Required Reading: Avalanche Essentials, Bruce Tremper
Freedom of the Hills (9e), Chapter 17
Lecture Objectives
- Identify avalanche terrain
- Discuss avalanche forecast
- Identify and perform field tests to determine snowpack stability/instability
- Recognize weather and terrain factors contributing to stability/instability
- Apply safe travel techniques
- Perform rescue through fast and efficient transceiver use, probing and shoveling
Outline
- Avalanche phenomenon
- Terrain analysis
- Snowpack
- Weather
- Stability evaluation
- Human factors and risk assessment
- Decision making
- Beacons/transceivers
- Rescue
Additional Resources
- Northwest Avalanche Center
- Avalanche Canada
Snow Sense, Jill Fredstone and Doug Fesler - Allen & Mike’s Avalanche Book: A guide to staying safe in avalanche terrain, (Allen O’Bannon and Mike Clelland), 2012, Falcon Guides
- Avalanche Safety for Skiers and Climbers (Tony Daffern)
- Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain (Bruce Tremper)
- Avalanche Handbook (David McClung and Peter Schaerer)