Students learn about avalanche safety in new outdoor course

Some of the most beautiful places in the Rocky Mountains are in the Wapta Icefields. Magical, ringed with mighty peaks, silent and covered in glistening snow, the icefields are a ski mountaineer's idea of heaven and this past Reading Week, they were the also the spectacular venue for an outdoor course in avalanche awareness.

Under the guidance of experienced mountaineers, Zac Robinson, an alpine historian and an alpinist for over 10 years, and Jeremy MacKenzie, an ACMG mountain guide (Association of Canadian Mountain Guides), nine students skied into the back-country and up onto the Continental Divide to learn the most important lesson of the back-country: how to be avalanche aware.

Robinson, who teaches avalanche awareness classes regularly for the Alpine Club of Canada, to skiers, ski-doers, hikers and climbers, says it's vital knowledge for anyone who wants to ski the back-country. "Despite the fact that we live four hours from the mountains, there's a large core of Edmontonians who are backcountry skiers.

For anyone who travels in the winter backcountry, they have to have some awareness of the hazards. The number one hazard is avalanches," he says.

"A lot of people will buy the safety equipment (for the mountains) and feel completely safe, like their transceiver, probe, and shovel will somehow create a magic force field around them protecting them from avalanches! The bottom line is this is not safety equipment: it's rescue gear," he cautions, "it's not going to keep you safe. What keeps you safe is your ability to recognize and mitigate the hazards, and how to properly use your rescue equipment."

That concern prompted Robinson, who teaches several mountain-based courses in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, and manages the ACC's general mountaineering camps every summer, to suggest running an introduction to backcountry ski touring and to twin it with an AST (Avalanche Skills Training) Level 1 course - typically a two-day course on recreational avalanche awareness with a curriculum set by industry experts at the Canadian Avalanche Association.

The faculty liked the idea and the condensed course ran during Reading Week (February 13 - 20) at a time when it wouldn't interfere with students' schedules.

Robinson knows the Wapta Icefields well, having experienced his first foray into the back-country here 15 years ago. He and close friend, MacKenzie, plotted the route the students took: "The class skied into Bow Hut, spent a few days there; then skied north to Peyto Hut. After spending a few days there we skied back to Bow and out. We chose this because skiing in and out of Bow is quick," he says.

As the class was an introductory one and with a large group of nine, it was important not to tire students out with days that were too long and tiring for beginners, he explains.

The course included a large classroom component, and the Bow Hut - large and comfortable enough to accommodate a big group - came equipped with a stove and firewood flown in by the ACC, so students didn't exactly have to rough it pioneer-style, observes Robinson. "It's amazing how cozy the hut can be when you get the stoves going and you're making tea!" he adds.

"I hope to run it again," says Robinson, looking ahead. "We have this course and Outdoor Explorations which happens in the summer; in late August I'm running a condensed PAC class - on rock climbing. We'll be taking a group of 10 to Bow Valley in the Canmore/Banff corridor. This will be an exposure course on how to safely go rock-climbing."