Trax 2 Treadz
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- Joined
- Jan 25, 2008
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- Medicine Hat
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- trax2treadz.com
Last year Larry, Jaymie and I took the classroom portion of the AST One course in Fernie in January. There were a million excuses not to, ranging from it’s a whole day that we could be riding but instead we will be sitting in a classroom, Larry’s been riding for 25+ years and I have been riding for 10+ years what are we really going to learn?, it’s a lot of money to plop down for the 3 of us, we really don’t do any high marking or engage in any risky avalanche type riding behaviors so what’s the point for us?, a lot of it is just common sense what are we really going to learn? etc. etc. etc.
Holy cow was I ever wrong on all accounts!!!
While some of it is the oh so uncommon common sense a lot of it is stuff I never even thought of. You will learn about how to make good choices in terrain choices to minimize your risks. The types of avalanches and their sizes. What causes and avalanche triggers. The science of snow and how weather affects that, weak and strong snow. Persistent and non-persistent weak layers. How to read and interpret the avalanche bulletins. We looked a little bit at how beacons work as well and how important it is to upgrade your beacons to the 3 antennae transceivers. I didn’t know 95% of the stuff I learned at the course and I have been sledding for 10 plus years. Let me say this if you think you know it all, you don’t.
Then this past weekend we spent out in Fernie again taking the field portion of our AST level one with Justin Boehme of Zac’s Trac’s. We had a group of only 5 so we got a lot of one on one attention and were able to practice a ton with our beacons. We started the day with a discussion in the parking lot of the avaluator and risks and how quickly different choices can make the risk factor go up, we talked about how weather affects snow packs and then Justin also gave us a rundown of how the day would go. When we left the truck it was minus 23 and it felt like it!!! Thank fully there was no wind.
On the way out to the cut block we were going to be working in Justin stopped and went over some terrain evaluations in relation to simple transitioning to complex terrain in a short distance. Once we got there we dug our pits, which actually turned out to be a lot of fun. I dug down a bit and then Larry dug down beside me all the way and the young man beside me dug down all the way and I sat on my perch and chattered away with the young man beside me while he dug and with Larry while he dug. Then the young man suggested that we breakup my perch to complete the pit!!!! I think that was a hint that he wanted me to shut up! So anyways, we learned how to assess the different levels in the snow and relate it to the information we read in the bulletins to either confirm or not what we read. The good news was that even with 10 shoulder hits we could not get the snow to trigger at all.
Justin also explained that when you are riding in the Fernie area you need to check 2 different bulletins depending on where you are riding. The area on the same side of the highway as the ski hill is called the Lizard Range while the area on the opposite side of the highway is called the South Rockies.
Next we moved onto beacon work. We all set our beacons to search and walked out so we got an idea of the range of our beacons. Honestly I was surprised at the great range of my PIEPS beacon. We then did some searches. It was interesting to note how a digital transceiver follows a flux line which curves you right into the target. I also was pretty good at getting within a meter of my target but didn’t feel as confident doing the fine search. Larry said he thought I was flipping my beacon around too much and not holding it steady which could have been giving me the confusing readings. Justin also taught us how to use the scan function and marking functions on our beacons. We also learned that when our transceivers had troubles marking it's likely that the buried transceiver is an analog . Backing up and pressing the marking button again sometimes solves this. I am going to have to read my manual again on this. We also learned the proper shoveling technique to dig out a buried victim.
The thing that kept running through my mind when we were doing our beacon searches is even though I knew it was a beacon in a bag with a piece of cardboard. What if it was one of my kids or husband how would I react? Would I be able to keep my head together? That caused me to, I am not sure what the word is, panic? get flustered? a few times in my searches.
Finally we moved onto scenarios. Justin set these up and we rode into them just like would happen if came upon something in the backcountry, he was the witness. Honestly, this felt like a fuster cluck. The reality is though when you come upon a situation, you don’t know what you are going to be working with, we got our 4 beacons out in 18 mins and our biggest hold up was our last beacon which didn’t end up being turned on and Justin had to dig it out. That took us the most time to locate.
It was an excellent day with a very knowledgeable instructor.
Take the time to take the course. Do it because YOU want to. Do it because YOU respect the people you ride with enough to be able to save their lives. Do it because YOU want to be able to make your backcountry experience as safe and enjoyable as it can possibly be.
As a result of this Larry and I are very much interested in getting our level 1.5 and then level 2. I know we will be taking Jaymie and Trennis through their level one in a few more years.
It also highlights the need for us to practice, practice, practice and then practice some more with our beacons.
Jan
Holy cow was I ever wrong on all accounts!!!
While some of it is the oh so uncommon common sense a lot of it is stuff I never even thought of. You will learn about how to make good choices in terrain choices to minimize your risks. The types of avalanches and their sizes. What causes and avalanche triggers. The science of snow and how weather affects that, weak and strong snow. Persistent and non-persistent weak layers. How to read and interpret the avalanche bulletins. We looked a little bit at how beacons work as well and how important it is to upgrade your beacons to the 3 antennae transceivers. I didn’t know 95% of the stuff I learned at the course and I have been sledding for 10 plus years. Let me say this if you think you know it all, you don’t.
Then this past weekend we spent out in Fernie again taking the field portion of our AST level one with Justin Boehme of Zac’s Trac’s. We had a group of only 5 so we got a lot of one on one attention and were able to practice a ton with our beacons. We started the day with a discussion in the parking lot of the avaluator and risks and how quickly different choices can make the risk factor go up, we talked about how weather affects snow packs and then Justin also gave us a rundown of how the day would go. When we left the truck it was minus 23 and it felt like it!!! Thank fully there was no wind.
On the way out to the cut block we were going to be working in Justin stopped and went over some terrain evaluations in relation to simple transitioning to complex terrain in a short distance. Once we got there we dug our pits, which actually turned out to be a lot of fun. I dug down a bit and then Larry dug down beside me all the way and the young man beside me dug down all the way and I sat on my perch and chattered away with the young man beside me while he dug and with Larry while he dug. Then the young man suggested that we breakup my perch to complete the pit!!!! I think that was a hint that he wanted me to shut up! So anyways, we learned how to assess the different levels in the snow and relate it to the information we read in the bulletins to either confirm or not what we read. The good news was that even with 10 shoulder hits we could not get the snow to trigger at all.
Justin also explained that when you are riding in the Fernie area you need to check 2 different bulletins depending on where you are riding. The area on the same side of the highway as the ski hill is called the Lizard Range while the area on the opposite side of the highway is called the South Rockies.
Next we moved onto beacon work. We all set our beacons to search and walked out so we got an idea of the range of our beacons. Honestly I was surprised at the great range of my PIEPS beacon. We then did some searches. It was interesting to note how a digital transceiver follows a flux line which curves you right into the target. I also was pretty good at getting within a meter of my target but didn’t feel as confident doing the fine search. Larry said he thought I was flipping my beacon around too much and not holding it steady which could have been giving me the confusing readings. Justin also taught us how to use the scan function and marking functions on our beacons. We also learned that when our transceivers had troubles marking it's likely that the buried transceiver is an analog . Backing up and pressing the marking button again sometimes solves this. I am going to have to read my manual again on this. We also learned the proper shoveling technique to dig out a buried victim.
The thing that kept running through my mind when we were doing our beacon searches is even though I knew it was a beacon in a bag with a piece of cardboard. What if it was one of my kids or husband how would I react? Would I be able to keep my head together? That caused me to, I am not sure what the word is, panic? get flustered? a few times in my searches.
Finally we moved onto scenarios. Justin set these up and we rode into them just like would happen if came upon something in the backcountry, he was the witness. Honestly, this felt like a fuster cluck. The reality is though when you come upon a situation, you don’t know what you are going to be working with, we got our 4 beacons out in 18 mins and our biggest hold up was our last beacon which didn’t end up being turned on and Justin had to dig it out. That took us the most time to locate.
It was an excellent day with a very knowledgeable instructor.
Take the time to take the course. Do it because YOU want to. Do it because YOU respect the people you ride with enough to be able to save their lives. Do it because YOU want to be able to make your backcountry experience as safe and enjoyable as it can possibly be.
As a result of this Larry and I are very much interested in getting our level 1.5 and then level 2. I know we will be taking Jaymie and Trennis through their level one in a few more years.
It also highlights the need for us to practice, practice, practice and then practice some more with our beacons.
Jan
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