AST1 – Course

Forums Trip Reports AST1 – Course

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  • #12967
    Joanne Boutin
    Participant
    8 of us lovely ladies from North Shore Hikers took our Avalanche Skills Training 1 this weekend.
    I appreciated the format in terms of a few hours online of basic information before we even all met Saturday morning.
    It allowed me to digest slowly the new lingo and to watch the same segment a few times if I needed to.
    This way, once in the field, the instructor does not have to go through all the basics while we stand around in the cold or wet weather.
    It was also good not to have to drive all the way up the mountain for our first experience using a transceiver.  We met at Hugo Ray Park near the Capilano cemetery in West Vancouver.
    In the afternoon we had a two hour “Zoom” class from the comfort of our homes.  Amongst other topics we learned to understand the Avalanche.ca website and how to plan a trip based on that information.
    On Sunday morning we all met early at the Parkgate Library from where our own bus drove us to Mount Seymour’s parking lot.
    On the way down we were 2 groups from Canada West on the bus.  Great service!
    With snowshoes we proceeded to the backcountry where we learned and practiced finding a buried transceiver in a duffle bag.  We had the opportunity to test the snow and determine if the avalanche forecast was accurate.
    All in all an excellent hands on day with a light drizzle to test our gore-tex clothes.
    I was impressed how well planned and coordinated everything was.  We had a very experienced and knowledgeable instructor named Brent.
    I found out Canada West had 8 groups of 8 taking the course this weekend.  Nice to see so many people are interested.
    That was my 2 cents and I hope others will jump in and tell their own story.
    Here are my pictures:
    • This topic was modified 4 years, 1 month ago by Joanne Boutin.
    • This topic was modified 4 years, 1 month ago by Joanne Boutin.
    • This topic was modified 4 years, 1 month ago by Joanne Boutin.
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