AIARE 1 Avalanche Course on the Summit of Mount Washington!

Image April 14, 2015 David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Backcountry Skiing, Mountaineering AIARE, American Institute of Avalanche Research and Education, avalanche courses, avalanche education, EMS Climbing School, EMS Schools

Yesterday we concluded the first ever American Institute of Avalanche Research and Education Course on the summit of Mount Washington! The idea of holding an AIARE 1 Course in partnership with the Mount Washington Observatory has been brewing in my mind for years, and it finally turned into a reality!

Early in the morning this past Friday 8 participants met at Eastern Mountain Sports in North Conway to meet fellow AIARE Instructor Keith Moon and I to prepare for our 3 day adventure. After organizing our gear we made our way to the base of the Mount Washington Auto Road where Director of Education for the MWOBS, Michelle Cruz, welcomed the group and gave a short orientation.

Long time snow-cat operator and charismatic local Slim Bryant meets the group and gives them some last minute information about the snow-cat operating procedures.

During our ascent EMS Schools Guide Keith Moon took advantage of the improving visibility to point out various landmarks and explain some of the reasons Mount Washington has such interesting topography, weather, and flora.

Conversations about this unique trip made the first part of the ascent go by fast!

Five miles up the road deep snow drifts required quite a bit of plowing so Slim suggested we take advantage of the warm comfortable weather and stretch our legs while he assaulted the drifts with a lot of back & forth plowing.

We arrived at the summit just before 11am and started class after a quick safety tour and lunch. Class was held in the conference room until a 6pm social hour followed by a delicious turkey dinner prepared by the Observatory volunteers, John & Gates.

The next morning the Higher Summits forecast called for sustained winds over 70, with gusts up to 110mph (it actually hit 118mph). Despite being “house-bound” the extra time to cover topics & info in greater detail was welcome, as the group stayed engaged and inquisitive through-out the demanding classroom day. I think the highlight for many was when we stepped out onto the observation deck after lunch to see what all the hype was about:

iPhone video uploaded to PC “upside down”. Will need to find a fix before I embed it. 😦

That evening we enjoyed a tour of the Weather Room from the very accommodating and informative Education Specialist Kaitlyn O’Brian. Despite having attended this tour in one form or another a dozen times over the last 10 years I still had questions and Kaitlyn was quick to answer and increase my understanding of what makes Mt. Washington such a remarkable place!

After the tour we all suited up and climbed the observation tower to visit the parapet, technically 30+ feet above the summit of Mount Washington, participants reveled in the opportunity to climb up and hold on while they felt the incoming high pressure system from Canada challenge their grip (Winds were 60-70mph at this time, down from 90mph during our Observation Deck venture)

(Asking participants for a photo or video from this time as I was busy using participants camera’s to catch anything with mine)

The next morning volunteers John & Gates treated us to a hearty breakfast of ham, eggs, and hashed potatoes before we packed our gear and met in the conference room for a trip planning session.

Gather info, form an opinion, converse, make a plan, execute!

We settled on a descent of the East Snowfields followed by a long traverse over to the Gulf of Slides.

Around 0930 we bid farewell and thanks to the summit crew and volunteers who had been so accommodating to us during our stay and ventured out into 60+ mph northwest winds. The short distance we needed to travel to make it to the more sheltered East Snowfields will definitely be a memorable moment (especially for those who had snowboards in our group). Once we dropped 200 feet onto the East Snowfields though conditions were quite appealing.

Pavan ready to put some turns in near the top of the East Snowfields

The group discusses some terrain options

Looking back up the East Snowfields with Allyson & Tod taking a quick break. Slope info is captured thanks to Theodolite iPhone App!

At the bottom of the East Snowfields we intersected with the Lionshead Trail and switched back to touring mode to make our way towards Boot Spur & Gulf of Slides.

Long contouring traverse (2 of these words are not snowboarders favorite things)

We got a great view looking back at our home for the last couple days… see all the ants climbing up Lobster Claw Gully?

Nice view of the summit cone I don't often experience — Nice view of the summit cone I don’t often experience

While we crossed Bigelow Lawn the views on all sides were amazing. I especially liked looking over at Franconia Ridge:

Visibility was over 120 miles as we could make out Mount Mansfield in Vermont! A nice wind-roll above Gulf of Slides offered a quick photo op for the Swanson father & son team!

We dropped into the snowfields of Gulf of Slides and had some great turns before stopping to learn a bit more about snow-pack observations.

After checking how deep the recent rain & warmth had penetrated we practiced layer ID, Hand Hardness, and Compression Tests, then traversed our way into the Main GoS gully. A fun run down brought us to a busy Pinkham Notch parking lot, and we gathered at a picnic table to debrief our experience and figure out how to move forward with our new found knowledge.

Ultimately this course was a huge success and a great wrap up to an amazing winter.

To the 8 participants in this first of its kind AIARE course… Thank you! Your contributions through-out the course were much appreciated, and we look forward to implementing changes for next season based on your forthcoming feedback!

To the gracious staff of the Mount Washington Observatory… THANK YOU! Your support allowed us to provide one of the most experiential and educational experiences in avalanche education I have ever been a part of. We could not have done it without your help and are incredibly grateful!

And to my regular readers, thank you for following this blog. I plan to fill the next few “quiet” weeks with quite a bit gear reviews of extensively tested gear from this season. Over the next couple weeks there will be detailed reviews on;

Ortovox Avalanche Beacons (3 different models)

Black Diamond Snow Saws

BCA Beacons (2 models)

EMS & Black Diamond higher-end clothing

And much more… so… if you’ve read this far why not subscribe? It’s right up there at the top right… or like NEAlpineStart on Facebook.

To winter 2014/15, thank you! That was awesome. To Spring/Summer/Fall rock climbing season…. LET’S DO THIS!

-NEAlpineStart

AIARE 2 Avalanche Course

March 28, 2015March 28, 2015 David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Backcountry Skiing, Professional Development AIARE, American Institute of Avalanche Research and Education, avalanche course, avalanche courses, avalanche education, avalanche research, avalanche safety, avalanche terrain, backcountry skiing, eastern mountain sports schools, EMS Schools

Yesterday wrapped up the 2nd AIARE 2 Avalanche Course of the season. Six Eastern Mountain Sports Climbing Guides, 3 from North Conway, 2 from The Gunks, and 1 from our Lake Placid location spent the last four days furthering their understanding of the avalanche phenomenon by improving their weather and snow-pack observation skills along with their rescue skills.

After reviewing AIARE 1 information we spend the rest of our first day upgrading our rescue skills with focuses on deep burials, multiple burials, close proximity burials, and rescue leadership. The deep burial scenario required a full effort from everyone as our “debris” had set up like concrete and our target was a life size stuffed Gore-tex full suit!

It took another 20 minutes of hard work to excavate the victim after reaching the "airway". — It took another 20 minutes of hard work to excavate the victim after reaching the “airway”.

One of our multiple burial scenarios unfolding... — One of our multiple burial scenarios unfolding…

Searching in Parallel, Micro-strip Search, Pro’s and Con’s of Marking, and Triage were all topics of that afternoon.

The next day was a heavy classroom day with lots of discussion on Mountain Weather, Online Resources, Metamorphism, and recording observations at the national standard in accordance with the “SWAG”.

We spent the 3rd morning covering the “how’s and why’s” of doing a Full Profile.

Mike Lackman was shadowing the course and offers up some advice during grain identification

Despite increasing Spring like weather the snow pack was not iso-thermal, and a very distinct layer of 3-4mm advanced facets about 50cm down made for some impressive CT & ECT scores. (CT12 & 18, Q2 and ECTP 14)

My Full Profile

From there we went on a short tour up to just above tree-line via the Cog.

Stopping for Chicken Fingers and a quick Weather Observation at Waumbek Tank

Mike searches for the deeper faceted layer in a small pocket just to the right of Jacob's Ladder — Mike searches for the deeper faceted layer in a small pocket just to the right of Jacob’s Ladder

Gaining our high point with the incoming warm front right on our heels

After some poking around in the snow and previewing terrain in the Ammonoosuc Ravine we descending the Cog in fairly good conditions. Right before the base the snow that had started falling around noon turned to rain and we wrapped up our day back at the Highland Center.

For the last day of the course we met at Pinkham Notch and planned a tour into Tuckerman Ravine. We zipped up to Hermit lake in short order and had a quick birthday celebration for Ryan before updating our travel plans.

Good skiing that requires very heads up attention!

We skinned up a very stable Little Headwall and gathered at the floor of the ravine to make a plan. Our climbers headed up into Lobster Claw and our skiers moved across and up into Left Gully.

Dustin and crew crossing the run out and starting the boot pack up climbers right side of Left Gully.

With lots of probing and hand-shears we worked our way up below the ice fall to the left of Left Gully and after a brief group discussion decided we could push higher up to the “choke” of the gully.

We could see our other group just to the right of the mouth of Lobster Claw making observations

Looking down the run I use the "Theodolite" iPhone App to capture some slope info — Looking down the run I use the “Theodolite” iPhone App to capture some slope info (Location/Altitude not reported as phone was on Airplane mode to conserve battery; i.e. No GPS Data)

Looking up into the start zone I capture incline and aspect (180 math needed)

Just below the choke we get some fairly positive hand shear results but the slab that is failing is quite thin, only about 20-25 cms or so. Two of our group wish to push a bit higher, which seemed reasonable, so the rest of us de-skinned and spotted their last 100 foot climb to just above the choke. From here we all descended, one-at-a-time at first, then with good spacing down below. Turns were pretty soft in most spots with occasional sections of hard scoured surface. The flat light made it a bit tricky to really let it rip.

Pretty decent turns and quite a few groups were appreciated the boot pack we had put in. It was a bit disconcerting to see so many without backpacks on... Where is your shovel & probe? — Pretty decent turns and quite a few groups were appreciated the boot pack we had put in. It was a bit disconcerting to see so many without backpacks on… Where is your shovel & probe? It is still winter up there.

We gathered at the floor then descended Little Headwall to the Cutler River. The Upper Cutler was great. One of our group had skied the Lower Cutler (below the bridge) a week prior and the majority vote was to continue down it. It was the first I had skied below the bridge so with a smidgen of hesitation I followed the group down. I can’t say it was great skiing, a bit to heavy mashed potatoes made for a few of those “must turn now” moments. One actively collapsing snow bridge with quite a bit of water right at the end made me glad to be exiting out along the Huntington Ravine trail to cut back over to the John Sherburne Ski Trail. I would suggest bailing at the bridge for the rest of the season… unless you are into that type of stuff!

The rest of the Sherbi skied great though the warm snow was a bit slow as we got to the bottom. No complaints though, all it all a great run!

Back at the parking lot we spent almost an hour and a half debriefing the day and the course in general. Feedback on the course was solicited and shared, and an honest look at what’s next was provided by recent AIARE 3 Graduate Keith Moon. Many of our guides are on tracks for AMGA certifications that will require an AIARE 3 Certificate, so links & suggestions for future learning were provided.

This was a really fun course for me. Getting to work each day with many co-workers who I don’t often cross paths with was a great boon. I feel like I know each of them quite a bit better. Their feedback will definitely help the AIARE 2 courses I lead next year improve. And despite a bit of rain the weather through out the course was fantastic. While I have the rest of the weekend off I’ll be heading back up the hill on Monday, and again on Friday. Then a short vacation before our first ever Mount Washington Observatory AIARE 1 Course!

Then, and only then, will I let myself start focusing on the upcoming rock season. Winter ain’t over till it’s over!

Spring is here (Not Really)

March 24, 2015 David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Backcountry Skiing, Ice Climbing, Mountaineering AIARE, American Institute of Avalanche Research and Education, avalanche courses, avalanche education, EMS Climbing School, EMS Schools, ice climbing

The equinox has come and gone and other than a bit more daylight to play in I haven’t noticed much of a difference! Yesterday was one of the coldest days I’ve had this season as we concluded another AIARE 1 Avalanche Course but first lets talk about how awesome the ice climbing conditions are!

Last Thursday, March 19th, I took former AIARE 1 student Kurt out for a day of Private Ice Climbing instruction. Kurt had a couple seasons under his belt (or harness) but wanted to get a jump start on his skill set. We headed out to Frankenstein and covered quite a bit of ground and information in a very fun filled day!

We started with a very big & blue Standard Route (Grade 3, 350 feet).

Despite it being a little bit of a PITA stopping in the cave I choose to do so as I think every first timer should see this cool feature. Experienced climbers who have seen it can greatly increase communication by skipping this feature and combining pitch 1 & 2 in a long 190 foot pitch.

Being first on route we see other climbers queuing up for a busy day

We topped out around 11:30 and made our way back down to the tracks for some lunch, then headed over to the Amphitheater. There Bob’s Delight, (Grade 3+ 100 feet) was still in great shape, though a little soft. After I led the route I lowered off and Kurt took a top-rope lap on it so we could focus on efficiency & technique.

One more run up it to clean the anchor and I grabbed a shot of Kurt finishing the route.

We had just enough time to squeeze in one more route so we hopped over to Cave Route, and finished on that 75 foot Grade 3. Definitely a fun day out I look forward to climbing with Kurt again soon!

The next day began a full AIARE 1 Avalanche Course that ended yesterday. As is becoming custom this winter we had perfect conditions for the course, despite yesterday’s field day being quite arctic we still learned a lot and enjoyed some fresh powder in the Cutler River!

Making some snow pack observations below Hillmans Highway

Despite air temps far below 0 and even colder wind chills we had a really good day up there. Today I’ve spent catching up on errands while preparing for an AIARE 2 Course that starts tomorrow.

While the calendar may say Spring I am certainly still in a winter mindset!

Washington, Willard, Washington, Cathedral, and nights thinking about avalanches…

January 13, 2015 David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Backcountry Skiing, Ice Climbing, Mountaineering AIARE, American Institute of Avalanche Research and Education, avalanche accident, avalanche courses, avalanche education, avalanche safety, eastern mountain sports schools, EMS Climbing School, ice climbing, mountaineering

It’s been a fun filled 4 days with two ascents of Mount Washington, a multi-pitch ice climbing day at Willard, and a half-day of ice climbing with the excellent kids of Brooks School from North Andover, MA at the North End of Cathedral. Winter is in full swing and I have a day off tomorrow to attend to the less exciting things in life like laundry & dump runs but I’m looking forward to some multi-pitch ice on Thursday and a booked avalanche course for Sat-Sun-Mon.

Lately every day brings another couple inches of snow to Washington and we have an excellent outdoor classroom to run a course right now. Given the latest headline news of a couple young US Ski Team hopefuls (one quite local) losing their lives in an avalanche last week in Austria and another recent fatality in Silverton, CO I’ve been thinking a lot about the White Mountain Avalanche Fund set up by the US Forest Service and how I might be able to liaison between EMS Schools and this fund to get some potential “at-risk” high-school students into an AIARE 1 course next winter. Juniors & Seniors at high-schools with strong ski teams are the most likely to be entering avalanche terrain soon after High School and establishing some solid decision making skills at this critical age could hopefully help prevent some of these tragedy’s in the future.

EMS Schools Management is behind the idea so my next step is to find point of contacts at regional high-schools with strong ski programs. Kennett & Fryeburg Acadamy are most local, but the abundance of private high-schools with great ski programs in NH is quite long, and it will take some research to make sure the right people are aware of this educational, potentially life saving, opportunity. My goal right now is to have at-least 1 AIARE Course next winter comprised of 12 high-school students most likely to ski in avalanche terrain in the years following their graduations.

So far this year we have had 4 in country avalanche fatalities, plus the 2 out of county, compared to 5 in country this time last year. The more sobering statistic is we had 35 fatalities last season… there is a lot of winter left! If anyone reading this has the names or email addresses of High School Ski Program Directors in NH/ME/VT please let me know, this recent tragedy can be turned into a catalyst of preventive education if we can connect the right people to the right resources…

See you in the mountains,

NEAlpineStart

P.S. Contest running until 1/31/15 for two brand new ice screws. Simple to enter. Like North East Alpine Start on Facebook for 1 entry, follow/subscribe to this blog for a second entry (link is top right). Winner announced on 2/2/15.

AIARE 1 Avalanche Course 1/25/13 – 1/27/13

January 28, 2013 David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Backcountry Skiing avalanche courses, backcountry skiing

Yesterday wrapped up the 3rd avalanche course of the season and the first course with recently AIARE 1 instructor certified EMS Schools Guide Mike Lackman co-teaching. Mike had joined me for the Instructor Training Course in Stevens Pass a few weeks ago and it was great to have a co-instructor to work with over the last three days!

Twelve participants from Canada, Maine, New York, Massachusetts and Ohio joined us at the AMC Highland Center for two days of classroom and field sessions to learn about decision making in avalanche terrain before heading up into Tuckerman Ravine to put it all together on Day 3.

After we wrapped up our field session on Day 1 some of us headed to Frontside Grind in North Conway where the recently formed Friends of Mt. Washington Avalanche Center was hosting a fun slideshow/fundraiser. Free beer, Tuckerman Pale Ale of course, delicious pizza provided by The Flatbread Company, great silent auction, and a really informative slideshow showing some of the history of the Avalanche Center entertained a standing room only venue.

The next day after some morning classroom we headed through Crawford Notch to look at some avalanche paths and make some snow & weather observations.

During our Observational Outing we found significant wind slab, wind crusts, and some great Surface Hoar in a sheltered area not far from the above photo. Later in the day we got some interesting Compression Test results in our shallow faceted snowpack. Despite being behind in snow totals for the month of January we still have a very interesting snowpack to learn from!

Day 3 we gathered at Pinkham Notch Visitor Center and after working in small groups to come up with a trip plan for the day we headed up in to Tuckerman Ravine. Mother Nature was temps struggled to reach double digits and wind chills made goggles and face masks quite necessary above Hermit Lake. Visibility however was excellent and we viewed quite a bit of terrain, along with a very fresh crown line at the top of the bowl. Digging around in the snow below Right Gully provided another chance to look at layering in the snowpack, and by 2:30pm we were starting our descent back to PNVC and a productive course wrap-up.

Group photo at HoJo's before skiing down the Sherbie... — Group photo at HoJo’s before skiing down the Sherbie…

With last weeks 12 person avalanche in Central Gully lots of former students have asked my opinion. I think Jeff Lane’s well written accident summary pretty much echos my thoughts, so I’ve linked it here.

Next weekend we are not running an avalanche course, but I have a 2 day private ice climbing course and a 3 day mountaineering program scheduled. The following weekend I will be heading to Lake Placid to teach an AIARE 1 Course in the Adirondacks. If you are interested in hearing how these pan out, personal product reviews, and about future avalanche courses in the White Mountains please subscribe to this blog’s email list by entering your email address in the top right of the blog.

See you on the mountain!

10th Avalanche Course of the Season

March 19, 2012November 6, 2012 David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Backcountry Skiing avalanche courses, backcountry skiing

Despite the record breaking warm temps and early arrival of our Spring snowpack we finished another avalanche course yesterday. After a day in Crawford Notch we hopped the high speed quad on Wildcat Mountain and were actually able to see some layers in the snow off the south side of the summit. Lots of old MF Crusts still visible in the very dense wet snow.

For our ski tour the next day we headed to the familiar, but now heavily traveled, Tuckerman Ravine trail.

Re-grouped at the top of the “Christmas Tree"

Despite the low avalanche danger we got to manage some typical spring-time hazards like loose wet snow surface slides, avoiding fall-line’s of falling ice, route-finding, etc. The

The Sherburne Ski Trail was barely skiable at the bottom, with a few mandatory mud turns needed.

Spring has Sprung

March 13, 2012November 6, 2012 David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Backcountry Skiing avalanche courses, backcountry skiing

Today we wrapped up the 9th avalanche course of the season. 6 hard-chargers from UCONN braved 45 degree temps, 100 mile visibility, and gusts of wind up to 10 miles per hour to put there newly learned risk management skills to use.

Bill looking at a small crown at the top of Hillman’s Highway while USFS Snow Ranger Jeff Lane chats with the group

Spreading out while we cross the floor of the ravine

Some quick snowpack observations confirmed what we read in the bulletin

Dave gets ready to drop the lip in some heavy “mashed potatoes” snow

Low Avalanche danger allowed us to cover quite a bit of terrain. Lots of traffic on the mountain provided many opportunities to watch other people and learn from their decisions. Where the snow was getting the most solar radiation it was quite heavy.

Unfortunately the Little Headwall is open in multiple places and doesn’t allow you to connect the floor of the ravine with Hermit Lake, so we hiked from Connection Cache back to HoJos.

The Sherbi had a mix of sun/shade on it. The shaded areas iced up quick but allowed faster skiing. Glide wax would have been nice. The bottom of the Sherbi is melting out fast, not sure if we’ll be able to ski to the base during next weekends course. Let’s hope this unseasonable warming is short lived so we still have some snow left in April!

Snow Snow Snow!

March 6, 2012November 6, 2012 David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Backcountry Skiing avalanche courses, backcountry skiing

Last Sunday concluded our 8th AIARE Avalanche Course of the season. Back to back snowstorms brought almost 2 feet to Hermit Lake, which set the field for another excellent avalanche course as 7 participants acquired some new skills to help them travel more safely in the backcountry.

Conditions required very careful route finding — Conditions required very careful routefinding

Just before entering the floor of the ravine

Making some snowpack observations on a small slope down and left of Left Gully

Getting some nice turns on the Little Headwall at the end of the day

Only 4 more courses left this season, and the next one is booked solid. Go to http://www.emsclimb.com/aiare1.html to see course details or call 800-310-4504 to book.

Finally it snowed!

February 27, 2012November 6, 2012 David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Backcountry Skiing avalanche courses, backcountry skiing

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.

Snow stuck to the trees on the Tuckerman Ravine Trail

Very large crown line visible from Sluice to Chute

Little Headwall where we conducted some snowpack tests

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!

AIARE Level 2: Analyzing Snow Stability And Avalanche Hazard

February 21, 2012November 6, 2012 David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Backcountry Skiing avalanche courses, backcountry skiing

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.