AAI Level 3 Avalanche Course

American Avalanche Institute
Level III Avalanche Course
February 14th- 18th, 2007
Jackson Hole, WY

Day 1: Philip's Ridge, Teton Pass

Wednesday, after listening to 3 or 4 hours worth of snow science lectures we headed out with Greg Collins, in the field to put some of it to work. It was just the beggining of many, many more snow pits to come.

One of the first things we learned was the new "extended column compression test". All the rage this year in Avi circles across the nation.

Day Two: Backcountry Behind the Snow King Resort

On Thursday Don Sharaf took us up the chair lift and into the wilds behind the Snow King. We were hunting for depth hoar. Easy to find in a snow pack that's only a meter deep and fist hard.

Executing a Rutsch Block test in a meter deep, fist hard snow pack. Good thing they groom this stuff on the other side of the mountain.

Day 3: Shadow Peak in Teton Park

Our destination for the day.

Got up way early on Friday to make a climb up towards Shadow Peak with Allen O'Banon. Our goal was to collect as much snow data as we could from various elevations and aspects.

This would turn out to be on of the longer field days. Well worth it.

A view of Taggart Lake from one of our first pits for the day.

The view from a few hundred feet higher at our second pit location.

In the pit.

A view of the base of Shadow Peak. Pretty much where the skiing runs out.

A view of Bradley lake from our last pit of the day.

The last pit- a quicky mostly, eventually turned into a Rutsch Block.

My skis gotta look at Teewinot, something that's on their list of things to do this year.

After lots of pits and analyzation, it was time to head back to the classroom.

Pretty nice pow!

All work, no play.

I got a grade for this. Seriously. We practiced our down-guiding all the way down the mountain.

After a couple thousand feet of powder, we ended up on Taggart Lake. From there we pushed back to vehicles.

A look back on the day's travels. Shadow Peak to the looker's left, the Grand, and then Teewinot to the right.

Day 4: Glory Bowl and Beyond (Teton Pass Area)

For the 4th day, we met Jamie Yount on Teton Pass for an early morning hike up Glory to see what the previous two days of western winds and snow delivered to the Teton backcountry.

Looking down the "Twin Slide" avi path from halfway up Glory.

Nothing like a 2ooo foot boot hike to wake you up in the morning!

Looking west over the mountain from on top of Glory. We actually spotted several avalanched that had slid the day before. Most of them on easterly slopes, probably from winds deposits the day and night before. Very interesting.

Scoping for avis on top of Glory.

Taylor Mt. from on top of Glory. You can see a good slide in the a saddle on the mountain to the looker's right.

Looking north up the range, over the huge Glory Bowl.

The four foot crown of Unskiabowl. It gave and stepped down causing a good size avalanche- the second time alreay this year.

Looking down the slide path of Unskiabowl. Good name for it today at least.

Chugging along north up the ridge we decide to make a right at the Great White Hump.

After digging some quick pits on cold, wind hardened, 40 degree north slopes, we decide to drop them. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't exactly the powder we'd been scoring either. Oh well.

A little further down we found a tasty slope to practice our down-guiding on.

Allen's group decide to let the slope bake a little long before skiing it. Ha!

Studying hard.

Day 5: Breccia on Togwotee Pass

On the last day of class I got to tour some country closer to home with Rod Newcomb and Ron Matous. They headed right for an area I had dug pits in way back in November. It was interesting to compare how much more snow was there now.

Ron had some nifty gadgets for measuring the flex in a snow pack. We dug deep, 3 meter pits and really got into them. Shear tests, CTs, ECTs, snow crystal identification, RBs, you name it- we did it in these pits.

Another group mines for depth hoar. Not quite as easy to find as they thought it might be in these parts. They expected it to be like Snow King. The 3 meter deep pit dug had some of the strongest snow in it that I had seen all week. Hhmmm.

A good look at Brooks Mt. and the bowl behind the Radio tower peak, from our pits on Breccia. After a quick tour, we motored back to Jackson for a few more lectures, and the final test.

The course is not as easy as one thinks. There are four textbooks involved in the course- most of which are heavily laden with scientific language. We were expected to know a remember alot of it this time. Yikes. They drained our bodies, then our brains- every day. Very demanding course, but well worth it. I learned more than I realize, I'm sure.

Good stuff!