Backcountry skiing and Avalanche Awareness; Trip Planning

Wednesday, January 20
Demo about Nordic Skiing. Alpine skiing involves lifts.

Watched a video from Backcountry Magazine. Skiers and snowboarders were in backcountry not frontcountry at a typical resort. The camera man shot footage of lone skiers on the face of the mountain. . . and I mean vertical. We saw where they positioned themselves from some small place on the face and then turned and jumped from their perch onto the ride, virtually straight down. As they sped, I wondered what the freedom must feel like--freedom in their body, freedom in the speed, freedom laying the first tracks, freedom on a mountain. No crowds, no lifts. Pristine. One of the guys interviewed said that they didn't ski backcountry to drop out but rather to tune in and feel connected. He didn't have much use for 9-5 jobs and had actually been fired from any 9-5 he ever had. He may have been one of several guys hold up in a tiny but newer cabin plopped on a tiny space of mountain. They had all the comforts they could have wanted while they waited for their next ski run.

Austin said that there's a big increase in people who believe they are avid skiers getting more and more out to the backcountry. Development of "resort spread" is encouraging this access but he said the resorts have less control of the terrain and accidents have risen dramatically.

Watching the flick made me think back to high school when I went Alpine skiing twice with Lynne at Mt. Tom and stood at the top of one of the runs for at least an hour. We took a lift up and there was no way I was going down. People came up for multiple runs before I pried my skis out of the snow and began my slow descent crossing back and forth so I wouldn't fly down. But I have thought on occasion over the years about my first out of control runs on the baby slope and how it felt to snow plow and turn at the bottom once I began to get the hang of it. And, that was lots of years ago. Tomorrow, I get to see if there's any muscle memory left in this ageing body.

Then we moved on to avalanche awareness and how to read the snow pack layers, how types of snow adhere or don't based on stress, strength, angle degree and weather. Risky Shift is groups making risky decisions. Heuristic Traps are again based in human error. Risk culminates when a combination of human and environmental factors overlap. We then reviewed a case study of poor decision making ending in an avalanche death. I won't be taking the avalanche course certification that will be offered. In fact, in addition to not taking the mountaineering trip, I told Austin that I'm bowing out of the rock climbing course. We talked, I looked at the schedule, and though he said he would encourage me to take the course, I realize that given the pace this spring, I could use that break. I give it to myself despite my reticence in not continuing to learn the technical aspects of rock climbing instruction.

This afternoon the 2 groups gathered and began planning our winter trips. I'll be with Beth and Austin, Joe, Erin, Ian, Sarah Maney, Jake, Laura, Sarah Levy, and Mark. Should be a good group though I know I'll miss George who left the program to take the EMT course this spring.