Yesterday I completed a 4-day, all female Avalanche 1 course thanks to a Progression Session I scholarship from Jackson Hole Babe Force. The classes were taught by the American Avalanche Institute, both in classroom sessions in Jackson, WY and out in the field on Togwotee Pass and Teton Pass.
There were an amazing 24 women in the classroom sessions on Thursday and Friday. One of our instructors told us that there are usually one one or two women in the class! Because our class was so large, we split up into four smaller groups for our weekend sessions in the field. We met up bright and early in Jackson, WY on Saturday morning to carpool to Togwotee Pass. It was very cold and there was plenty of fresh snow, both on the slopes and on the road.
We learned and practiced so many things to help us stay safer in the backcountry, including how to use our probes and beacons, how to check and understand the avalanche forecast daily, how to make the best decisions about where to ski (and where not to ski) depending on conditions, and how to do beacon searches and simulated rescues.
Our reward for a long Saturday packed with learning was to skin up the slope behind us and ski down through some untracked powder! Our all-female group was supportive and encouraging of the varied experience and skill levels we had.
Between our Saturday and Sunday field sessions, Mother Nature decided to DUMP a foot of snow on Teton Pass. We got a bunch of shoveling practice getting in and out of the parking lot on Sunday.
But it sure was fun to ski down on our way to learn how to dig snow pits and do snow stability tests. Below is our group about to drop in to a foot of untracked powder! We got a couple more super fun runs in after digging our pits too.
Thanks again to Jackson Hole Babe Force for the opportunity to learn backcountry snow safety in a supportive environment.