Notes from Backcountry Class at Kirkwood 3/19/06

These are my (Maria's) notes in roughly the same order they were talked about, not reorganized, but they cover all of the major points we discussed.

Plan

• Who is going with you?
  want to make sure people are competent backcountry skiiers, match the group in terms of ability and level, as well as boarders/skiiers/telemarks, also consider group size (2 people minimum, ~4 is ideal, 10 at the absolute max)
• Equipment
  • for a trip things you need to consider bringing: transceiver (beacon), shovel (long handle, aluminum works best), probe, trained partner, clothing (need a wicking layer, polypropylene NO cotton, then insulating, then snow-proof over-layer, additional insulating layer, carry a 3rd insulating layer, wind and snow proof shell, gloves (light pair for assent, work gloves, mittens for warmth) a wollen hat, goggles, food, water (you burn 3,000 to 4,000 calories on a 1/2 day trip, and if the weather is cold you could burn upwards of 5,000 calories; you need 4 L of water per day)
  • if going overnight need to include: sleeping bags, sleeping pads, tents, cooking equipment, first-aid kits
  • for a first-aid kit: medical gloves, gauze (blood stoppers), quick-splint, shears/cutting device (multi-tool), breathing mask to assist in CPR, sunscreen, sunhats, blister treatment
• prehydrate, eat ahead (better to sustain than to play catch-up)
• GPS/compass navigation can bring, but shouldn't have to rely on it
• Topomap: can print off for whatever area you are going to now, so no excuse to not have. Can use to figure out where you are going and plot your course ahead of time
• when you are out, maintain 3 points of reference AT ALL TIMES, pick a new point of reference when you lose 1 point, or backtrack until you can see all 3 previous points so you know where you are
• contour lines: 40 feet apart, so when contour lines are really narrow, the slope is very steep, when they are far apart, the area is very flat (laminate the map so you can read it when you have it with you)
• make sure you have prearranged meeting points for the group, when you go out, let everyone know, I'm going to this position on the hill, meet me there; also for the trip, if all goes wrong and we get separated, we will meet at X time at Y location. DO NOT move the car or leave the meeting point if you arrive first.
• leave your intentions with a reliable person, let them know who, where, when and what you are doing, give them a map with a plot of you course and a plan outline of times and such to aid in rescue operations
• leave the car keys at the car, not on a particular person
• before you leave have an equipment check- have everyone lay everything out and make sure it all works
• other useful items to bring include ducktape and wire, radio/cell phone
  (This course stresses self-party rescue, so don't want to rely on outside sources as will be too late to save you)

Weather forecast

• make sure to check and get info. on the day you are going and that night and the following day or two
• read it well!
• when it starts snowing or the wind blows, the avalanche danger will increase, plus it is difficult if not impossible to navigate when the wind is blowing and it is snowing and it is cold and uncomfortable to be out.
• the stronger the wind, the more time you will need and the colder the temperature, the higher the avalanche danger and the more energy you expend (ie the more food you will need to carry with)
• make sure the forecast is for your area (the wind is generally out the the SW in the Sierras)
• it is useful to track the weather for weeks/months if you are doing a long trip, that way you get acquainted with what is happening where and when
• make current observations and match them to what was predicted, is the weather moving in early, is an unexpected storm moving in

Avalanche forecast

• wind loads on side opposite of direction the wind is blowing, so if you have a hill and the wind is blowing, it will lift snow and carry it over the peak and load on the lee side of the mountain (ie can form a cornice or a snow pocket)
• always look for wind-blown snow, especially after a large snowfall there will be lots of transport
• look for cornices and in general stay away
• settlement is a function of time and heat, settlement occurs and more settling equals more stable and less snow for the wind to catch and carry over the mountain
• bonding: occurs at the interface between old and new snow layers
• in the backcountry, stay away from cornices, the avalanche danger is high, also a cornice in the backcountry is not patrolled and maintained, so it WILL break and crush you, and potentially even trigger an avalanche
• cross-loading: a cornice is formed by direct loading by wind blowing over the top of the mountain, wind can also come around the side of the mountain and move snow forming wind slabs, these can be deeper and more dangerous as there is more snow that can be moved lower on the slope and you can get larger wind slabs in gullies around the edge/on the flanks of the mountain
• also be aware of tree-well dangers, snow will build up around tree trunks and you will get a well where the branches and heat of the tree melt the snow away, if you fall in a tree well, you can trigger an avalanche from the tree well itself (as tree wells can be more than 20 feet deep) and this will suffocate you if you are hanging upside down from your skiis/board
• there was also a handout here listing the levels of avalanche danger and their descriptions, we read through and discussed it

Handling Dangerous Terrain

• the biggest item here is to ski 1 at a time, tell the people where on the slope you are going (the safest region to wait for the others), then watch each other, always, always watch your fellow travellers so you have a last point of sight in case of an avalanche
• another thing is ski cutting, to test an area, although it is extremely dangerous (ski patrol will only do if the prediction is for a class 2 avalanche or lower, ie big enough to injure/bury a person), also don't cut above a cliff or a tree-line (so if it avalanches you are not putting yourself in the way of more danger)
• to do ski cutting, you basically cut across the slope little bit by little bit to see if it will give and hopefully keep yourself above the point where it gives
• avalanches have been recorded at 300 mph, normally not unusual for 200 miles per hour, so don't think you are going to out-ski one, the guys you see in the movies have guides and equipment you don't, so don't count on "out-running" an avalanche

Rescue

• traumatic injury and suffocation hazards
• beacon: put on the lowest layer of clothing, put under arm and turn on, leave on at all times, don't use if the battery is less than 80 (or it doesn't not have enough range)
  • turn on, put on, leave on
• once you have an avalanche, you have less than 13 minutes to find a person before they suffocate to death, it takes ~4 people 15 minutes to move 1 cubic meter of snow, so if someone is bured more than 1.5 or 2 meters, there really is not hope of reaching them in time

Types of avalanches

• point-release: just like it sounds, a small point source and then the avalanche spreads out
• slab: a large slab of snow releases and the whole thing slides down the mountain
• wet-snow avalanche: can be a point-release or a slab, basically due to sun-melting or rain, the weight of the snow causes it to release and go down the mountain
• if it is snowing at a slow rate (< 1cm/hr) new snow can bond to old snow
• if it is snowing faster than 1 cm per hour, there is no time for new snow to bond to old snow and you get different layers
• moist snow bonds, cold snow doesn't
• the less bonding, the greater the chance of avalanches
• snowpits: want to dig at the same elevation/exposure/area as you plan on sking
• rounded flakes pack more and more stable than large crystalline flakes
• snowpits aren't everything, was an exercise where in a whole bowl dug pits not too far from each other, and every pit was at a different level, some were extremely stable, others were extremely ready to give, pit just gives and indication of what could be out there
• back to the beacon:
  1. visual search, can you see equipment, how many people are buried
  2. is it safe to go out and start a rescue? can you put more people on the slope?
  3. primary search: pull out beacon, everyone remaining in group put into search mode, then move in a grid pattern swinging across the slope to within 10 m of the side of the slide, 20 m between passes, moving beacon in an arc direction to detect signal
  4. secondary search: when within 30 (15) meters, move in the direction of the signal, there are lights at the top that give an indication of direction of signal, follow them, try to keep the light in the center and make sure that the distance goes down, move really fast until you hit 10 m, then start slowing down until you hit 3-5 M
  5. primary: get on your hands and knees and go to a pin-point search, get the beacon on snow level and follow the debris, swing the beacon to get the lowest reading in a left to right movement, then from that point go in a up and down movement and find the lowest reading, once find the lowest point in a cross-hairs shape, probe, when you hit the body leave your probe in (the body will be soft, the snow is rock-hard, you will know if you hit the body), then dig like mad, dig from the lower point in the slope, not straight down from the probe, get his face uncovered first, then chest, then fully extract
• if you are caught in an avalanche, get rid of your gear, no straps on poles, doggie paddle, expand you chest when you start to slow down to give yourself more space, try to get an arm or goggles over your face for a breathing area, try to do anything to keep yourself alive
• if you are watching your fellow travelers, you have a last seen point, ski to it immediately and start your search
• uphill travel is as important as downhill, >60% of avalanche fatalities actually occur on the APPROACH!