Tyler's Backcountry Awareness

Planning to Manage Avalanche Terrain means reaching group consensus on where and how you plan to travel in the backcountry and what terrain and features your group agrees to avoid before you even enter the field.

The product of your group’s discussion about terrain will be a plan to follow throughout the day. As a measure of perspective, your group should aim to spend about 80% of your planning discussion talking about terrain affected by the current avalanche conditions. Your goal is to articulate your group’s plan to Use Terrain To Reduce Your Risk throughout the day.

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Surviving a winter night in the backcountry mountains comes down to managing heat, moisture, energy, and decision-making. These five priorities matter most:

*Stay dry at all costs - Wet clothing can become life-threatening fast in freezing conditions. Avoid sweating by regulating layers while moving. Ventilate before you overheat, and change out of damp base layers if possible. Cotton is especially dangerous because it holds moisture and loses insulation value.
*Protect yourself from wind first, cold second - Wind strips heat dramatically faster than still air. Even a simple windbreak can make a huge difference: Get below ridgelines, Use trees, rock formations, or snow walls, Build a shelter low to the ground, Insulate yourself from snow with branches, a pad, or your pack
*Keep your core warm and fuel your body - Your body is the furnace. Eat calorie-dense food before sleeping — fats and carbs both help. Drink water even if you don’t feel thirsty; dehydration accelerates hypothermia. Warm liquids help morale and body temperature if you can make them safely.
*Avoid exhaustion and poor decisions - In winter survival situations, people often get into trouble by pushing too far after dark, in storms, or while fatigued. If navigation becomes uncertain: Stop early, Establish shelter before full darkness, Conserve energy, Stay visible if rescue is possible. Hypothermia also affects judgment, so confusion, clumsiness, and apathy are danger signs.
*Carry and know how to use a minimal winter survival kit - A few lightweight items dramatically increase survival odds: Fire starter + backup ignition, Emergency bivy or space blanket, Insulating layer, Headlamp, Knife or multitool, High-calorie emergency food, Navigation tools, Communication device or PLB/satellite messenger

A winter backcountry emergency is usually survived by people who stay calm, stay dry, preserve heat early, and avoid turning a difficult situation into a desperate one.

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With each of the classes we teach, you will need a snowmobile or a snowbike for your class participation. We first spend a little bit of time in the classroom to establish foundational understandings of avalanche safety. But we then transition into the field to put your new learning into practice and you will need a machine to transport from place to place.

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DEBRIEF THE DAY

At the end of each day, you and your group can gain valuable experience comparing what was anticipated and what you saw. Summarize Conditions and Submit Your Observations to your local avalanche center. Just as importantly, Review Today’s Decisions and Improve Today’s Plan. Debriefing insights stick when they can be immediately visualized. Asking “If we went back to the same slope in the same conditions tomorrow, what would we do differently?” is a more specific and potentially more valuable rewording of the broad question “What could we have done better?”

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The AIARE Framework is comprised of five important pieces. Each of these components is an essential piece of the puzzle, and a strong understanding and ex*****on of each is an important part of staying safe in backcountry terrain.

With practice, you and your riding group can adapt these pieces into a smooth flow that enhances your riding experience and helps you develop a lifelong practice of managing risk in avalanche terrain.

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Every trip into the backcountry is unique! This is part of why we as motorized users enjoy it. However, from a safety standpoint, we need to be best prepared for the unknown. By having a plan ahead of time and a team that conhesively understands that plan and sticks to it, the probability of success for the trip gets much higher.

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Practicing avalanche rescue is rehearsing for an unlikely but possible emergency situation. Learn how to best conduct an avalanche rescue by taking an Avalanche Rescue Course. To keep your skills sharp and make sure you are reinforcing the correct habits, frequently review this avalanche rescue section, practice throughout the season, and regularly retake the Avalanche Rescue Course to gain experience working with others in realistic scenarios and receive coaching from experienced professionals.

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The learning in all of our avalanche course offerings will have you riding your snowmobile and engaging with terrain to put your new learning to use directly in the field. The learning in all of our classes are fun, engaging, and hands on!

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