AVY SAVVY: SURVIVE IN THE BACKCOUNTRY
by PATRICK L. WELSH
Autumn foliage has given way to “quiet white”, and many of us have been out a few times already. The slow build up of the base, the pattern of cold North-western storms, and cold ground are making for a favorable early snow pack. But the fact that no resorts have opened in the past month has urged many to take up the call of the backcountry.
There is still plenty of danger despite the lack of hazard ropes, signs, or active avalanche control work, and it is best not to take it lightly. You are only a broken limb smashed on an uncovered rock, or a small slide away from an event that will turn alpine splendor into mountain madness.
Typical scenario #1: You are going out in the backcountry with no avalanche education, knowledge, or safety gear, mainly because you have lived in the mountains your whole life and have skied double black diamond in-bounds for years. You slog out in your heavy and often skinny alpine gear, with water, and the skis on your back. If you’re fit, you get to the top of your planned descent and with reckless abandon, strap on the planks and fly away into danger. Maybe you hit the parking lot to ski another day, but the law of odds says it’s only a matter of time before your inexperience and this decidedly cavalier attitude will get you in some serious physical, long lasting trouble.
Typical scenario #2: You actually have some avy education, knowledge, and assorted, yet not complete gear set up. You have skied for years and have been exposed to dangerous backcountry conditions and terrain many times. A lot of your friends are lean, knowledgeable, and efficient backcountry explorers who often urge you to join them, but for a range of reasons varying from lack of transceiver, limited practice of avy rescue techniques, or lack of touring efficient boots or bindings….you are the weakest link. The odds also dictate that you too will end up another number on the backcountry fatality list.
It's pretty straight forward. You would not presume to engage in a samurai sword battle without having extensive training and the correct tools and skills for the job. If you did not have the necessaries, and were just some air-tracing hack, you might scrape by a few times without getting totally relieved of your appendages, but soon enough the law of averages would remove you from the talent pool. Backcountry skiing and sword dueling may not seem terribly proportionate, but there are many parallels to be found.
The underlying theme is the consequence of mistakes. There are plenty of dangers that can kill you in the backcountry. Backcountry legends are even taken, despite all their wisdom and skill. What chance does a naive and inexperienced skier or boarder have?
“Know thine enemy!” The mountain and snows are not our enemy, but death from avalanche is. Start by studying up on avy related books. A good base of knowledge goes a long way. Some recommended reading is: Snow Sense by Jill Fredston and Doug Fesler; and How to Stay Alive in Avalanche Terrain by Bruce Tremper.
The next step is starting to accumulate backcountry related gear such as a compact and lightweight metal avalache shovel, an avy probe of at least 230 cm, and an easy-to-use and reliable avalanche beacon.
As far as beacons go, there are older but still reliable analog rigs, and newer and infinitely more user-friendly digital or digital/analog beacons. In a clinch you want to be able to locate buried victims as quickly as possible, so decide which will aid you the best. A great web site that includes unbiased reviews on all the available beacons is beaconreview.com. A secondary list of gear includes touring-specific bindings that enable you to wear your skis while hiking, light touring-specific boots, adjustable length ski poles, and a little thing known as an Avalung that enables one to still breathe under snow without rebreathing our own Co2.
I definitely suggest avalanche-training classes as a comprehensive way of taking book knowledge into the field and applying it. It will certainly give you an edge that is only rivaled by direct apprenticeship with an experienced user.
Armed with the knowledge and tools of the trade we can go towards turning the potentially deadly duel into another enjoyable walk in the hills. Enjoy the snow and I’ll see ya’ back there.
Patrick L Welsh is an employee of Black Diamond Equipment and Alta Ski Lifts’ Collins Grill, where he is available for all your hard-to-solve mountain adventure sports questions.