Dedic a t ion Since the earlies t pr ospect or s fr s t pene trat ed int o the mountains of w es t ern Canada mineral e xplorer s ha v e faced the c hallenge of w or king saf ely in some of the mos t diffcult and v aried t errain in the w orld This e xploration has no t been without hazar d and has no t been conduct ed without accidents although the saf e ty recor d com piled b y these e xplorer s has been a tribut e t o their resourcefulness and courage These saf e ty guidelines are dedicat ed t o the f ollo wing e xplorer s who w ere killed in a tragic helicop t er accident on July 3 1 980 in the Isk ut Riv er area British Columbia R ober t Clar k e Chris t opher Bruce Gunn K eith Ale x ander MacLean R uth Anne Nussbaumer Ian R oss Sha w In the frm belief that accidents can be reduced thr ough increased a w areness of the risks the Saf e ty Committ ee w as f ormed in the fall of 1 980 t o collect the combined e xperience gained b y those in the indus tr y int o one concise manual It w as our hope that it w ould pr o v e a useful ser vice t o the indus tr y as w ell as assis t o ther s who shared our int eres t in the outdoor s The tragic accidents and deaths of those e xplorer s in 1 980 t o whic h the Saf e ty Manual w as originally dedicat ed has undoubt edly led t o a subs tantially im pr o v ed recognition of the man y fact or s t o be considered in pr o t ecting suc h individuals