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AmSnow Visits Avalanche Seminar

If you ride out west, you NEED to take this class! Being Wisconsinites, we don't get to spend as much time in the mountains as those who live in the Rocky Mountain states, but even those who only take a few trips out west should have basic avalanche knowledge.

Last week we attended an Avalanche Awareness, Avoidance, and Rescue class for snowmobilers put on by instructor Mike Duffy at The Englehart Center in Madison, Wisconsin. You may recognize Mike's name as he is AmSnow's resident avalanche expert, has written avalanche articles for the magazine, and has more accredidations than we can count. Owner Robert Hintz and his crew from Engelhart's teamed up with Mike to offer this class after the crew took several trips out west and realized midwest guys often don't have the mountain knowledge that the locals out west do.

Mike's class is something everyone should take as it covers numerous important topics such as the International Avalanche Danger Scale, avalanche reports, signs of instability/stability analysis, choosing the right equipment to carry, avalanche beacons, rescue methods, terrain evaluations and more. The most important thing we learned in the class was that avalanche knowledge is the most important tool you can have when riding out west. That, and never travel somewhere that your gut tells you is unsafe. Take it easy, and play it safe. No hillclimb, or sidehill thrill is worth dying for.

One important take-away from the night was recognizing the 5-signs of instability which are listed below.

- Significant snowfall in the last 24 hours, recent natural avalches on the same aspect, wind and windward and leeward slopes, collapsing or cracking of the snow, and rapid rise in temperature.