Avalanche Awareness Archives
The Ultimate Guide
to Backcountry Skiing
The Ultimate Guide to Backcountry Skiing and Riding After each one of our courses at Baker Mountain Guides, we do our best to provide useful resources to our students so they can continue their education and not completely forget all the things they learned from us. There’s a lot of great information out there, but […]
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Backcountry Skiing Courses
Backcountry Skiing Courses and Ski Mountaineering Courses A pair of skis are the ultimate transportation to freedom. ~ Warren Miller The popularity of backcountry skiing and snowboarding has exploded in recent years. Crowded ski areas and costly passes are pushing people out of bounds. The backcountry provides a sense of adventure and freedom that cannot […]
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Travel Techniques for
Backcountry Skiers
Travel Techniques for Backcountry Skiers and Riders In the backcountry, as a skier or rider, it is of utmost importance that you manage your group through terrain appropriately. Below are some common travel techniques on the uphill and downhill to help you keep your squad skiing/riding together for a lifetime. And we at Baker Mountain […]
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Human Factor in
Backcountry Skiing
Human Factor in Backcountry Skiing and Riding The majority of avalanches catching people are triggered by the person skiing/riding or someone in their party. Though some of these incidents are the result of ignorance, the vast majority occur because the party involved made critical decisions based on human emotion and desire (The Human Factor) rather […]
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Backcountry Skiing First Aid Kits
Backcountry Skiing First Aid Kits Do you have the necessary tools to respond to an emergency in the backcountry? Do you have the medical training? Avalanche Rescue training? The more training I get and the more I know, the bigger my pack gets. Below is what I carry in my backcountry skiing first aid kit. […]
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Avalanche Problems
The Nine Avalanche Problems Explained Not all avalanches are the same. This post teaches you about the nine different Avalanche Problems you could encounter any given day while out in the backcountry. To get the most out of this post, you should first have a basic understanding of the North American Avalanche Danger Scale. Avalanche […]
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Avalanche Beacon
Function Check
How To Do An Avalanche Beacon Function Check When going out backcountry skiing or riding, one should always do an avalanche beacon function check to ensure everyone is searchable and able to search. Below is a great video created by three IFMGA Guides on how to do a simple and concise avalanche beacon function check. […]
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Single Burial Avalanche Rescue
Single Burial Avalanche Rescue Obviously, the best way to avoid a rescue is to avoid the avalanche all together. Take an Avalanche Course to be proactive and learn how to avoid avalanches. That said, even the most trained professionals can still make mistakes, so everyone traveling in the backcountry should understand how to execute a […]
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Strategic Shoveling
for Avalanche Rescue
Strategic Shoveling for Avalanche Rescue The average burial depth in an avalanche is around 1.3 meters, which equates to about 1-1.5 tons of snow to move in order to extricate someone from avalanche debris. That’s just on average, in reality, someone could be buried much deeper. How long can someone survive under the snow? On […]
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Avalanche Course
Pro-Rec Split
Big changes are coming to avalanche education! After much anticipation, the long awaited professional – recreational split has arrived. The main outcome has been the creation of a professional track for advanced level avalanche courses. However, recreational backcountry skiers and snowboarders will find the new recreational curriculum to be more engaging and applicable as well. […]
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