Imagine this: on the first day of an avalanche class, you're
given a pre-test that has questions like, "A storm starts out with
rain falling at all elevations for a period of two hours; the storm
cools over the next six hours and puts 10 cm of snow on top. As the
storm clears, the air becomes very cold, -16C, with moderate wind
speeds. Three days later another storm deposits 20 cm of 10%
density snow over the span of 27 hours. Stability is rated ________
because of ________."
Fortunately, questions like this don't make Aaron Parmet and
Hunter Mortensen break out into a cold sweat the way they would for
some others.
The American Avalanche Association's nine-day AVPro class is
designed for ski patrollers, forecasters and professional guides
who already have significant avalanche experience, and a detailed
application process is necessary to get in. In fact, Aaron was the
only one of 18 participants in the Telluride February class who did
not have a paying job in an avalanche-related field. "I wanted to
bring my avalanche education to the next level and deepen my
understanding, so I can make better decisions as a rescuer and as a
recreational leader," Aaron says. "I also wanted to be able to pass
on what I learned to others."
For Hunter, who works full-time as a ski patroller for
Breckenridge, the decision to attend the class needs no
explanation. "The best part of the course for me," he comments,
"was the sharing of best practices between patrollers and dog
handlers."
The three full-time instructors for the course were Andy
Gleason, a PhD candidate in snow science and former CAIC
forecaster; Sarah Carpenter, owner of American Avalanche Institute
in Jackson; and Denny Hogan, a retired forecaster/snow ranger.
The course began with a field rescue exercise involving three
buried beacons, two dummies, a live burial, and a Recco tab. Both
Aaron and Hunter agreed that while it was a fairly advanced
scenario for most, it was a review for the two of them, the only
volunteer mountain rescuers in the group. That was the only part of
the course they labeled "basic", however.
It had snowed heavily, so on the second day participants
shadowed Telluride ski patrollers on control routes. The highlight
for Aaron, one of the few in the group who does not routinely do
control work, was observing a Howitzer control mission using a
Forest Service gun.
On the third day of the course, the group skied out a Telluride
backcountry gate and stayed for two nights in the Alta Lakes
Observatory, a backcountry lodge that exceeds the name "hut".
Featuring running water, electricity, a hot tub and a piano, it was
an ideal place for the group to kick back in the evenings with a
beer and talk shop. Hunter comments, "I really think the
instructors plan an overnight trip on purpose, in order to make
sure we spend time truly relaxing and sharing ideas with each
other. I learned a lot from talking to other patrollers." During
the days, the focus was on route finding and snow pits, but the
avalanche danger was rated so high that the group had to stay in
the trees and on very low-angled slopes.
Classroom topics in the days following the hut trip included
decision-making, controlled releases, fracture mechanics, spatial
variability, slab thickness and propagation, limitations of formal
stability tests, sintering following fracture, and skier
triggering. A frequent speaker, among others, was Craig Sterbenz,
Snow Safety Director for Telluride. And one of the most interesting
and highly debated topics, according to both Hunter and Aaron, was
snowpack dynamics and the decreasing reliability of skier
compaction theory; especially because skis are trending wider now
and tend to pack the snow less.
Toward the end of the class there were two more field tours at
Ophir and Red Mountain Pass, where CAIC forecaster Susan Hale
talked about issues in working with government agencies such as
CDOT, and how she makes the tough decisions that lead to road
closure recommendations.
On the last day of the course, participants took a 58-question
written exam, a timed full-data snow pit test, and a beacon test,
which involved finding three beacons in less than seven minutes in
a 100 meter by 100 meter field. Both Aaron and Hunter passed with
flying colors.
Asked who else in our group might be interested in taking a
future AVPro class, Aaron responds, "People who are absolutely
passionate about avalanche science." Hunter adds, "The person who
is ready and willing to make the decision whether to send us into
the field on an avalanche call is really who should take it. That's
the hardest and most important decision that gets made on our
team."
Photo: The Alta Lakes Observatory hut, by Aaron
Parmet.