Before snow flies—go back to the avalanche education basics.
A wildfire near you. High AQI. A lingering Sumer. It’s an excellent time to revisit some of the avalanche education basics (and more advanced concepts) before snow flies and sticks to the ground.
If the long game extends until there’s ample enough snow to ski, we’re playing the long game. Before then, we’ll populate the site in the next few months with avalanche avoidance resources.
Our premise is that all of us can brush up on the underlying principles of touring in mountainous terrain where avalanches are a possibility. I made an assessment this summer of some potential weak points in my skill set, and I landed on beacon practice. This is not to say I have other skills that don’t need improving upon.
My goal this fall is to revisit my beacon search skills. And I’ve made a point to ask my usual partners to make the same commitment.
If you are 100% new to ski/ride touring, welcome. Before you enroll in a Level/Rec 1 class, take some time to familiarize yourself with the basics of touring. Learn how to use your gear. Practice applying and removing your skins. If you use tech bindings, practice stepping in and out of the bindings and the nuances of engaging ski/tour mode and different height risers. If you are a splitboarder, know the intricacies of shifting and adjusting your bindings, too. Go out and skin in a safe zone. And be prepared with proper clothing. Nowadays, second-hand sports stores are excellent. Do not show up for a class in jeans.
The point we are making is that you should be comfortable traveling in the backcountry and prepared for inclement weather so you can focus on the avalanche education at hand when taking that first class. Proficient travel skills also allow educators to focus on what they do best: avalanche education.
Let’s pivot back to a good starting point. No snow doesn’t mean we cannot absorb some basics or refresh our memories. (If you plan on taking an in-person, spots in those courses tend to sell out quickly. Sign up.
The Mountain Training Center is an online resource offering several courses. This season, they are offering an Avalanche Awareness Course for $100, which is marketed as a refresher course for some and as a Rec 1 prep course for those new to formal avalanche education. This course consists of 8 modules and offers lifetime access to the course content/curriculum. (THR does not receive any kickbacks from the Mountain Training Center, although we know the owner, Will McKay, and he’s solid.)
You can learn more about this course here.
The Revisit
There’s a reason I like to review basic terms and snowpack analysis how-tos—for nearly 17 years, I’ve lived in the PNW high desert. Some common avalanche problems are regularly present here—however, persistent weak layers (PWL) are usually not one. Therefore, whenever I’m traveling to ski in zones where these problems may manifest, before I’m on the ground, I revisit the snow science relating to PWL snowpack dynamics and location-specific observations.
It’s also a good idea to consult numerous resources as you learn the basics or sharpen your knowledge on granular topics. In many ways, the Internet has enhanced avalanche knowledge and education. For a motivated learner, there are many excellent and free resources available. For the avalanche bookworm in you, Montana State University maintains a searchable catalog titled: “International Snow Science Workshops (ISSW) Proceedings of Professional Papers and Poster Talks.”
For those keen on the basics, Ortovox offers a free series of videos that will fire those avalanche focused neurons and prime the synapses for the touring season. (We don’t receive money from Ortovox.)
The series is broken into two parts: Avalanche Basics and Tour Planning. Each respective part includes quizzes to assess for understanding.
We encourage you to work through the entire video/interactive resource by starting the curriculum here.
Part 1: AVALANCHE BASICS includes sections on Avalanche Knowledge, Avalanche Factors, and 3×3 Avalanche Factors.
Part 2: TOUR PLANNING includes sections on Tour Planning, The Avalanche Bulletin, Risk Management via DCMR, and Equipment.
The simple part is written above—the at-home review or a first engagement with avalanche education. To be clear, it is not a substitute for experience in making real-time decisions with partners in the field.
You can find our catalog of avalanche-related content here.
