From the 2nd day of the BC Skills Camp (12/12) to Thursday 12/17, the Sawtooth received about 1.5 feet of snow. This brought the average depths at the Yurt up to 3 feet on Souths, and 4 feet on upper shaded aspects.
We had a private Level 1 w/ the First Ascent Team the weekend of 12/19-12/21. Kirk, Erik Leidecker and Lel (AIARE instructor from Tahoe) taught the course which was the standard 3 day hut stay, but with 5 students. Reggie and Zach Crist also were at the yurt and they will be updating their FA blog soon…check it out. The new snow, sitting on weak layers, created perfect conditions for an avalanche class.
While Kirk, Erik and crew were up at the yurt, Hatch and I were in town teaching a Level 1 Refresher (Avalanche Skills Advancement Workshop). This course is slowly gaining popularity, and for good reason. Its cheap, covers all the basics, and includes class room time, but mainly logging time in the field. Its a great way to brush up on beacon skills, snow pit work, terrain management and any other skills people want to work on. We toured out at Copper mountain, and found rather scary avalanche conditions. Good thing there are conservative routes down with good skiing. Here’s a couple photos from the ASAW:
Thanks for the photos Kelley!
-Clark