Backcountry Skiing & Avalanche Training
Why hello there,
I just returned from a month long adventure in the mountains of Idaho. The class consisted of myself, 8 Prescotteers and 2 instructors. we toured from yurt to hut and lived simply with everything on our backs. we even had a few winter camping nights where we built quinzhees(snow shelter like an igloo). The mountains were beautiful-the Sawtooths, Pioneers, Boulders and White Clouds. One yurt stands at 8900ft, secluded from the life in the valleys. it was here that 5 lakes surrounded us and the gray wolves, elk, snow shoe hares roamed. our instructor Francie spotted some mountain lion tracks just 50 ft from the yurt, which lead to a kill...an elk. Can you get any more experiential than this?
each day we awoke to a woodstove fire, hot brew and whatever the cook crew has prepared for breakfast. After breakfast we all had to do our parts whether it was clean up, chopping wood, snow collection for H2O or tending to the fire. then we would strap our skins on and head out for a glorious day in the powder. on our day tours we were"mastering" the tele turn (with a few face plants in between) and studying avalanches. we dug pits, identified terrain, snow packs, map navigation, winter adaptation skills , winter ecology, beacon searches/avy scenarios, and lots more. i was with an amazing crew too. most nights we would be exhausted after skiing all day, finishing up chores, and student presentations so wet supported one another in massage.
When we were in Hailey Idaho we met some locals who told us that it is the most snow they have had in 50 years and the coldest it has been in 10 years. which made for great and safe skiing, but not the best conditions for the avalanche curriculum. we only spotted one slab avalanche the entire month. After a month of simplicity in winterwonderland we were certified in level 1 Avalanche Awareness for backcountry skiers. i highly recommend taking this class if you are interested in Adventure Education. Or id\f you are reading this and want to do this with friends/ family or solo be in touch with Joe & Francie St. Onge. they are the two enthusiastic owners of Sun Valley Trekking. Check out their website. http://www.svtrek.com/winter/education.html
I just returned from a month long adventure in the mountains of Idaho. The class consisted of myself, 8 Prescotteers and 2 instructors. we toured from yurt to hut and lived simply with everything on our backs. we even had a few winter camping nights where we built quinzhees(snow shelter like an igloo). The mountains were beautiful-the Sawtooths, Pioneers, Boulders and White Clouds. One yurt stands at 8900ft, secluded from the life in the valleys. it was here that 5 lakes surrounded us and the gray wolves, elk, snow shoe hares roamed. our instructor Francie spotted some mountain lion tracks just 50 ft from the yurt, which lead to a kill...an elk. Can you get any more experiential than this?
each day we awoke to a woodstove fire, hot brew and whatever the cook crew has prepared for breakfast. After breakfast we all had to do our parts whether it was clean up, chopping wood, snow collection for H2O or tending to the fire. then we would strap our skins on and head out for a glorious day in the powder. on our day tours we were"mastering" the tele turn (with a few face plants in between) and studying avalanches. we dug pits, identified terrain, snow packs, map navigation, winter adaptation skills , winter ecology, beacon searches/avy scenarios, and lots more. i was with an amazing crew too. most nights we would be exhausted after skiing all day, finishing up chores, and student presentations so wet supported one another in massage.
When we were in Hailey Idaho we met some locals who told us that it is the most snow they have had in 50 years and the coldest it has been in 10 years. which made for great and safe skiing, but not the best conditions for the avalanche curriculum. we only spotted one slab avalanche the entire month. After a month of simplicity in winterwonderland we were certified in level 1 Avalanche Awareness for backcountry skiers. i highly recommend taking this class if you are interested in Adventure Education. Or id\f you are reading this and want to do this with friends/ family or solo be in touch with Joe & Francie St. Onge. they are the two enthusiastic owners of Sun Valley Trekking. Check out their website. http://www.svtrek.com/winter/education.html
posted by Prescott College at 9:06 AM
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