Terrains 

 

Keeping a waterway in view, staying abreast of it and following its general route and is distancing yourself from its more challenging routes is a good solution. In mountainous areas rivers can move very fast, cutting through the rocky terrain in gullies, negotiating the steep sides as waterfalls that turn into rapids. The banks can become sheer rock faces and the rocks slippery from the water spray. Following a high pass is wise, moving down to water and shelter spots when necessary.

 

In flatter areas, the river slows and filters into the land on either side of it to create marshes.

Travelling across these zones is also hard going. Stay to the higher pieces of land wherever possible, jumping from the tufts made by the root-balls of grasses that grow in these regions.

 

When journeying across hilly areas, it is easier and less challenging on the muscles and joints, to stay off the slopes and traverse the higher grounds. In the really high mountainous regions the heights become craggy, cold and exposed with freezing temperatures, snow and ice and there may be no option but to tackle the slopes.

 

A well recognised method of walking up hill is to start with your uphill foot, so as not to cross over your legs and lose your balance and move in a zig-zag direction bringing your knees together after each step to rest the muscles. Going downhill, it is recommended that you don’t zig-zag but go straight down - keeping your knees bent and digging your heels in especially if the ground surface is loose. You can pick up quite a speed this way; sit back on your behind if you start to go to fast and loose control.

 

The seashore and inlets where the inland waterways meet the sea: estuaries are teeming with life. Nourishment can be found from highly nutritious seaweed and plants that grow where the shore meets the adjacent countryside.

 

When beach coming and choosing a place to camp, pay attention to signs of previous tide levels and assess your exit route, especially on beaches overlooked by cliffs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The idea of being stranded on an island is ideal to some, however every Island is fascinatingly unique. If island hopping is possible by way of swimming or a raft, you can move around to search out resources. Tropical islands could provide you with perhaps one of the best survival foods, coconuts.

 

 

Slopes with lots of trees and irregular surfaces are often at a lower risk for avalanche.

If you need to traverse a dangerous slope, travel in a party and cross one at a time, roped together,so that others know where you are and can alert search and rescue if you don't return on time.

 

Avalanches; To prevent getting caught in an avalanche, avoid mountain slopes within 24 hours of a large snow fall, during spring thaws and warm weather interval. A cracking sound in the ice, and snowball tumbling down hill could signify an avalanche.

 

If you find yourself unable to get out of the way of an advancing avalanche, drop all bags, try and find something fixed to hang on to the underside of and just before the avalanche reaches you take a deep breath, close your mouth and cover your nose to prevent suffocation by snow.

 

If you are swept downhill, keep moving against it, ‘swimming up to the surface through the ice and snow deflecting solid objects with your arms. Do not stop till you have surfaced, after the avalanche has stopped the ice and snow will begin to harden immediately, if you don’t break through quickly, wrap arms around your face to create a breathing cavity and continue making this space bigger, then, continue digging conserving the air in the cavity by careful, minimal movement.

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