close look at the European teaching styles and safety records one thing became obvious -- there is a better way! Understanding the multiple variables of technical canyoneering is key -- the equipment, the technical applications that all lead to similar margins of safety, etc… The founders of the WCCM set out to look at the sport under a completely different light.
Psychological points of interest were the first issue to visit. Once the psychology of the sport was understood, the world’s technical rope and equipment systems would be subjected to a new point of view. The next step was to create a system of measurement against every known existing aspect of risk management in the sport. The acronym T.E.R.M. was created and became the foundation for this fresh new hybrid theory. The founders believe looking through “a new pair of glasses” will allow for a purely objective view of the sport. This will allow a fair assessment of what systems are good and need no adjustments, and what systems do not stand up to the “new style” delineated by T.E.R.M. As expected, through this review process, gaps became apparent where both psychology and technology had not yet bridged. Designing methods to bridge these literal and theoretical gaps became the third step in the process. We went back to the drawing board -- contacting manufacturers for product development towards the sport and working with groups of outdoor professionals from other rope related & rescue disciplines. The final element of development towards the WCCM was to engage these groups of outdoor professionals including team based sport psychologists, rope rescue instructors, government search & rescue training officers, swiftwater rescue instructors, confined space rescue instructors, professional equipment designers, & professional climbing instructors, and expose them all to our method of canyoneering and engage ourselves in this process of discovery.  The combined published results became the foundation for the final step -- creating a flowchart of both technical and psychological training milestones to reach which enabled an ATS client to go from Step One “The Beginning” to the empowered point of Canyon Leader. Thus, proving to be both technically and psychologically competent and accountable for themselves and for others, including beginners. The final result was the creation of our seven “single day” training classes designed to move our clients along at their own pace. Our accomplished training method has raised the industry standard in the U.S. which all other canyoneering schools now seek to achieve.  As an immediate by product of the WCCM, ATS designed a Professional canyon rescue program with the help of Peak Rescue Institute offered exclusively to professional rescuers across the globe. Participating agencies include Zion National Park SAR, L.A. County SAR, San Bernardino County SAR, & Tulare County SAR to name a few.
The founder of ATS, Darren Jeffrey comments on the innovative process:
The lack of thought and continuity between the technical and psychological training methods, especially in Europe, always fascinated me. With well over 20 years of personal climbing and canyoneering experience, and hundreds of hours of professional training under my belt, canyoneering is the most technically challenging vertical adventure sport. That being said, the physical limitations are much less than the limitations of other vertical adventure sports such as mountaineering or rock climbing.  In the end, this means more people can get the training and be out there on their own. 
Features of the West Coast Canyoneering Method covered in class include:

Safety: Understanding T.E.R.M. and its’ dynamic applications.
Accountability: Understanding personal motive.
Awareness: Understanding what is happening with you and with others. 
Communication: Learning the value of effective and efficient communication.
Control: Identifying and utilizing the proper technical systems for each obstacle.
Training: Creating a venue for existing skillsets to be expanded.   
Teaching: Empowering the individual to pass on this methodology to others.
Becoming trained in the WCCM will build technical competency and core mental confidence creating a well rounded canyoneer capable of having a knowledgeable response to any situation as it arises.
Course Shadowing: This enables students to get the training, practice on with their team, then return to take the class again with a new pair of glasses. The learning is compounded by this approach.
Alpine Training Services has a dedicated multi-day instructional canyoneering program that spans the course of over 42 field days which include direct training, written field evaluation charts, an in-depth ext book, integrated tracked “homework” based canyon days, all undercut with our industry leading free class shadowing program and assigned mentor training. All of this time combined will equal over 50 days of training to be conducted over the course of at least 6 months. All of these features are designed to empower our clients to get trained, and be out there enjoying the canyons of the world safely and as often as possible!
Technical features of the West Coast Canyoneering Method covered in class include:

The WCCM Layering System
The WCCM Gear
The WCCM Rappelling Methods
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