Burchett AVALANCHE AWARENESS

Our FREE avalanche awareness classes will start-up in January. Classes begin at 10:30am in the basement of the patrol building at the top of the mountain. The classes last approximately 1.5 hours and are limited to the first 8 people to arrive. These classes cover the affects of snowpack, weather and terrain on avalanche as well as avalanche triggers, route selection, rescue techniques, transceiver and probe usage.

Avalanche Awareness Class

The Steve Burchett Memorial Avalanche Awareness Class is Free and serves as an introduction to basic avalanche terminology and skills such as snowpack, weather and terrain, avalanche triggers, route selection, rescue techniques, tansceiver and probe usage. This 1.5 hr class is designed to help participants understand avalanche types, locations, and the U.S. Danger Scale. Also touching on travel in avalanche terrain, weather, tools, and rescue. This free class is limited to 8 students per session.

Saturday's: December 31st, 2011, January 14th, February 4th, February 18th, March 3rd, 2012

10:30am-noon

Limited to first 8

FREE

Summit (Burchett) Patrol Building - lower level

NSP STANDARD LEVEL 1 AVALANCHE COURSE

Welcome to The Mission Ridge Pro Patrol, National Ski Patrol Level 1 Avalanche Course 2012.

Thank you for taking the first step towards a lifetime of safe backcountry experiences. This course includes three indoor sessions and two field sessions at Mission Ridge. Indoor Sessions meet at Central Washington Hospital in Conference rooms D and E. Cost for course is $100 including book and is limited to the first 12 people to sign up. You can pre-register by calling (509) 663-6543 ext. 411 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Tuesday January 10th 6:00pm-9:00pm
- Registration -Introduction -Avalanche Fundamentals -Avalanche Triangle
- Snow Mechanics/Avalanche Dynamics
Wednesday January 11th 6:00pm-9:00pm
- Stability Assessment -Human Factors -Personal Safety
Thursday January 12th 6:00pm -9:00pm
- Decision Making -Self Rescue -Companion and Group Rescue
January 21st and 22nd 9am-4pm
- Transceiver use -Probing and Shoveling -Terrain Recognition -Snowpack evaluation
- Hazard Assessments -Route Selection -Companion and group Rescue

SNOW SAFETY BASICS

The ultimate goal of the Mission Ridge Ski & Board Resort Snow Safety Program is to ensure the safety of our skiing/riding guests through avalanche hazard reduction within and near the area boundaries and run openings and closures. The need for avalanche hazard reduction is determined by the Ski Patrol on a daily basis. First, the hazard is evaluated using the 3 components of the avalanche triangle:

Terrain (avalanche paths)
Weather (snowfall, wind, temperature, visibility)
Snowpack (weak layers, strong layers, transportable snow, non-transportable snow, depth of snow pack).

Once the forecasting and evaluation of a given slope or area has been done, the process of Snow Safety work or avalanche hazard reduction is two-fold:

Reduce or eliminate the avalanche hazard on a given slope triggering avalanches with ski cuts or explosives.
Test a given slope with ski cuts or explosives to see if it will fail (avalanche).

Ultimately accomplishing one of the above may allow a given slope to be open so it can benefit from the affects of skier compaction; one of the best methods in limiting avalanche hazard. Winds and precipitation amounts may vary greatly from area to area therefore openings may be weather dependant. Increased snowfall amounts and or higher winds combined with persistently weak snowpack conditions, require more time and attention to provide acceptable skiing conditions for our guest.

ADDITIONAL INFO.

Mission Ridge Ski Patrol utilizes avalanche rescue dogs in our snow safety efforts. The dogs are trained to assist in recovery efforts in the case of an avalanche. The dogs are on the mountain daily so don't be surprised if you see one on a snowmobile, on a chairlift or running along on the slopes.