Lightning Safety Tips
Limit exposure, insulate yourself from the ground, stay clear from metal conductors and be aware of the risks.
Apr 21, 2006
Lightning Safety is something that we all need to be reminded of, each season.
- The primary way to ensure safety from strikes - if you are in mountains and climbing high - is to get an early start.
- However, if you are caught out in lighting storms, you want to be off and away from an exposed surface, like a mountain, hill, promontory, or trail along an exposed cliff face.
- The safest place to be in a lightning storm is ducked down in a clump of trees or shrubs of medium height; for example, in a willow thicket.
- Crouch down on top of a pad that insulates you from the ground - like your sleeping pad.
- Place metal objects such as your pack frame far away from you - they can conduct return currents to the lightning strike, which is not something you want to be very close to.
- Stay clear of damp services or depressions, where the current from a ground strike can concentrate.
- Move back from the edges of lakes, because the current can travel along the surface of the lake.
Perspectives on Lightning Storms and Strike Safety:
Lightning evokes more fear in me than anything else in the backcountry. It is amazing how quick those storms appear, especially if they are hidden by a ridge. I had one come over a set of peaks like a dragon, when I was a good half mile above timberline. Me and my dogs ran down along the side of the ridge to treeline. I stayed off the ridge summit because I figured that would be the most likely spot for a lightning strike.
I have sat through some horrendous storms in the mountains, and I am awed by the power and intensity of lightning and thunder. It is particularly impressive to be up there on a dark night, then have a lightning strike brighten the entire mountain range in pulsating ebbs of light. It also is something to be lying in your tent, and feel the entire mountain beneath you vibrate with the thunder.
There is no doubt that wilderness travel can be risky. You just have to use your head and minimize the risk, and realize that danger is part of an active life. To have a rich life, you accept the danger with a level head and a calm disposition, knowing you are up there seeing things that most people never will in a lifetime.
The native Americans have a legend that says the storytelling season ends with the first thunder in springtime.
Our first thunder here in Colorado came about three weeks ago, and I am ready to get out and do more living and less talking. Before long I will be shouldering a pack and climbing high to witness the beauty and mystery of the mountains. Up there me and my border collies are about the three happiest creatures on this earth.
More information on lightning safety can be found from NOAA, and a compilation of lightning articles from usatoday.
