10 Commandments of Mountain Sledding

By Carole Savage, Elevation Avalanche Columnist

Hi, everyone. Hope the winter season is going well for all of you! I have had a busy February playing on my Summit, rating terrain for various snowmobile destinations here in beautiful British Columbia and teaching avalanche awareness courses to snowmobilers.

The courses I teach cover a lot of content in a few days but I wanted to share with you one gem from my curriculum in the hopes that this information will help you and your riding groups to be safer while out in avalanche terrain. There are many things that we need to know to safely travel in avalanche terrain, and training and experience is needed to build that know-how.

We can really cut our risk for avalanche incidents just by following what I call the “10 Commandments of Mountain Sledding.”  Check them out after the jump…

1. Have a plan for your trip and choose terrain based on the avalanche conditions. Terrain choices should be made based on the avalanche conditions for the areas we ride in. Higher avalanche danger = riding lower risk terrain. Unfortunately, not all days are going to be “the day” to hit the big slopes due to the avalanche hazard at that time.  Have a back-up plan to ride in another area or stick to lower angle terrain if avalanche conditions are at all questionable.
2. Rescue Gear. If you are riding in areas where avalanches could occur, it is important to ensure everyone in your group has properly working rescue gear and knows how to use it. Yep, it seems pretty obvious, but does everyone in your group have an avalanche transceiver, shovel, and a probe? Do they know how to use them in case they need to find you?
3. One person on the hill at a time. All too often, avalanche involvements are caused by another person. Cutting above someone stuck on a hillside or having two or more people high marking a slope at the same time is just not cool. Having one rider on the slope at a time decreases exposure to a potential avalanche accident.
4. Watch or gather in safe areas only – never in avalanche run-out zones or terrain traps. Do you know how to properly identify avalanche terrain? Do you know how far avalanche run-out zones can travel? And what about “terrain traps,” those terrain features that if caught in an avalanche could increase our depth of burial, or chance of injury?  It is critical to know where safe stopping areas are and how to identify terrain traps as areas to avoid
5. Know Terrain and Snow Conditions. It is important to know what type of terrain is above us, and the snow conditions as we move through areas. Could an avalanche on the slope above you reach where you are? This can be tricky if we don’t know an area well or the weather conditions preclude seeing above where we are. Do the snow conditions match what we read in the avalanche bulletins/reports for the area?
6. Exposure to avalanche terrain. If crossing an avalanche path, expose only one person at a time.
7. Gather frequently with your group in safe areas, and discuss your route, trip goals, and observations. It is important to have buy-in from all group members that the trip and goals of your trip are still acceptable based on the group abilities and avalanche conditions. Are you seeing any avalanche activity today? Is what you are seeing out there in the mountains what the avalanche report/bulletin is saying? Is everyone still comfortable with the trip plan for the day?
8. Have visual contact with all members of your group at all times. We can cover a lot of ground in a short period of time in this sport. If there was an avalanche or any sort of accident, would you know where to start looking for your riding group members?
9. Never Ride Alone. Yes, there are some people who still venture out on a trip to the mountains and ride alone for the day.
10. If you see others in unsafe situations, speak up. Let’s help other people who aren’t so “Avvy Savvy” as I call it, to be more aware of safe travel practices in the mountains. Time and again I meet people who are out in the mountains, new to the sport, and could use some guidance because “they don’t know what they don’t know.”

We can all be ambassadors to our sport by helping others to gain knowledge and practicing good travel habits while in the mountains.

 

 

Carole Savage is the Elevation avalanche columnist.  She volunteers with the Canadian Avalanche Centre, rating terrain and giving avalanche awareness courses.  We cover avalanche issues in this blog because we want snowmobilers to stay safe when enjoying our products.