For your own safety, take an Avalanche Safety Course.
The majority of avalanches are "dry slab" avalanches, and start on 30-40 degree convex slopes above or near the tree-line, on lee or cross-loaded slopes
Avalanches are a real hazard in the Sierra. Mt. Tom avalanche kills 2 skiers and injures one other.
The Climax Avalanche on Mammoth Mountain reminded us all, once again, that Mother Nature is a force that we cannot control.
The following material will help you BE SAFE!
- Forest Service National Avalanche Center - This is a tutorial on basic avalanche safety. Avalanches kill more people on national forests than any other natural hazard. The best way to stay safe is to know the conditions, get the training, carry rescue gear, and stay out of harm's way.
- Avalanche Safety Tutorial - Excellent short guide to evaluating avalanche hazards.
- AIARE Avalanche Course Providers In The Eastern Sierra
The following individuals and companies offer AIARE courses. In some cases, not all the courses offered by the listed company are at the AIARE standard; this may be due to a variety of reasons, such as, the provider offers courses for which no AIARE standards exist, no AIARE qualified instructors are available, etc. Please consult with the provider directly to ensure you understand what is being offered, at what standard the course is being operated, and who is teaching the course. AIARE standards require that the curriculum, resources, and instructors meet the requirements of AIARE before a provider can promote the course as AIARE standard.
Listing on this register is not a guarantee of quality or safety; it is intended as a tool for students who are researching avalanche education programs and courses.
Please contact course providers directly for schedules and application information.
- Based in Bishop
- Sierra Mountain Center - Bishop
- Sierra Mountain Guides - Bishop
- Sierra Mountain International - Bishop
- Based in Lake Tahoe and Truckee Area
- Alpenglow Expeditions - Olympic Valley
- Alpine Skills International - Truckee
- Donner Summit Avalanche Seminars - Tahoe
- Lake Tahoe Community College: Wilderness Education Program - South Lake Tahoe
- North American Ski Training Center - Truckee
- Sierra Alpine Education - Olympic Village
- Sierra Nevada College Workshops - Incline Village
- Tahoe Mountain School - Truckee
- Based in Bishop
- Avalanche Rescue Avalanche accidents are confusing, tearful experiences. Executing a successful rescue requires that you control your emotions and focus on the rescue. A successful rescue begins before you leave the trailhead and continues until the rescuers and victim are safely in the frontcountry.
The keys to a successful rescue are training and practice, training and practice, and training and practice. Don't postpone it any longer. Get together with your buddies and practice. When the shit hits the fan, when your friend or lover is beat up and buried, your training will help you achieve the best possible outcome.
The information on this link explains the tasks that take place before, during, and immediately after an avalanche. Subsequent pages explain how to search the avalanche using your transceiver, how to locate the victim using an avalanche probe, and how to extricate the victim using a shovel. These instructions are concise. You'll need to take a course and read a good avalanche book. - AVALANCHE!! - A resource for Winter Backcountry Users (PDF) by Charley Shimanski, Mountain Rescue Association, is a good introduction to the understanding of avalanches. Recommended reading.
- Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain, 2nd Edition 2008 by Bruce Tremper, published by Mountaineers Books and available from them and from Amazon is highly recommended reading.
- Avalanche Awareness (PDF) by Spencer Gray - Yale Winter School. PDF version of a classroom presentation with a good outline of information plus some great pictures.
CHECK OUT THE MOVIE >>>> - Avalanche Risk Assessment Tools - Methods to evaluate the risk of avalanches occuring on your trip.
- Avalanche Safety - Search and Rescue - Equipment & Technique
- Tree Well and Snow Immersion Suffocation (SIS)
- Death Spiral - Avalanches Killing Off Snow Lovers
- Avalanche Danger - When the Snow Slides
- Re-thinking Avalanche Safety - Human Factors
- Human Factors and their Influence on Avalanche Accidents
Here are a few links with valuable avalanche information:
- www.avtraining.org - The American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE)
- Sierra Avalanche Center - USFS Central Sierra Avalanche Forecast
- www.esavalanche.org - Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center
- Bridgeport Avalanche Center - Bridgeport Winter Recreation Area adjacent to Sonora Pass on Highway 108 in California
- www.avalanche.org - Comprehensive Avalanche Information Website
- www.fsavalanche.org/ - Forest Service National Avalanche Center
- www.avalanche.ca - Canadian Avalanche Association