Challenge Take a level 1 avalanche course and commit to practicing your beacon searching with a fellow beacon owner once a week throughout the winter.
Before you sign up for a level 1 class, Lynne recommends that you have your backcountry “touring act” together: how to put and take off skins on your skis, carrying food and hydration, and wearing proper clothing.
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here’s something special about getting off the beaten path. In winter, it’s the opportunity to lay fresh tracks on skis or fresh prints on snowshoes. But before you head into the snowy backcountry, particularly if you are eyeing areas with steeper slopes, you should sign up for a level 1 avalanche course. It will give you the tools to assess what is safe terrain and what isn’t, and how to rescue someone in case she is caught in a slide.
What You Will Learn in an Avalanche Course E D U C AT I O N
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ynne Wolfe of Driggs, Idaho, has been teaching avalanche education for more than 20 years and is a certified instructor through the American Avalanche Association. “A level 1 course is typically a combo of classroom sessions and working in the field where students will be exposed to the basics of the phenomenon— what is an avalanche, what is snowpack, how does weather build snowpack—and learn rescue techniques in case of an avalanche.
In the Classroom
In her level 1 course, Lynne teaches seven clues—ALP TRUTH—to evaluate conditions. “It is one decision-making tool to help someone decide where to go,” says Lynne. The more clues that are checked on the list, the higher the risk of avalanche in that terrain.
7 Clues
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Avalanches—Look for signs of recent slides.
Loading—Note if snow arrived by snowfall or via wind. 8-12” of new deposition can be drastically affected by wind.
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Path—Is this an avalanche path recognizable by a novice?
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Terrain trap—Note where you could get trapped, where consequences are amplified; e.g., a deep gully at the bottom of the slope.
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Rating—If you have a local avalanche center, check their risk rating for the day. A rating of “considerable” or higher gives you a check in this box.
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Unstable snow—Is there cracking or woomphing/ collapsing as you cross the snow?
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Thaw instability— Know if there has been a rise in temperature of 10–15 degrees F or more over 8 hours or less. 50 WAM • WINTER | 2011/12
Lynne Wolfe demonstrates digging a snow pit and examining snow layers.
In the Field
After the classroom, it’s time to head to the snow. Lynne starts with getting students to apply ALP TRUTH clues to actual slopes. “We try to get people to use the new vocabulary and ask such things as: • What is the slope angle? • Where is the appropriate up-track? • Where are you going to access this slope from? • If it’s okay, how are you going to ski it?” To understand snow layering on a slope, Lynne has students dig a snow pit. “But I don’t want them to base their entire assessment on snowpack scores,” says Lynne. “Avalanche hazard assessment means paying attention to the whole picture.”
Next is beacon work. “We start by burying a single beacon, then students use their beacons to search for the burial,” explains Lynne. “Beacon searching is a skill that expires, so I encourage people to practice, practice, practice.” The beacon search is just step one. After an avalanche, if someone is buried, the clock starts ticking. Odds of survival drastically decrease after 15 minutes of burial. Once a burial is located, a probe is used to find how deep they are buried. Then the real work begins: shoveling. “We are teaching shoveling technique as much as beacon searches in courses,” says Lynne. Where to start digging, how big you should make the hole, where you should put the snow, and the most efficient ways to dig are all discussed and taught. womensadventuremagazine.com
MICHAELA PRECOURT; CANDACE HORGAN/NATIONAL SKI PATROL
Avalanche Awareness
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