Avalanche Course: Field day 2

Today was field day 2 of the Avalanche field course! We went to Red Mountain Pass approximately at 11k and skinned up to Red Mountain 3 at 12k. We learned macro and micro route selection while considering what we learned from the past two days.


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Here are some of the pictures.


I am modeling my new backpack! Black Diamond Anarchist I absolutely love it! Notice how the picture is washed out by the snow. The day was cloudy, so no blue skies, but the day was still beautiful.



Tyler, near the top(12k) of Red Mountain 3. Notice the lack of blue sky and the wind blowing at his feet. He used his snowshoes while carrying his snowboard. This was his 3rd day ever snowboarding and in avalanche ridden backcountry; wait, someone is knocking on the door right now, oh, it is just a representative from the child-protective services.

However, the gang was impressed with his athleticism! (I was very impressed, and watching Tyler snowboard almost brought a proud tear to my eye.)

The gang up on the top.

Summary: the course was worth every penny. Invaluable course, I was thoroughly impressed with the instructors and their presentation of avalanche information. I would highly recommend anyone considering stepping their pinky-toe in the backcountry to attend this course.

Avalanche Course: Field day 1

Tyler, Jim, Dan O (co-worker) and I registered for an Avalanche course through the company Southwest Adventures.

The purpose of taking the course is to become familiar and risk-assess the variety of dangers while snowshoeing and skiing in the back country. I feel exposing Tyler to these courses at his age is exciting! I hope I am not living vicariously through him; however, he is excited about learning more avalanche details and states he wants a splitboard!

The course is three days long and utilizes the curriculum from the AIARE organization. The first day of didactic instruction consists of: avalanche anatomy, causes, effects, rescues, and risk-assessment. The second day was held at Molas Pass learning how to conduct rescues using tools such as beacons, probes and shovels. The last day will focus on route selection in the back country toward potential ski areas.

Josh, one of two outstanding instructors! (Don't tempt him with beef jerky, he will immediately morph into Sasquatch)



The class heading out. Engineer Mountain in the background. A beautiful day!


Above, Tyler and Jim simulate a search for me buried in the snow. I buried my backpack with my transmitting beacon. They are using their beacons as receivers to find the location.



Tyler narrows the search while Jim uses the beacon to possibly hit the "body". Aaron, on the far right, is another of our outstanding instructors.


After beacon finding we learned about digging snow-pits. These pits provide indictators regarding the various snow layers. The characteristics of these layers are merely one factor in assessing avalanche danger. Pits are 2 meters in length by 1.5 meters wide and the depth can be to the ground; we dug approximately 1.75 meters deep.


Jim and Tyler now identify and examine the layers!



A snap show of the various classmates digging their pits!


Thus far, the class has been priceless! I thoroughly enjoy the education and look forward to taking the Avalanche 2 course! Tomorrow I will post day 3 of the course! Click here to view more pictures from the course located to My Picasa site

Avalanche Course

I am attending an winter course during the weekend of Feb21. It is a 3 day A.I.A.R.E. Qualified Level 1 Avalanche Course. I am really looking forward to learning the basics of this topic and I do have plans to continue with the Level 2 course next year; apparently, the San Juan Mountains display unpredictable avalanche occurances. That being said, the San Juans are a center of attention regarding study by avalanche experts.

Learning about avalanches includes identification, avoidance, and rescue. All of which results in relative safety while exploring the backcountry! I feel this education will enable safer further exploration with friends and family deeper into the backcountry while skiing, snowshoeing etc! This class is the tip of the iceberg regarding future opportunities for whatever the future may hold!

And, I am told by a reliable source, the ability to Zen-out when exploring the backcountry is spectacular!


Here is a link to the company and course I am taking. South West Adventures . Here is a common website used as another indicator before travelling in the backcountry. Avalanche Site click on the regions to read reports of that area.

JV Wrestling finals

Tyler was apart of the Junior Varsity Bayfield wrestling team during the 08-09 season. This is his first ever wrestling; I felt he did extremely well considering being pitted against kids who wrestled since elementary school. I felt has some balls to participate in this sporting event without any past experience. I promised him he could get a tatoo of a bulls' balls on his forearms to signify his experience...

The lesson of being beat is humbling and I feel more imporant than winning; however, I have nothing but confidence he will only improve over the next few years. I reminded him of one of my favorite quotes "That which does not kill you only makes you stronger" Friedrich Nietzsche.


Enjoy the video below of a few of his last matches. Tyler is wearing all purple.

Here was his last match, finishing off the year! Very minimal video editing. I did speed up the video.

To view more pictures of Tyler warming up click here: MORE PICTURES

Until next year.

Video Editing

First attempt with audio and video editing from my FUJIFILM FinePix F20.

Tyler Snowboarding!

Be sure your speakers are on!

2nd day

Day 2 at Wolf Creek, we had two full days this weekend downhill skiing at the resort. Yes, Tyler's helmet is in the mail.



Getting ready to shred the "white gold"




I felt Tyler displayed exceptional skill by performing controlled S-turns on day 2!

Check out the below video.

We will be hitting Wolf Creek next weekend for day 3!

Brianna focused upon her toe-slipslide today (The next step after heel slidding), and expect her to begin her basic S-turns next weekend! Rebecca also attended the event and performed well on the bunny-hill. She will be on the bigger slopes as well next weekend.

It begins!

Today, the kids and I drove to Wolf Creek ski resort east of Bayfield to build upon our downhill experience. I cannot expect to be in the back country tomorrow if we cannot apply simple downhill skills at a resort today.

Stage one: get them comfortable skiing downhill and learning the basics of snowboarding.

The pictures below are of a simple slope within Wolf Creek that the Nova chair lift accesses. The newbie slope is perfect for learning novice snowboarding skills and is ideal for Tyler and Brianna. Skiing only this lift costs $20 dollars and I felt a fairly reasonable price. Lessons are also available; however, the expense is now $60 dollars for lessons including the Nova lift, this seemed a bit more expensive and we decided not to attend the lessons.

Tyler and Brianna researched the web for the basics of snowboarding and felt comfortable applying their book knowledge. After I felt confident they were on a path of progression I decided to go explore the resort's more difficult slopes and it went better than I thought. What can I say, I am a stud.

I returned from the various slopes to check upon Tyler and Brianna. I noticed many snowboarding lessons were ongoing and I thought to myself "those suckers are paying so much for lessons, pfft. who needs them!". Tyler and Brianna smiled as I approached and excitedly informed me of their learning. "Dad, we have been sitting out of noticeable view from these classes instructors and picked up tips for free!" Oh boy, my brain spun and I had mixed emotions when I heard of their frugal action: one, I felt like a cheap bastard and two, I was quite impressed with their perseverance. Life goes on...

Here is Brianna: her first EVER day of snowboarding. Click any of the pics to view the full size image.


She already looks like a PRO!


Tyler and Brianna decided to do a synchronized downhill.


It was a BEA-utiful day, not a cloud in the sky!


Tomorrow we will be heading back for locals day; a cheaper price is a result of this special day! Rebecca will be with us displaying her downhill skills!