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

Winter has definitely arrived and the 4th avalanche course of the season concluded with a very interesting day in the Ravine. Light density snow from the higher summits has accumulated into pencil hard wind slab with varying thickness, all sitting on top of a thick melt-freeze crust from last week’s thaw.

At the end of the day we got some nice turns in some fresh powder before taking the Sherburne trail back to Pinkham. Couple spots left for next weeks course! http://www.emsclimb.com/aiare1.html

Another weekend, another avalanche course. This time there was a bit more snow so after two days of preliminary classroom and field exercises 5 skiers and 2 motivated snowboarders headed up the Tuck’s trail to learn about traveling in avalanche terrain.

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Another course has concluded and an interesting week it has been on the mountain. Despite unseasonable conditions and low snow accumulations there were 2 avalanche accidents in Huntington Ravine last week. Details and pictures can be found here:

http://www.mountwashingtonavalanchecenter.org/search-rescue/2011-2012-summaries/

Here’s some pics from this course:

Couple spots left in next weeks course: http://www.emsclimb.com/aiare1.html

With great anticipation the 1st avalanche course of the season has come and gone. We had a full course with 12 participants with various backgrounds in skiing, mountaineering, and ice climbing. Despite a slow start to the season and the forecasted areas on Mount Washington being under a “General Advisory” we were able to move through some interesting terrain and see signs of recent loose snow surface slides.

There’s been some cool changes to the curriculum of the AIARE Level 1 Course this season. The “Avalanche’s and Obs” checklist is a great new addition. Any former students are welcome to contact me so I can show you this new tool, it’s in all the new field books. A handy communication checklist helps the group dialogue flow.

Last year saw 9 reported avalanches involving 19 skiers, snowboarders, or technical climbers on or near Mount Washington, including one near fatality. If you haven’t taken an avalanche course yet, or it’s been a few years and you’re in need of a refresher, visit http://www.emsclimb.com/aiare1.html for dates and info to sign up. The first course was filled far in advance, so don’t delay, space is limited.

Yesterday concluded the last avalanche course of the season. Every course had interesting snow conditions to look at, engaged students, reasonable weather, and some pretty good skiing at the end of the day!

With 5 human triggered avalanches on Mount Washington in March alone, one which resulted if serious life threatening injuries, people are starting to realize there is a need for education before heading into the mountains. While I admire John Muir’s “Throw some doughnuts in a knapsack and hop over the backyard fence” sense of freedom, we owe it to our families and loved ones to put some thought into how much risk we are willing to take (and how to recognize when we are at risk) when traveling in the mountains.

I want to thank everyone who attended an avalanche course with Eastern Mountain Sports Schools this season. I hope to see you out in the mountains applying your newly acquired skills soon!

While we have no more official AIARE courses scheduled for this season we are still running our Backcountry Ski courses which include some good basic “Avalanche Awareness” instruction. Check out http://www.emsski.com for details.