Avalanche Courses!

David Lottmann Uncategorized

We have scheduled 8 level 1 AIARE Courses for the season and they are off to a great start! This is my second season presenting the AIARE curriculum and the 1st two courses of the season are already behind me. We got absolutely dumped on during the 1st course, which lead to high avalanche danger in many places on the Mt. Washington, but some great skiing! If you or someone you know plans on spending time in Avalanche Terrain this season consider taking a Level 1 Avy Course to learn the important decision making skills we need to travel safely in the backcountry. You can see what courses we have left this season here;

http://www.emsclimb.com/aiare.html

Here are some shots from the last two courses.

On our second day we conducted some "snowpack observations".
Shannon and her father check for "Compressive Failure" in the snowpack...
On our 3rd day we ski and snowshoed up into some bigger terrain on Mt. Washington...
We practiced our newly learned "Companion Rescue" skills...
After pinpointing a "fake" victim we dug them out...
We talked with one of the snow rangers at Hermit Lake about the differences in snow climates around the country and what makes Mt. Washington so unique...
Conditions allowed us to tour up into Tuckerman Ravine to make some observations...
At the end of the day we enjoyed the skiing back down the Sherburne Ski Trail to Pinkham Notch.

To each of my class participants,  thanks for attending the courses! Practice your skills, enjoy the backcountry snow, and I hope to see you out touring in the near future!

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