Beautiful weather for a day of avalanche education on the snow out in Peak Adventures terrain. After a classroom session to review the fundamentals of snow science, backcountry travel techniques, equipment for traveling in avalanche terrain, and weather interpretation, we spent an afternoon on the snow. Up on the mountain we did numerous beacon search scenarios, performed snow stability tests including shovel shear tests, compression tests, and a Rutschblock test. We dug three full pits to the ground and found about 180 cm of snow on a Northwest facing aspect with a relatively stable snowpack. The day concluded with a multiple burial avalanche scenario that put our crew to the test searching for 4 bodies in the face of some challenging conditions set up to distract and confuse the team. While it took a total of 25 minutes to discover all 4 beacons, including one buried approximately 5 feet deep, two beacons were found within 10 minutes and the third within 15. The day ended with a spectacular sunset from the top of Pearson Peak where we stood atop a sea of clouds.
