Chickadee Valley

Joanne decided to organize a refresher weekend for avalanche education, and we were happy to participate!

I'm not sure how often most people practice their avalanche skills beyond the occasional beacon search, but it's not something I've thought about too much since taking the AST courses. On the first day, we did some role-play scenarios at the Burstall Pass beacon training park and practiced both technical (beacons, shoveling and probing techniques) and organizational (different roles and group dynamics) skills. When we started to get comfortable, a couple of multiple burial scenarios quickly humbled us. A BBQ hosted by Brian ended a day full of education and building confidence.


The next day, we went for a tour in Chickadee Valley, chosen for its relatively easy access and the interesting variety of terrain that was available to analyze visually (from a distance).

The avalanche forecast was quite promising, but during the drive in we noticed a bit more wind than expected, along with a light snow as soon as we got close to Vermilion Pass. This would make for some more interesting discussions during the day.

Gearing up at the Continental Divide parking lot

 The uptrack was in decent shape, although it was a bit more twisty and windy than I recalled, perhaps due to the time of year.

The creek was still running, resulting in some interesting ice formations

The first avalanche runout looked fairly tracked out, so we gave it a miss and headed further in, eventually deciding on doing a run on the fourth runout. It helped our confidence that the start zone wasn't nearly as complicated.

We performed a couple of compression tests and felt good about the slope, so we had a nice little run back down to the trail.

All in all, it was a great day with friends old and new, topped off with burgers, a fire, and alcohol of several varieties. Here's to more snow and less wind!

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/113575867