Instructor's consent is required. All aspects of avalanche safety will be covered during this three-day outing, from route planning to rescue skills. The emphasis is on backcountry travel techniques and hazard evaluation. You'll have opportunities to practice probe and pit tests, evaluate hazards, and conduct searches using avalanche probes and beacons. You must provide skis or snowshoes.
Rentals are available locally.
Avalanche Safety Preparation is a corequisite. Feb. 23-25 to Tumalo Mountain, near Mt. Bachelor. This course focuses on technical rock rescue skills for a single rescuer. We'll have plenty of time to practice belay escapes, raising rescues, counterbalance descents and rappelling with an injured person in a 'ground school' setting prior to practicing these skills on the outing. This course allows you to apply the rescue skills learned in the gymnasium to a vertical environment.