It's been 5 years since I last took an avalanche class. It was a refresher experience for me to meet a bunch of backcountry skiiers
and had a field trip together. What so amazing in this trip was that there were 2 guys in the group hiked up with the group without
any ski or snowshoes, just with their plastic boots. It wasn't even crossed my mind that they would make it, but they did.
We went to Steven Pass Ski Resort, but went on the north side of the Highway and went straight up to about 1000 feet above the Highway.
We practiced Beacon search, Group Travel, Basic Snow Pit Analysis and Rutschblock Test.
Getting ready at the parking lot.
Little lecture talk during a stop.
We were at above 800 feet above the highway
Group dynamics was a key part of backcountry snow travel.
Couldn't resist the deep fresh powder ....
Snow pit analysis
Finger and Fist Test.
Layers indetified
Snowpack was quite strong on the bottom.
Compression column test
Preparing a Rutschblock ...
Skiier approaching the rutschblock ....
Looking at the bottom of the block to analyze the snow crystals in between the layers
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