Avalanche Safety Reprise

Oops. I forgot to post this before I left for Denver on December 18th. Must have been busy and forgot... Here it is... better late than never...

I finished my Avalanche Awareness course. Three Mondays at REI, and a field trip to Steven's Pass. The field class was pretty uneventful, which in a way is good. I learned lots of things. One is that finding a beacon buried a few inches under the snow is not the same as locating a beacon three feet or more under the snow. Another is that I need to replace my probe with one of a better quality. I got a BCA Probe that came free with my shovel and it just isn't very good. At one point during a rescue scenario I was asked to help probe for the victim and I failed to secure it tightly causing it to collapse. Having your probe collapse is kind of embarrassing.

Also I found that a number of people don't take a scenario like that seriously. The scenario is that three victims have been buried in an avalanche and you are being asked to help locate and recover the bodies (hopefully alive.) Those that are involved often make jokes, they over act, they don't just simply behave with the seriousness that is required for such a topic. I don't get that. I mean to have fun and all, but if I ever have to dig someone out of an avalanche, I want to know that I can do it -- even if/when I'm totally freaked out. And of course, I want to know if I'm caught in one and need to be dug out that those I'm with take it seriously and know what to do as well.

I didn't take any pictures. It was a beautiful day but I was just more busy playing and learning than I realized. And the guide/instructor did tell us to bring a camera if we wanted. Oh well, I will be sure to take some pictures the next time I'm out on the snow.

I'm leaving for Denver late Friday evening and hoping to arrive late Saturday or early Sunday. And then I'm sure it will be one activity after the next. I'll be sure to put up additional updates.

Happy Holidays everyone!