In the middle of December Sawtooth Mountain Guides instructors Mike Hatch and Clark Corey ran a Backcountry Skills Course up at the Williams Peak Hut in the Sawtooth Mountains of central Idaho. We had five students and a nice mix of snowboarders and skiers. For three days the course participants had the pleasure of familiarizing themselves with their backcountry skiing/riding gear and the terrain around the hut, learning winter travel techniques and avalanche awareness training, and meeting some nice folks. We were blessed with 6″ of light fluffy snow and found some nice powder stashes in the trees. Coverage was a little skimpy down low, but we made the most of what was there. A couple days later Mother Nature threw down another foot of powder to freshen things up. Our thanks go out to Shawna, Gabe, Justin, Laura, Joe, and Mary for a great course. Happy Holidays!
