Should backcountry walkers get an avalanche duration?

Take a look at this article by The Know from The Denver Post talking about some important points for the week. The Know recently posted the article and I decided it was well worth syndicating on this website.

For experienced backcountry skiers and snowboarders, snowmobilers and others, getting an official avalanche education might as well be a prerequisite for heading into the backcountry.

A beacon, probe, and shovel — tools to help you search for and find a buried companion — are three critical pieces of gear. You need the know-how to use them, along with the expertise to identify avalanche terrain, understand the avalanche forecast, and mitigate your risk in the mountains. Those  are all gained from taking something like a Recreational Level 1 avalanche course.

For many hikers, snowshoers and cross country skiers, the same level of education required of skiers and riders isn’t part of the agenda. But without it, especially in a winter like this one (where, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, avalanches are running larger and in areas many wouldn’t expect), hikers might put themselves at risk without even knowing it.

Where to start

According to Uwe Sartori, a veteran of teaching AIARE (the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education) courses and an instructor for the Colorado Mountain Club, not every winter adventurer needs to take a formal avalanche course.

“You can self-educate,” he said. “But if you’re going deep into the backcountry, or traveling through terrain or open slopes that are classified as avalanche terrain, you need to get an education.”

For beginners, he recommends checking out the KBYG, or Know Before You Go program, a product of the CAIC and Utah Avalanche Center. It’s a free program aimed at helping less-experienced backcountry users understand the risk of avalanches and the tools they can use to mitigate their risk to them, Sartori said. It’s a good first step toward managing avalanches.

Regularly reading the avalanche forecasts put out by the CAIC is also important, Sartori said. Developing an understanding of the avalanche danger rating can help you make conservative decisions about whether or not to head out at all on particular days.

Red flags

But even if you don’t plan to get anywhere near the risk of avalanches, it could still save your life to be able to identify some basic red flags of avalanche terrain. And if you find yourself enjoying getting up close and personal on your snowshoe or cross country ski to this type of terrain, it might be worth signing up for an avalanche class.

“The easiest of these is steep slopes,” said Sartori. Generally, slopes greater than 30 degrees are steep enough to slide, and being anywhere near them — including on less-steep slopes underneath — can be risky. If you use a program like Caltopo or Gaia GPS to plan your hikes, these can help identify steep slopes, and using your phone’s Measure app to determine angles can help you learn the degree angle of each slope.

Sartori also recommends watching out for more complex terrain. Cliffs, drop-offs, roll-overs and terrain that involves some navigational decisions are places where a more advanced understanding of the avalanche hazard might be warranted.

“If all of a sudden, it’s not just a nice easy path,” he said, “you might want more knowledge.”

Another obvious red flag is the paths of prior avalanches. “If you’re in the woods and all of a sudden it’s open and all you see are little scrubby or naked trees, that tells you this is an avalanche path,” he cautions. Look for trees with their upslope branches stripped off or fallen trees in the path. If it slid there once, it could again, and you’re definitely in avalanche terrain.

Take a course

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If, after all that, you think there’s a chance that you’ll end up in avalanche terrain on your winter adventures, it’s time to start thinking about taking a course. Attending a (usually free) evening Avalanche Awareness session is a good first step. Next, a formal Recreational Level 1 class — a three-day course — will fill in the blanks and give you a good working knowledge of your avalanche threat.

With the unusual amount of danger contained in this winter’s snowpack, Sartori said hikers heading near avalanche terrain are undoubtedly at greater risk than previous seasons. But he also doesn’t think most are putting themselves in that position.

“We haven’t had families snowshoeing showing up as avalanche fatalities,” he said. adding, “Colorado has grown tremendously and there are a ton of people coming in for the mountains with not a lot of skill. That is the group I get concerned about.”

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