Courses and more information
 

This is probably a frequently asked question so forgive my ignorance.

Does anyone know of good avalanche and back country courses in the
California/Tahoe region. I am just looking for information on safety
issues so that I can occasionally travel away from the populated ski
resorts.

On Fri, 12 Sep 2003 14:07:12 -0700, "Justin Bischoff"
wrote:

This is probably a frequently asked question so forgive my ignorance.

Does anyone know of good avalanche and back country courses in the
California/Tahoe region. I am just looking for information on safety
issues so that I can occasionally travel away from the populated ski
resorts.

The National Ski Patrol does a number of courses, including Level I
and II Avalanche at various relevant locations around the country.

See: www.nsp.org under Education.

Also, some climbing guide services will sponsor similar training.

Note that taking a course does not reduce the chances of an avalanche
or make one more survivable. All it can do is add to your common sense
and judgement, to be elsewhere when an avalanche happens.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

In article ,
Gary S. Idontwantspam@net wrote:

Does anyone know of good avalanche and back country courses in the
California/Tahoe region. I am just looking for information on safety
issues so that I can occasionally travel away from the populated ski
resorts.

Some web searching on Alpine Skills Institute (Donner Summit), and
Couloir Magazine (Truckee) might be useful. Also, staff at Alpenglow
and Backcountry stores in Tahoe City.

On Fri, 12 Sep 2003 14:07:12 -0700, "Justin Bischoff"
wrote:

This is probably a frequently asked question so forgive my ignorance.

Does anyone know of good avalanche and back country courses in the
California/Tahoe region. I am just looking for information on safety
issues so that I can occasionally travel away from the populated ski
resorts.

This is just South of there, but the school has a good reputation. I
did one of their telemark festivals and had a great time and learned a
lot:
http://www.mtadventure.com/index.html

hth;

DCraig at rain dot org.

On Fri, 12 Sep 2003 22:33:25 +0000 (UTC), Kurt
wrote:

In article , Gary S. says...

The National Ski Patrol does a number of courses, including Level I
and II Avalanche at various relevant locations around the country.

You know, I've taken both NSP avie courses and courses geared towards
backcountry travelers. As a backcountry skier and NOT a ski patroller, I felt
that the courses more geared toward the backcountry skier were more my style.
YMMV. AAI (out of Jackson) provided an excellent class:

The one that I've taken twice is co-sponsored by the NSP, Appalachian
Mtn. Club, and taught in part by the USFS Snow Rangers from Tuckerman
Ravine. That one had plenty of backcountry specific info, as well as
local info (where the leeward slopes are, etc). I would agree that
some are very much more area focused, but in this case the ski area is
the East side of Mt. Washington, NH.

Not a lot of these offered in the Northeast.

Note that taking a course does not reduce the chances of an avalanche
or make one more survivable. All it can do is add to your common sense
and judgement, to be elsewhere when an avalanche happens.

Time in the backcountry is probably your best bet, well, as long as you don't
die gathering up all that experience.

Some stats have been mentioned where those who have taken a basic avvy
course end up MORE likely to be caught in one. Overconfidence is
possible.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

Does anyone know of good avalanche and back country courses in the
California/Tahoe region. I am just looking for information on safety
issues so that I can occasionally travel away from the populated ski
resorts.

I took one at ASI (Donner summit, old road) a few years ago.

Norm Wilson was the instructor. He was good.

Several friends have also mentioned that he is good without prompting.
I think he lives in the Tahoe area - probably does courses at other
places too.

--
The suespammers.org mail server is located in California. So are all my
other mailboxes. Please do not send unsolicited bulk e-mail or unsolicited
commercial e-mail to my suespammers.org address or any of my other addresses.
These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's. I hate spam.

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In article ,
Hal Murray wrote:
Does anyone know of good avalanche and back country courses in the
California/Tahoe region. I am just looking for information on safety
issues so that I can occasionally travel away from the populated ski
resorts.

I took one at ASI (Donner summit, old road) a few years ago.

Norm Wilson was the instructor. He was good.

Several friends have also mentioned that he is good without prompting.
I think he lives in the Tahoe area - probably does courses at other
places too.


_ Pretty much every guide service in the area offers
them. There's

ASI

http://www.alpineskills.com/mountainguides.htm

MAS

http://www.mtadventure.com/

_ MAS offers courses in conjuction with REI where you do the
class part at the REI store and the field part at Bear Valley.
I've gone to their Telemark Festival and they are pretty well
organized and professional.

Shasta Mountain Guides.

http://www.shastaguides.com/

_ They offer a bunch of different classes on Mt. Shasta including
a 4 day introduction to all aspects of BC skiing. I've gone on
one guided climb/glacier travel class with them and I had a good time.

_ The Tahoe City Fire Department has Friday Evening transciever
practice classes and the folks at The Backcountry have informal
Monday skis which might be a good way to spend a day with some
more experienced skiers.

_ Booker C. Bense



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Kurt Knisely wrote:
Gary S. says...

The National Ski Patrol does a number of courses, including Level I
and II Avalanche at various relevant locations around the country.

You know, I've taken both NSP avie courses and courses geared towards
backcountry travelers. As a backcountry skier and NOT a ski patroller, I felt
that the courses more geared toward the backcountry skier were more my style.
YMMV.

Avalanche courses hosted by NSP backcountry patrols are typically quite good.
The Tahoe Backcountry Patrol is known for excellent courses. Choose wisely.

American Avalanche Association www.avalanche.org/~aaap/
course curricula are heavily based on the NSP curriculum.

As others have pointed out:

Alpine Skills International www.alpineskills.com

Mountain Adventure Seminars www.mtadventure.com

are nearby, and teach the AIARE curriculum www.avtraining.org

-Rick.