10+ inches of snow graced us for our 7th Avalanche Course this season. Hermit Lake picked up 13 inches and the conditions were ripe for an avalanche course.  Seven aspirant backcountry travelers joined us for a few days of snow study and risk management discussion.

Other than seeing the obvious recent avalanche activity in the bowl and the cornicing near Hillmans we got some pretty positive results on the Little Headwall while conducting some snowpack tests. CTV Q1 on a 15cm soft wind slab followed by consistent CTM Q2’s 55cm down on a crust. We got a Rutschblock score of RB4 MB on the 55cm layer. This all matched up pretty well to the info we had gathered from the bulletin and the current weather observations we were making.

The turns down the Sherbi were the best of the season so far. Great powder skiing and fun fun fun! Still a couple course left this season. If you’ve been thinking about it, well, now is a great time to sign up!

An EMS Climbing Guide, an Alaskan Heli-Ski Guide, an outdoor educator from PA, two other backcountry travelers joined us for the first and only Level 2 Avalanche Course of the season.

The level 2 course is a 4-day program that provides backcountry leaders the opportunity to advance their avalanche knowledge and decision making skills. This course also includes the introductory and prerequisite components for the professional progression: the level 3 certificate.

We started the course at the AMC Highland Center in Crawford Notch. After reviewing the knowledge from the Level 1 Course we spent the afternoon upgrading our companion rescue skills to handle multiple and deep burials with a close look at rescue leadership.

The next day after some morning classroom which looked closely at the process of snow formation and metamorphism we jumped on the summit Quad lift at Wildcat and explored the snow pack right off the 4,400 feet summit with a detailed snow profile.

6 more avalanche courses scheduled as long as the snow holds! http://www.emsclimb.com/aiare1.html

A couple hours ago we concluded another Level 1 Avalanche Course. You’d think there wouldn’t be much difference between one course and the next, but you’d be very wrong. Each weekend this winter has presented different and interesting weather and snowpack characteristics to consider when traveling in the backcountry. 2 days before the course while on a personal ice climbing day I came across a few cool snowpack related conditions. The first, was this “surface hoar” which was on the eastern side of Mt. Willard:

Then as we rounded the corner to a more southerly exposure we came across some “pinwheels”, indicators of strong solar radiation effecting the slope, often a warning sign of wet loose snow avalanches:

After a couple days conditions in the area changed dramatically. Arctic air rushed in for the COLDEST day of the season, which happened to be our field day.

We still managed a pretty good field day getting up to Hillman’s Highway, checking out some fresh debris at the bend in the gully, the rockslide from Irene, and some layers down below in the sheltered lee area of the runout.

That was it for pictures. With the mercury at about -9 Farenheit and a -30 windchill we didn’t spend too much time in any one place. We did see some cool layers in a 1.5 meter pit just below this last photo. And the fresh debris, slightly visible in the above photo was a nice bonus. All in all it was a good field day given the weather stress, and I’m hoping to see the four of you out in the mountains again. Now to get ready for the Level 2 Course starting on Friday!

Another weekend, another avalanche course, but not the same conditions as the last course! Shallow snowpacks and prolonged cold led to some “Continental” type conditions during our Observational Outing on Day 2, and a blue bird day on our Ski Tour on Day 3 yielded a deep faceting snowpack with a lot of fellow backcountry travelers to watch and learn from.

We conducted a quick Hand Shear test before crossing under the Chute:

Great conditions right now to take an avalanche course, so check out this link for details:

http://www.emsclimb.com/aiare1.html