Professional Development

Steven’s Pass, Instructor Training Course

David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Backcountry Skiing, Professional Development , ,

This past Thursday concluded a 3 day American Institute of Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE) Instructor Training Course (ITC) in Steven’s Pass, Washington. Three other Eastern Mountain Sports School Guides and I headed west to the Cascades to improve our ability to provide high quality avalanche education that has become synonymous with EMS Schools and AIARE courses.

Steven’s Pass is on Route 2, about 2 hours east of Seattle, between Skykomish and Leavensworth
Steven’s Pass is on Route 2, about 2 hours east of Seattle, between Skykomish and Leavensworth

Steven’s Pass is a very impressive and notable place to focus on avalanche education. Not only from the high profile accident that happened last year that resulted it this recently published (and graphically impressive) NY Times web article but it was also the location of the deadliest avalanche in US history!

We left my house in Conway, NH at 3am Monday, and 21 hours (and 3,400 miles) later we arrived at the Mountaineer’s Lodge on the edge of the Steven’s Pass Ski Resort.

The Seattle based “Mountaineer’s” maintain this lodge on the edge of the ski resort...
The Seattle based “Mountaineer’s” maintain this lodge on the edge of the ski resort…

The next morning we joined the 14 other participants comprised of guides, ski patrollers, and outdoor educators, along with the three facilitators, Margaret Wheeler, of the American Mountain Guide Association, Larry Goldie, IMFGA and owner of North Cascades Mountain Guides, and Scott Schnell, of the North West Avalanche Center. We could not hope for a more skilled group of facilitators to convey the info and knowledge packed into this 3 day “conference” of sorts.

Day 1 was adjusted to include quite a bit of classroom as MN (Mother Nature) was gracing us east coasters with something we were pretty familiar with… rain.

Some classroom time
A break during the some classroom time

On Day 2 we spent the majority of the afternoon conducting very beneficial field sessions, and in the end got in a few good turns (by east coast standards).

Some group discussion about making observations
Some group discussion about making observations
Making some terrain decisions
Making some terrain decisions
Our short tour on Day 2
Our short tour on Day 2

By Day 3 however the temps had dropped, the powder had fallen, and our ski tour allowed for close to 1,200 feet of vert. interspersed with some peer on peer instruction. We traveled along the Pacific Crest Trail then ascended Stormy’s Ridge next to Moonlight Bowl…

Skinning out along the PCT
Skinning out along the PCT
Starting the climb up to Stormy's
Starting the climb up to Stormy’s
Getting close to our highpoint
Getting close to our highpoint

We took a short 700 foot lap then skinned back up from some more:

Stormy’s Ridge Tour
Stormy’s Ridge Tour

The course wrapped up Thursday night, but we had planned to stay an extra day to play and luck was definitely with us as Friday dawned clear and cold. We grabbed lift tickets for the resort, and I got to experience my first solid taste of “side-country”.

We traversed the entire resort Euro style by heading straight for the 7th Heaven chair, then traversing the ridge from Cowboy Mountain over to Big Chief with a few steep runs in-between.

Our lift assisted tour ;)
Our lift assisted tour 😉

After gaining the ridge we set our eyes on the untouched powder visible on the south slopes of Big Chief:

Southside of Big Chief
Southside of Big Chief

The day inspired my to toss together yet another cheezy home vid collaige of the day:

I’m still trying to absorb all the info I’ve gathered over the last 4 days. From conversations with fellow educators, to coaching from some of the industry’s highest avalanche professionals, to practical experience in a new snow climate and mountain range, I’ve walked away feeling more confident than ever at delivering the mission statement of AIARE “Save lives through education”. And now, through EMS Schools commitment to guide training we’ll be able to continue that mission on a scale close to double what we were providing! Now if some of that coastal snow would follow me home we should be all set for a great course in two weekends!

2nd Annual Eastern Snow and Avalanche Workshop

David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Professional Development

Today I attended the 2nd annual ESAW organized by Christopher Joosen, USFS Lead Snow Ranger of the Mount Washington Avalanche Center. Building upon last year’s successful event Chris organized professionals from the avalanche industry from around the country and Canada to give enlightening presentations all geared towards sharing information and promoting new ideas in the ever evolving field of snow science.

John Fuller Gymnasium

I counted around 90 in attendance with many familiar faces from various Search & Rescue groups, a few former students, some former colleagues as well as some local guides.

The day was packed with information, starting with a science heavy “Art & Science of Snow Penetrometry” by Eric Lutz of the Datmouth-Glaciology Research Group. Eric led us through a brief journey of the invention, and evolution, of snow based penetrometer’s. If you don’t know what that is, it’s simply a very complicated, and beautifully engineered fancy stick that you poke into the snow to measure multiple layers of density.

Then Julie LeBlanc of the Haute-Gaspesie Avalanche Center gave a visually enticing look at the Chic Choc Mountains of Quebec and the relatively new avalanche safety programs developed there.When she flashed the new guidebook to the region quite a few were dismayed as there is no English version of the book… yet. I’ve had quite few students head to this region, only a 11 or so hour drive from here, so it’s time I brush up on my French and start planning a trip up there!

After a short break Chris moderated a round table discussion concerning wet snow avalanches, with Blase Reardon (USFS Sawtooth National Forest Forecaster), Sam Colebeck (U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory a.k.a. The Man of Snow*), and Brian Johnston (USFS MWAC Snow Ranger). In an interesting format these three, along with occasional audience interaction, discussed the potential reasons behind snow science being seemingly behind in its knowledge of wet snow avalanches when compared to how much research and understanding is given towards drier snow avalanches. While skeptical of a public round table of sorts the conversation flowed naturally and I think we all refined our thoughts on the tendencies of wet snow.

Before breaking for lunch we had a series of “short sessions” including Jeff Lane (USFS Snow Ranger) giving an overview of weather and snow related research projects in the Northeast. Jim Gilinto of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, returned this year with a presentation similar to his last year on the effects of Hurricane Irene in the Adirondacks (they doubled their avalanche terrain in that storm).

Blase Reardon gave a great, and often comical, look into his local Sawtooth Avalanche Center Operations, and Eric Lutz sold me on the educational value of using a “tilt” board. I would ask for one for Christmas if I could, but I have a friend who I am hoping would love to help me make one!

After lunch we enjoyed the following presentation by Blase, which was as well presented with just the right comic relief as his first.

Journey to the Inner Mind: How an Avalanche Forecaster Thinks About Avalanche Safety

AMGA/IFMGA Guide Jessie Williams, of Cloudsplitter Mountain Guides, gave an informative talk titled “Avalanche Terrain of the Adirondacks: A Guide’s Methodology for Hazard Recognition & Avoidance”. Along with many great analogies I walked away with a much better picture of the terrain over in the Dack’s.

Then Sam Colbeck, aka The Man of Snow*, apologized that he was going to give his same talk from the previous year simply titled “Snow Physics and Avalanches”. I was thrilled! Last year I think I grasped about 40% of everything he eloquently presented. Due to repetition this year I feel like I have a solid hold on about 65% of it. If I could listen to this great talk one more time I am certain I would achieve a passing score! Seriously, I’m certain only a very small group of people in the world have the level of understanding of snow that this man does, and it is always great hearing him talk!

Last up was my good friend Jeff Lane (USFS Snow Ranger), who shared recent developments in avalanche safety equipment with us along with a call to arms to keep manufacturers on their toes by encouraging them to continue designing life saving device with one goal in mind, saving lives. I couldn’t agree more, I really don’t need my beacon to act as anything but a beacon. That’s what my iPhone is for…

As is custom, we moved over to IME for a social hour to mingle, check out some vendor tables, and continue the sharing of ideas.

Social Hour

This event is an excellent kick-off to the season as it gets my mind back in avalanche mode. 6 months is a long time not to be thinking about avalanches, and since I can’t put it any better I’ll quote Christopher Joosen:

“We will always have lots to learn about snow, avalanches, and the natural world so we should never feel done, finished, or static about our need for higher education.  There are no experts, we are all students.”

I’ll be heading out to Steven’s Pass in Washington State in early January for some formal training, but I most look forward to the 9 avalanche courses I’ll be teaching this winter. I learn so much from my students engaging questions and weekly trips into the field each winter, and I’m sure this one will be no different.

Well… I hope it’s a little different than last winter. Let’s get some snow!

 

*not an official nickname for Sam

Mountain Rescue Service Training

David Lottmann Professional Development ,

Recently we have responded to rescue requests from Fish & Game of injured hikers in less than 5th class terrain where proper belaying of a litter may be necessary. Last Thursday about 20 members of North Conway based Mountain Rescue Service met atop Cathedral Ledge to practice some twin-rope technique lowering on lower angle terrain, including passing knots through a re-direct.

Frank demonstrating the knot pass
Working the litter
Working the litter
Our “victims” during a practice session
Our “victims” during a practice session

To learn more about Mountain Rescue Service go to http://www.nhmrs.org/ or and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NHMR

2012 Climb Convergence

David Lottmann Professional Development, Rock Climbing, Self-Rescue , ,

If you don’t work for EMS you probably don’t know what the Climbing Convergence is. Technically, it’s staff training, but “staff training” does not begin to describe 160 employees from 60+ stores getting together in the heart of the White Mountains for 2 full days of climbing, clinics, training, hiking, cook-outs, camping, bonfires, slacking, and stuffing pockets with swag while perusing a vendor village.

Tent City at Great Glen, at the base of the Mount Washington Auto Road

My part in the event was limited to one day at Cathedral Ledge, but it was enough to sense the kind of camaraderie folks who work for EMS share.

Ethan and Sara setting up at “the classroom”
One of the anchor clinics I taught during the day- Photo by Dave Karl of http://www.skyambitions.com
Keith and Ethan teaching belay escapes and some self-rescue skills…
Anyone know what kind of snake this is?
Lunch break at the base of the cliff
Keith being Keith

It is very cool to work with a company that takes authentic training like this so seriously. Sometimes I don’t think my own family understands. We LOVE what we do. It’s not just “retail”. It’s sharing a lifestyle, a healthy lifestyle, with our customers. Climbing, hiking, kayaking, biking, ice climbing, backcountry skiing… these are the sports we represent, and these are our own personal passions. And our company puts events like this together to help us outfit our customers so they can enjoy these pursuits as much as we do… It just doesn’t get any better!

AIARE Instructor Refresher Course

David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Backcountry Skiing, Professional Development , , ,

Yesterday I observed and assisted with a Level 1 Instructor Refresher course at the AMC Highland Center. AIARE requires current instructors partake in an IRC every three years to stay current with changes to the curriculum of AIARE courses and to improve their teaching skills through a facilitated open group discussion on a variety of topics. Tim Brown, an IFMGA guide and contributor to some of the recent changes in the curriculum facilitated the day.

This particular IRC was open to anyone interested in AIARE’s curriculum and mission. With 9 people in attendance we covered a lot of the new updates to the student manual, presentation ideas, new tools empower students with, and ideas about how to take ownership of your course in a professional way. This was a good warmup for me before I head to Silverton, CO in less than a month to observe a full Level 1 Instructor Training course along with a Level 2 IRC. For more information about AIARE please visit http://www.avtraining.org.

Eastern Snow Avalanche Workshop 11-5-11

David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Professional Development ,

This past Saturday 80+ people attended the first annual Eastern Snow and Avalanche Workshop (ESAW). Members from organizations involved in avalanche education, snow science, and search and rescue from all over the greater New England area were in attendance.

Presentations:

Chris Joosen, Lead Snow Ranger for USFS on Mt. Washington gave a talk on Spatial Variability in the White Mountains. Later in the afternoon he discussed avalanche accidents on Mount Washington, the eastern dilemma, and the role of social media and innovation, past, present and future.

Jim Giglinto, a New York State Forest Ranger gave a presentation on Avalanches in the Adirondacks.  Of particular interest to the group were the pictures presented depicting how existing slide paths have grown, some by more than 50%, in the wake of Hurricane Irene. Looks like there might be some potential first descents available this season!

Kyle Tyler, the Eastern Representative of the American Avalanche Association gave a high speed informative talk on Propagation propensity of persistent weak layers.

Rebecca Scholand from the Mount Washington Observatory gave an graphically beautiful and informative talk on Upslope Snow and it’s development and effects upon the White Mountains of NH. I’ll be begging her for some of her slides to use in future avalanche courses.

After breaking for lunch Sam Colbeck, the former Senior Research Scientist at the Army’s Cold Region Research and Engineering Laboratory, gave a fascinating talk on Snow Physics, most notably how recent advances in technology have allowed us to get a better understanding of snow in relation to avalanches. His slides depicting different stages of metamorphism were very impressive.

Eric Siefer, the Northeast rep for Mammut gave a presentation on the technology of air bags and their effect on avalanche safety. The cumulation of which was the demonstration of the technology by one young audience member.

The last talk was given by Jonathan Shefftz, a member of the National Ski Patrol and passionate avalanche educator, who spoke about the benefits of giving Level 1 Avalanche Students pre-course homework. You can imagine that generated some entertaining discussion.

To wrap up the event most people retired to a social hour upstairs the nearby International Mountain Equipment store where there were vendor booths, raffles, and some graciously donated beer from Smuttynose.

Many folks headed over to Flatbread Co. to continue the snow talk over dinner. All in all it was a great 1st event and something the east coast community will undoubtedly benefit from. The proceeds from the event are going to the White Mountain Avalanche Education Fund.   The fund is set up primarily to educate kids about avalanches across the Northeast.  For more information on this fund check out: http://www.mountwashingtonavalanchecenter.org/about/white-mountain-avalanche-education-fund. Special thanks to Chris Joosen and Kyle Tyler for putting it all together!

Ski Tech Training

David Lottmann Professional Development ,

Yesterday concluded a 2 day training program at the North Conway EMS organized by Ellen Moran, the Product Manager for AT and Telemark skis for Eastern Mountain Sports. In attendance were ski techs from 10 EMS stores and 2 Customer Service Reps.

Morning clinics

Product Reps from Black Diamond, G3, Scarpa, Dynafit, K2, 22 Designs, Marker, and Rossignol put on clinics through out the 1st day covering their current lines. On the 2nd day hands on training included custom boot fitting and binding mounting.

Towards the end I gave a short talk/slideshow on Backcountry Safety, Avalanche Courses, and Beacons.

Backcountry Safety discussion

It’s EMS’s commitment to training like this that helps us continue to be the most authentic, knowledgable outfitter out there! I know I walked away with a tremendous amount of information and some product manuals I’ll be referring to when need be!

Mountain Rescue Service Training 10-18-11

David Lottmann Professional Development, Self-Rescue , ,

I haven’t had much outdoor time lately to blog about as I’ve been busy becoming a dad, so it was nice to get out  for a couple hours yesterday late afternoon for some high angle rescue training with Mountain Rescue Service. We spent a couple hours at Cathedral Ledge practicing how to package a victim on a cliff and either raise or lower them using a twin-tension system. High speed stuff for sure Frank Carus demonstrated than had us run through the drill with assistance from Kurt Winkler.

Prepping the litter
Rigging discussion
Starting demo as litter attendant
Frank demonstrates barrelman attachment to litter
Team runs through a scenario
Debrief

The Mountain Rescue Service provides specialized technical teams comprised of world-class guides and climbers who volunteer their time and expertise in the service of hikers and climbers who need assistance, in and around the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

The team is ‘on call’ 24 hours per day, all seasons, with volunteers being mobilized for a full range of incidents: complicated multi-day and nighttime searches in the depth of winter throughout the White Mountain National Forest; technical rope rescues on the region’s many rock climbing cliffs; swift water rescue assistance; and lift evacuations at area ski resorts.

Find out more at http://www.mountainrescueservice.org/index.htm

You can also like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mountain-Rescue-Service/146299035443103

New Hampshire Search & Rescue Annual Training

David Lottmann Professional Development , ,

Yesterday at Cannon Mountain I attended an annual training for various search & rescue groups in NH, organized by NH Fish & Game. Groups in attendance were Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue (AVSAR), Mount Washington Observatory (MWO), Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC), New England K-9 Search and Rescue, Upper Valley Wilderness Response Team (UVWRT), The Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue Team (PVSART), and Mountain Rescue Service (MRS), of which I am a member.

After some indoor GPS review Fish & Game gave us a grid to search for a missing young girl (training exercise). Scattered within the search area were about 10 clues to try and find.
We conducted a line search and located many of the clues left for us to find. Great review of GPS and line searching procedures.
Kurt and Joe demonstrated some swift water crossing techniques nearby.
Frank demonstrated "Twin Tension Lowering Technique" for use in high angle rescue (MRS Specialty)
Learning how to find and follow a persons tracks in the wilderness was certainly the most interesting thing I learned about...
The instructor demonstrated how to measure foot size, gait, stride, saddle, and other observations to make sure you are following the right set of tracks.
Then in pairs we were assigned a track to locate and follow. This was some very cool training!
We debriefed and took away some last minute tips.

Mountain Rescue Service is ‘on call’ 24 hours per day, all seasons, with volunteers being mobilized for a full range of incidents: complicated multi-day and nighttime searches in the depth of winter throughout the White Mountain National Forest; technical rope rescues on the region’s many rock climbing cliffs; swift water rescue assistance; and lift evacuations at area ski resorts. Keeping 40+ primary team members prepared requires not only constant training, but also vigilant equipment monitoring and annual investment to ensure team and patient safety.

This volunteer technical rescue service depends on donations to operate.  Donations are allocated for the purchase of search and rescue equipment (ropes, sleds, radios etc) and technical training that enables the MRS team to be mobilized as needed.

Find out more about Mountain Rescue Service and how to donate here: http://www.nhmrs.org