Revelation Bowl & Avalanche

Telluride sits in the northern San Juan Mountains—a part of the Rockies notorious for its unstable snowpack.

A big, ugly beast of a natural avalanche put an exclamation mark on that this week.

Here’s a photo of the slide as seen from Telluride’s Revelation Bowl.

The slide was on a westerly aspect above Bear Creek Canyon, which is basically the exit point for all the lift-accessed backcountry skiing at Telluride. As far as I could tell this was a natural slide that did not involve any skiers. You can’t see it in this photo, but there is a roughly 4′ high crown at the start, stepping down to up to 10′ crowns below the cliff bands. A sobering reminder of what a truly reactive snowpack looks like—and what it can do.

Following up on my post about my reluctance to take an avalanche course, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about what finally motivated me to bite the bullet and go take one. For starters, the opportunity presented itself. I had the money saved up, and I had some free time which coincided with dates that SMG was offering a Level I class. Also important given the past few winters, there was ‘interesting’ snow in the Sierra, with a big storm on the way. Conditions were good—who wants to take an avalanche class when the mountains are bare or boring? (more…)

Jeff Pierce will be teaching two Level I avalanche classes and a Level II this February and March in Southern California. The schedules are:

Level I — Claremont

• Classroom Session: Feb 16 and 18 (6:00-10pm in Claremont)
• Field Sessions: Feb 20 and 21st (8:00am to 4:00pm Mt. Baldy)
• $150

Level I — Snow Summit

• Classroom Session: March 7th at the patrol media room (8:00 – 4:00pm)
• Field Sessions: March 13 and 14th (Snow Summit Area (8:00-4:00pm)
• $150

Level II (TBA)

• Classroom Sessions will begin weekdays at the end of February (Claremont)
• Field Sessions will be in March (Mt. Baldy Area)
• Four Classroom Sessions (Tues and Thursday 6:00 – 10PM)
• Four Field Sessions
• $225

This is a terrific year to get out there for an avalanche class, as we’ve got abundant snow in mountains both near and far. For SoCal skiers, one big advantage of taking a class locally (in my opinion) is that you’re working directly with the snowpack you’re most likely to be skiing. Also, obviously, it makes fitting the class into your schedule quite a lot easier. And odds are good you’ll meet like-minded folks who’ll make good backcountry partners down the road.

Jeff’s courses are not AIARE-certified, but they are a tremendous bargain (especially that Level II class). Jeff has been teaching Level I and II avalanche courses for 11 years, and he has over 23 years experience in the field, including consulting for local resorts and government agencies as well as doing control at Mount Waterman and June Mountain ski areas. I attended one of Jeff’s avalanche seminars for rescue professionals last year; it was well-run, and well worth the time. If you’re on the fence about taking a class, this is a great opportunity. I highly recommend taking advantage of it.

For more info or to sign up, contact Jeff Pierce.

Avalanche – San Gabriel Mts

One of the questions that occurred to me while taking an AIARE Level I avalanche class this past weekend was, “What took so long?”

I actually think that’s an intriguing enough question to warrant some attention. Why was I so reluctant to take an avalanche class? I’ve certainly been interested in avalanches for some time—and I’ve especially been interested in avoiding them.

I mention this because in the aftermath of the class, I’m really glad I did take it, and I hope I can encourage at least a few of you out there who are for whatever reason on the fence yourselves to consider taking a class as well. So, after a bit of reflection, let me list some of the things, real or imagined, that have served as barriers between me and a more formal avalanche education (more…)

This coming weekend I’ll be up north taking my first-ever avalanche course, an AIARE Level I offered by Sierra Mountain Guides. While I’ve probably picked up a good deal level I and higher info over the years, there are a lot of holes in my knowledge. I also thought it would be valuable to write about the experience of taking the course, which might inspire others to improve their own avalanche education. I must admit I’ve had a lot of reluctance to do this—more on that later. For now, I’ll say that many of you probably have exactly the same concerns about taking an avy course as I do.

Locally, I skied inbounds again this past weekend to continue my never-ending boot tests. I should have reviews up for the Radium and Helium soon. The Spirit 4 Review is here. Conditions in the backcountry look depressingly similar to par for the past few years. You’ll need a little creativity and a lot of effort to find snow in the San Gabriels. Baldy Bowl looked pretty burnt. The north face has good coverage, though I assume most of it is ice (which may be true of other aspects as well. That’s it for now.

The Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center holds its kickoff party for the 2009-2010 season this Thursday, December 5, in Mammoth Lakes California. Festivities include free beacon search techniques seminars, trip planning/decision making seminars, and a “Geology & Skiing in the Eastern Sierra” presentation. The main event begins at 7pm featuring a presentation by photographer Christian Pondella. ESAC starts the new season with a redesigned web site, and a soon-to-be announced USFS Meteorological Technician (avalanche forecaster)—a big step in the organization’s evolution.

ESAC is primarily a community-funded organization, so don’t forget to renew your membership ($35) for the new season, or join up if you haven’t already. And be sure to regularly check their site for daily advisories. No one else in the southern and eastern Sierra provides avalanche forecasts—ESAC is a tremendous resource for skiers and winter mountaineers in our area!

Lou at wildsnow.com has an essential post on how various electronic devices interfere with avalanche beacons. The quick hit on this is that several commonly carried PED’s, such as cell phones and Ipods, can render your beacon useless in search mode. Since this information is both critically important and horribly out of season, I’ll try to link back again once winter arrives. In case I forget, make sure you read—and remember—Lou & Jonathan’s article.

A Beacon Search

“Hasty Search” was originally the title given to the first location effort in a search and rescue operation. This phase, obviously, takes place after a qualified individual has assessed conditions for existing hazard and the decision has been made to put people into the search area.

Hasty search has now been renamed “Immediate Search,” presumably because of unwanted connotation with the word haste (ie, careless), but I like the original terminology, as it best captures (in my opinion) the priorities of this phase of the rescue (more…)

Baldy Bowl Avalanche

One of the most jolting things I learned this past weekend at the Southern California National Ski Patrol’s one-day avalanche rescue course was, paradoxically, the importance of self rescue.

By “self rescue” I do not mean cultivating the magical ability to dig oneself out of an avalanche, but rather rescue initiated and completed by members of the actual party involved in the avalanche (more…)

Last Sunday I participated in a one-day avalanche rescue course offered by the Southern California National Ski Patrol. This course was specifically intended for rescue personnel who might be called upon to participate in an actual avalanche incident. Over a hundred people attended, including members of regional agencies like police and fire, and also numerous search and rescue organizations in Southern California.

The primary goal was to offer a crash course in avalanche fundamentals culminating in a mock burial and rescue walk-through. A secondary but perhaps equally important goal was to facilitate communication and coordination between these separate agencies. While I was obviously not representing a rescue agency myself (if anything, I represent the client side of the equation), I found the experience highly rewarding (more…)