Club Events 2004 : 2004-02-01 : COC - Avalanche Awareness Course

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Avalanche Awareness

The six of us headed out to Canmore at sparrow fart (credit: Juliana L) this morning and met up at Starbuck’s in Canmore where we got our first round of instruction. Dave told us about the Canadian Avalanche Association’s web site which has all the information you could hope for about current avalanche danger in the Canadian Rockies. The avalanche danger for today was considerable:

Danger Rating: Alpine Treeline Below Treeline
Extreme
High
Considerable
Moderate
Low
N/A

Considerable

Considerable

Moderate



which means that Natural avalanches are possible, and human triggered avalanches probable. We had to exercise extreme caution today heading out into avalanche country.

Canadian Avalanche Danger Descriptors 1998
Danger Level and Color Probability and Trigger Recommended Action
Low Natural avalanches very unlikely. Human triggered avalanches unlikely. Travel is generally safe. Normal caution advised.
Moderate Natural avalanches unlikely. Human triggered avalanches possible. Use caution in steeper terrain on certain aspects.
Considerable Natural avalanches possible. Human triggered avalanches probable. Be increasingly cautious in steeper terrain.
High Natural and human triggered avalanches likely. Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended.
Extreme Widespread natural or human triggered avalanches certain. Travel in avalanche terrain should be avoided and confined to low angle terrain, well away from avalanche path runouts.




After we had our “classroom session”, we headed further west, to Highway 93 south, where we headed in and parked at the Continental Divide parking lot, and hiked into Chickadee Valley (which, incidentally, is difficult to impossible to get into during the summer due to heavy brush and deadfall).

Along the way, Dave explained what to look for on the mountains to identify avalanche areas. Further along, he spotted a high avalanche danger area that we had to pass in front of – whoever had broken the trail in, had swung further to the right than usual, into avalanche danger territory (on the way back, Dave broke us a new trail in a safer spot). Anyway, while we passed in front of the avalanche “runway”, we crossed single file, spaced 30 seconds apart.

Our considerate Safety Officer, Rob, was kind enough to test out all the places on the hike in where a person may fall into a sinkhole, or get sucked into the running stream.

Once we were deep into the valley, we stopped and had lunch where Zachary invented and demonstrated the new club dance (see below).

After filling up, Dave dug us a test pit and demonstrated how to test and analyze snow layers according to how packed or loose they are, and how thick the layers. Today, the top 18cm of snow (the new fall from this week) was sitting on top of a very unstable layer, and therefore, skiing on the backcountry slope we were examining would have been unadvisable.

We all agreed that it was really freakin’ cold out there in the valley, so we would finish our avalanche training back out at the entry to the valley (near the road) where it was warmer, so we hiked back out.

Back at the trailhead, we completed our avalanche (intro) training by playing "hide and seek" with our transceivers. This day was an excellent introduction to avalanche awareness, even though I never heard any of the whumps. Oh, and the scenery didn’t suck either.

We headed back to Calgary, where Debbie and I bailed, and the rest of the group went for fish and chips and Guinness at Kilkenney. At least, I think they did. I’m sure they had a wonderful time… much better than if I’d been along (my feet were wet, my head was pounding, my lungs were shrieking, I was cold, tired and crrrrrabby!). Oh, and for the record, let me just say that I know that it was my own stupid fault that my feet were wet and cold. I didn't have proper winter boots. Learn from my mistake - don't do what I did! If you're going out in the snow, use proper boots! The U of C Outdoor Program Center rents Sorels if you don't have your own.

On the lighter side...

1. We have a new official COC Dance. It’s called “The Zachary”, and is to be done to the tune of “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” (original version). Study it well – you will need to know this:

Perform steps 1 through 8, and repeat, in deep fluffy snow until you have a cozy little spot flattened out.

2. Debbie’s favorite quotes of the day:
  • ”Boy, can I ever tell there’s a banana behind me!” (Rhonda)
  • ”It’s so cold, even my nuts are frozen. I mean the nuts in my bag!” (Rob)
  • ”Oh yeah, I guess we all need to pull out our units”. (Rob)


3. Near the end of the day, we found a genuine Canadian Crop Circle! Check it out:

What's even creepier is that the crop circle wasn't there when we entered the valley...

-- Rhonda


Photos

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