Archive for the 'News' category
PureOutside Outdoor Wiki!
Karl Woll | June 7, 2010 10:12 amI have some really exciting news to share with outdoor enthusiasts around Vancouver today. There is an invaluable new tool to add to our arsenal of trip planning and information sharing. Ross Collicutt (www.PureOutside.com) has created a wiki for Vancouver and Vancouver Island outdoor nuts!
Below is a guest post from Ross on the new wiki:
Any time I need information about the outdoors on Vancouver Island or in Vancouver or anywhere in the world, I hop on to the internet. It’s speed for finding information about nearly anything is unmatched. There’s a problem though.
All this wonderful information is scattered across the internet. Some on large websites, some on small ones, some hidden in cryptic trip reports that rarely see public eye. PureOutside aims to change that.
How?
Well the first step was the blog. It helps. It’s good at listing the latest news and events and putting a bit of information about something online. But it’s for things that are in chronological order. We needed something better.
Enter the Outdoor Wiki.
You may not have heard of wiki’s before. Wikipedia is a wiki. It’s basically a website that anyone can add to or edit. Anyone can add things, edit things or delete things from Wikipedia. Same thing with the Outdoor Wiki. Anyone can use it. Anyone can add their information, their trip reports, their reviews. No special software involved. It’s all in the wiki.
But I don’t know how to program
The beauty of the wiki is that you don’t need to know how to program. All you need to know how to do is type. You can do that right? You’re half way there.
The first step is to head to the How-To page. This will give you some instructions on how to sign up and start adding content.
After you’re logged in, you can edit any page you want. Bear in mind that anything you put on there can be edited by anyone else. Be respectful to what you change and delete on the wiki or you might find your content gets edited as well. There won’t be much need to delete anything off the site though since we want to collect as much solid info about trails, lakes, mountains, outdoor activities and gear as we can pack in there.
The editing process is straightforward. Click edit at the top of the page where you want to add something. You will be taken to the edit page where you can type any text you like into the textbox. After you’ve made you changes, click save. You’re done!
Well, almost. One of the beauties of the wiki is how easy it is to link information together. When you want to create a new page or link to an existing page, simply put the page name in double square brackets. If you want to make a page called “Awesome Mountains to Climb in Vancouver” just write this on your page [[Awesome Mountains to Climb in Vancouver]]. Save that page and Voila! you have a link to your new page. Click on that link and get started writing good stuff about your Awesome Mountains.
Make it spiffy
There are a few other things you can do make your pages even better. We’ve got a test page set up so you can see examples of some things you can in the wiki.
Putting an asterisk (*) in front of a line makes one point in a bulleted list. Putting a pound sign (#) at the beginning of a line makes a numbered list. So this:
# Whistler
# Blackcomb
# Grouse
Will turn into after you save it:
1. Whistler
2. Blackcomb
3. Grouse
Cool eh?
You can use headings too. They’re just as easy to set up. Use the equals sign to make your headings (=). Put one equals sign on each side of your heading. Use one equals sign for the biggest, baddest heading. Use 2 for something not so big and bad. They go up to 5. So just write this to get a couple of headings
= My Heading Level 1 =
=== My Heading Level 3 ===
One point to remember with the headings is they get put into a table of contents at the top. If you’ve got a long page, you’ll want to separate them with headings so it will be easier to get around.
On your way
One last thing before you start adding all your favorite outdoor information to the wiki. Try to keep it organized. Search for a page before you add it. If it’s already there, just add to it. It will only get confusing if we all start adding duplicates of pages.
If you have any questions, comment on this post or email us at pureoutside@gmail.com. Hope to see your info on the wiki soon!
Ross
Most at home riding and running on the trails and mountains, Ross heads inside once and a while to stretch his mad coding skillz making websites like this one.
Ross has already plugged in a lot of info for the Island and I’m slowly cracking away at Vancouver. So far I have a lot of Outdoor Clubs and Outdoor Shops, and will slowly be working on the other sections.
The more people who use this tool, the better it becomes, so please share this new tool and contribute anything you can!
Also, I’d like to extend a big thanks to Ross who’s hard work has made this possible for everyone. This kind of information sharing and pooling of resources was one of the reasons I started this blog, so to see the new Pure Outside wiki is really inspiring!
I’ll have a permanent link dedicated to the wiki on the top of this blog so you can always find it from here (but make sure you bookmark it!)
Walk BC’s New Interactive Online Map
Karl Woll | March 30, 2010 10:22 am
The BC Recreation and Parks Association’s (BCRPA) Walk BC initiative is launching its newest venture and online resource, an interactive walking route map. As the first map of its kind, it features walking routes and recreational facilities from around British Columbia. Powered by GOOGLE™, it enables people to find the right walking route for their level of physical activity, assists communities in highlighting their unique features like accessible walking routes and recreational facilities, and helps individuals incorporate active transportation into their daily activities or travels.
When searching facilities, users can locate a facility within a certain community or distance from their current location. They are also able to view what features and amenities are available at each facility. When looking for walking routes, users can search communities for walks based on location and level of difficulty…
Walks are entered in by the public, so the database will continually grow as more people become aware of the resource. Until April 30, if you enter in any walks you will be entered to win a pair of running shoes and nordic walking poles.
Click here to view the Walk BC website, and access the map.
When Going Back Makes Sense
Karl Woll | December 7, 2009 4:45 pm
I read an upsetting article today in the Globe & Mail: Snowshoes create false confidence, rescue veteran says after man slides to his death.
….And on Saturday afternoon, a young man slid to his death while snowshoeing on Goat Mountain, near Grouse Mountain in Lynn Headwaters Regional Park.
The man, who was in his 20s and was accompanied by two other men, left the Grouse Mountain area and ventured into a closed area of the park, Mr. Jones said.
At the time of the accident, the man who was killed was trying to toss the end of a fixed rope to his snowshoeing partner, who was struggling on a steep part of the slope, Mr. Jones said.
The rope is in place as part of a summer hiking route.
In throwing the rope, the man lost his balance, and slid on snowshoes that provided no traction on the treacherous decline to the lake below.
He plummeted 400 metres to the lake.
… Read the full article here.
I saw Dave on the Club Fat Ass blog has a post about the news, and stressing the importance of knowing when to turn back and not get overwhelmed by the stoke of the moment. I wanted to re-iterate that message, and was reminded of this quote I’ve seen recently:
When going back makes sense, you are going ahead – Wendell Berry
Fire Breaking Out On Blackcomb
Karl Woll | July 30, 2009 4:35 pmIf the wildfires in Kelowna weren’t enough there are early reports of a fire breaking out on Blackcomb mountain after a lightning strike around 3pm today. Comments like this from people in Whistler are spreading around Twitter:
Holy crap, forest fire literally EXPLODING on the mountain west of Blackcomb. It was just a couple trees and 5 mins later a huge plume. (Via @Kabutar)
@Daveburch posted some pictures shortly after the fire broke out (including one of a water bomber in action)
Around 4pm CTV broke with this report:
Tourists are being evacuated from Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler, B.C., after a wildfire broke out on the popular mountain Thursday.
The fire is currently estimated at four hectares, and is located north of Crystal Ridge.
The Coastal Fire Centre advises that firefighters are currently attacking the fire from the ground, and water bombers are en route to help extinguish the blaze.
Officials believe the blaze was sparked by lightning on the afternoon of July 30, 2009.
None of the homes located lower on the mountain have been evacuated yet.
Flames from the blaze are visible from Whistler’s main village.
You can get a sense of where the fire is from looking at the Blackcomb webcam, which will also give you an updated shot every 15 minutes.
There is also a fire going in Pemberton (triggered by lightning 2 days ago), and I was alerted to these pictures via Amber Turnau’s blog:
Photo by dbsteers on Flickr.
Photo by dbsteers on Flickr.
Get an update on all BC wildfires here.
As of 4:30pm the Wildfire Management Branch report for the Blackcomb fire is:
blackcomb mountain (V31127)
Location: North of Crystal Ridge
See approximate location on a Mapquest mapDiscovered: Thursday, July 30, 2009
Size: 4.0 ha (estimated)
Status: Active
• 0% contained
This fire is currently rank four, which is highly vigorous surface fire behaviour with torching.Interface: This is not an interface fire.
No further details available at this time.
Cause: Lightning Lightning Caused
Resources
Airtankers are currently being deployed to this fire, and will assess resource needs on arrival.
