Days 11,12 - 12/9-12/12

AVALANCHE HAZARD evaluation and safe travel are critical elements to a successful return from a visit to the backcountry.  I have been skiing out of bounds since about 1988.  And with the introduction of high-quality, lightweight touring equipment, the number of wilderness skiers and riders has increased tenfold since those days of Ramer lobster trap bindings and purple Ascension skins that only came in a maximum width of 55cm.

Since about that time, I have participated in dozens of hours of avalanche awareness seminars, field trips, and beacon search drills.  I have accumulated my avalanche awareness skills in a rather haphazard blend of this informal training and practical field experience.  During this time, new avalanche methodology, language, and practices have evolved and I thought it was time to aggregate and expand my knowledge of backcountry travel.
I participated in Level 1 training, sponsored by the American Avalanche Institute.  This is the first of three levels and was held over the weekend of 12/9 to 12/12/2010, with two evening classroom sessions and two days of field training.  To many, it probably sounds like boring stuff.  But avalanche awareness is not about just personal safety.  It is about the safety of your touring partners and others who use the skiing wilderness and depend upon shared information and hazard recognition, as posted in online sites such as the Utah Avalanche Center.  It follows a doctrine of mutual assistance.  For instance, BC skiers carry a beacon, not just to be located in the event of burial, but also to use in receive mode to locate others who may have been trapped in a release.
Speaking from personal experience, AAI offers a great program at all levels.  But a number of organizations provide equally top-rate instruction.  The courses are very reasonably priced and must be considered essential to anyone who wants to travel on the snow safely and better understand the truly complex nature of the landscape we tread lightly upon.

To illustrate that it's not all science and observation, I include the attached video that demonstrates that class time includes recess in one of the vastest playgrounds you can imagine.

Two Days Vertical: 4,200.  Season to Date: 39,900.