5 Avalanche Safety Tips & One Women’s Clinic

February 3rd, 2014 • BY Erinn Morgan

Skins on my skis and sweat on my forehead from skinning up the trail from our backcountry ski hut for about 90 minutes, I stood at the mouth of an open but narrow snow field flanked by steep, vaulting slopes. Fresh snow clung to the sides of the hills. My gut said “No” while my group said “Yes,” and I continued to trudge across the open area to access the fresh powder runs stashed on the other side.

I had no formal avalanche training so I trusted the instincts of the more experienced backcountry skiers in my group. But should I have?

“There are a lot of women who no longer want the role of tagging along while others make those decisions for them,” says Sandy Kobrock, owner and Lead Instructor for the Colorado-based Wolf Creek Avalanche School. “We’ve found that there are many women who really want to take a Level 1 Avalanche Course—it’s those women who want to have a confident voice in the decisions being made in the backcountry about risk and route.”

Which is exactly why Kobrock has slated a Women’s Level 1 Avalanche Safety Course this month, February 8-10, at Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado. The course ($350, including hot springs soaking) will be held over three full days with instruction and mentoring from two of the country’s most experienced women in the backcountry—Kobrock and Fay Johnson, former Ski Patrol Director at Bridger Bowl, Montana. Kobrock says that no previous avalanche knowledge is necessary and attendees need only be intermediate skiers or snowboarders with a reasonable fitness level. Want to learn more? Check out the course’s web page or contact Kobrock at sandy@avalancheschool.us or 970-731-2486.

In the meantime, Kobrock supplies us with 5 must-know tips about avalanche safety:

[Oh, and for the record, I went home after my hut trip and signed up for an Avalanche Level 1 Course—something that I would highly recommend to any woman (or man) that sets foot in the backcountry. Knowledge is power, isn’t it?]

1. Get the Knowledge
Learn a system of habits and knowledge to keep you safe as you gain experience in the backcountry. Terrain choice is how you manage avalanche danger. Learn to recognize what terrain is capable of producing an avalanche and which terrain is safe no matter how dangerous the avalanche conditions.

2. Go with the Right People
Someone who has taken a recognized avalanche course, who practices a similar process of decision-making, and who has a similar risk tolerance to yours.

3.  Carry the Right Gear
Wear and carry an avalanche transceiver (beacon), probe, and shovel that you have practiced with…a lot. You’d be amazed—there is actually a better (most effective) way to shovel out an avalanche victim and it’s not what you would do instinctively.

4. Make a Plan and Stick to it  
We get in trouble when we either have a vague plan and sort of make it up as we move through the day, or have a plan but don’t follow it. Plan your trip: who, where, and how before you arrive at the trailhead. This is your most powerful tool to avoid “powder fever,” when the conditions are such that jumping into an avalanche path could get you or someone in your party killed.

5. See the Big Picture  
Timing is key.  Bruce Tremper, Director of the Utah Avalanche Center, likes to say that the snowpack is safe 95% of the time. Wait until the time is right, that “95% of the time,” when you can safely ski or ride it. It may take weeks, months, or years for that “right time” to appear. But it’s worth it.  Is riding it really worth dying for? I think you will say “It isn’t.”

Wolf Creek Women’s Level 1 Avalanche Course Details  
What: Women’s Level 1 February 8-10, 2014. 3 Days. 60% Field time. Includes a relaxing hot springs soak.
Where and When: Wolf Creek Pass, Colorado and Pagosa Springs, Colorado   
Who – Students: No previous avalanche knowledge necessary. Intermediate skier, snowboarders of reasonable fitness. Skins and bindings to travel in the backcountry can be rented in Pagosa.
Who – Instructors: Two women with decades of “toe-to-toe with avalanches” experience: Sandy Kobrock, founder and owner of the Wolf Creek Avalanche School, and Fay Johnson, former Ski Patrol Director at Bridger Bowl, Montana.
Closest Commercial Airport: Durango-LaPlata
Closest Private Airport: Pagosa Springs, CO
Contact info:  Sandy Kobrock, sandy@avalancheschool.us, 970-731-2486
Investment:  $350 for 3 full days of instruction, mentoring, and fun—and a relaxing hot springs soak!
Enroll Here: http://www.eventbrite.com/o/wolf-creek-avalanche-school-3145622292

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