The agility and power of today's snowmobiles allow riders to easily access avalanche terrain with a speed and thrill that makes it easy to overlook noticeable sings of snow instability. Paying attention to clues of instability and knowing how to react to them is a sizeable advantage in staying safe while riding in the backcountry.
Sidecountry is defined as out-of-bounds, backcountry terrain that is accessed from a ski area. The ski lifts make getting to the backcountry easier for everybody and more accessible to the uninitiated, but does not provide any more safety since there is no avalanche control or ski patrol services in the out-of-bounds.
Last year the GNFAC taught 62 avalanche education classes to more than 4,300 people in southwest Montana. Grade school and graduate students, skiers and snowmobilers, search and rescue groups, ski patrols, Rotary clubs and businesses attended classes, all there for the same thing-to learn about avalanches. During Q&A sessions many people asked questions. Here's an attempt to answer the most common ones.
Heading out for a day in the hills is easy and rewarding unless we overlook a few simple preparations that if not practiced routinely can result in drastic consequences.
Snowfall in the first days of October brought out famished skiers drooling with hunger for powder. They skied, hit rocks and even triggered a few avalanches.
While a beacon, probe and shovel have been the standard for years, a fourth item is emerging: the avalanche air bag.
Some concern joins the excitement over the new lift at Schusman's Bowl at Bridger.
Shop for avalanche safety gear this year! Merry Christmas to the skier on your list!
Forecasters for Consumerism!
See attached pdf for full article.
All skiers will be happy about two new developments in the Bridger Range. First, Bridger Bowl added 311 acres of expert terrain, the first expansion in 30 years. Second, backcountry access from the ski area will be a lot easier starting in December.
By Karl Birkeland and Doug Chabot. Paper presented at the 2006 ISSW, and published in the Proceedings of the 2006 ISSW, Telluride, CO. You can also view an online video of this presentation.
