07 Avalanche Avoidance
Snowbasin Freeride Avalanche Workshop, Jan 26 -28
I took this workshop last year at Snowbird and am excited to be returning this year as an instructor. I’ll be giving two classroom presentations, teaching a ropes & knots mini clinic and partaking in all of the on-snow activities. My first presentation should be titled “Mental Case Studies in Avalanche Stupidity” as it covers […]
Bunching
It’s hard to say which is worse – bunched up skiing, or bunched up underwear, and although both are unpleasant, bunched up skiing is definitely more dangerous. You usually hear about the dangers of bunching up in two scenarios; either in an avalanche course where the instructors say to avoid it, or when there’s been […]
Avalanche Science Project
I’ve always wanted an excuse to make an avalanche board, and my daughter’s recent school Science Fair seemed like a perfect opportunity to try it out. Avalanche boards are pretty cool as they can show all of the elements of an avalanche (layers, triggers, slope angle, terrain) in a confined space and time, plus you […]
Self Belayed Cornice Stomping
Cornices often present a backcountry conundrum – is it safer to stomp them and risk going for a ride when they break behind your feet, or is it better to not stomp them and thus give up a valuable piece of avalanche insight? I’m firmly in the pro stomping category and while most of the […]
Worthwhile Avalanche Video
One positive aspect of being a GoPro nation is that not only are avalanche accidents being documented as they happen, but often times from a variety of camera angles as well. This video does an excellent job showing the reality of being buried alive and the horror or realizing that the victim isn’t wearing a […]
10 – The Common Cure
The tenth and last of my personal avalanche avoidance theories. There’s a joke among sailors concerning seasickness that’s usually told as the victim is puking over the railing: Q: Do you know the only proven cure for seasickness? A: Lie down in the shade of a palm tree. The point of the joke is that […]
9 – Beyond Bros
Part 9 in 10 of my personal avalanche avoidance theories. Bro’ing down in the mountains with your buddies is a big part of what makes backcountry skiing so fun. There’s an intensity that comes from trusting your friends to rescue you if things go wrong (and vice versa) that leads to strong relationships, which may, […]
8 – Redefine Challenge
Part 8 in 10 of my personal avalanche avoidance theories… In 2010 I was involved in a round table discussion where participants were asked to describe the “most challenging thing they had done in their respective sports over the last year.” I went first and it was a no brainer – “Due to a persistently […]
7 – Hedge Fund Skiing
Part 7 of 10 in a series of personal avalanche avoidance theories. After going on a financial disaster reading bender for the last three years, I started noticing a lot of similarities between investors and skiers: Risk versus Reward Smart people getting whacked Dumb people getting lucky Greed Herd instinct Competition Tons of underlying information […]
6 – Trust Your Instincts
Part 6 in 10 of my personal avalanche avoidance theories.. Deciding to ski an avalanche slope based on gut instincts alone is a bad habit to get into, but there is one occasion when you definitely should trust your avalanche instincts: when they are telling you NOT to do it. This is akin to Spiderman’s […]
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