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Friends of Berthoud Pass Avalanche Classes

4K views 24 replies 6 participants last post by  killclimbz 
#1 · (Edited)
It's that time of year again and Friends of Berthoud Pass is has released the dates for their free avalanche awareness classes. Free, nada, zippo. Okay, there will be a cost for the resort dates but everything else is free. Donations are appreciated. Here is the info.

Avalanche Awareness Training
Friends of Berthoud Pass is proud to continue offering our free avalanche
awareness classes for the 20011-‘12 season.
In an informal classroom setting we provide backcountry travelers with an overview
of avalanche awareness, avoidance, rescue and forecasting methods and skills.
Topics such as route selection, hazard minimization, best practices, preparedness
and terrain analysis will be covered in a 3-hour presentation.
The course is open to the public and FREE of charge. Donations are gratefully
accepted and benefit our grassroots avalanche education program.
The class runs from 7:00pm until approximately 10:00pm.
Oct 25 – Avy Class - Lindsey Auditorium, Sturm Hall, University of Denver
Nov 3 – Avy Class - Bent Gate Mountaineering, 1313 Washington Avenue, Golden
Nov 15 – Avy Class - The Oriental Theater, 4335 W 44th Ave, Denver
Nov 29 – Avy Class - Humanities Room 1B50, University of Colorado, Boulder
Dec 8 – Avy Class - Bent Gate Mountaineering, 1313 Washington Avenue, Golden
Dec 12 – Avy Class - The Oriental Theater, 4335 W 44th Ave, Denver
Dec 13 – Avy Class - The Pub, US Highway 40, Winter Park
Dec 17, 18 – Resort Course I, Mary Jane ski area
Jan 10 – Avy Class - The Oriental Theater, 4335 W 44th Ave, Denver
Jan 17 – Avy Class - East Grand Fire Station, US Highway 40, Winter Park/ Fraser
Jan 19 – Avy Class - Bent Gate Mountaineering, 1313 Washington Avenue, Golden
Feb 18,19 – On-Snow, Berthoud Pass
Mar 10, 11 – Resort Course II, Mary Jane ski area
See berthoudpass.org for a full calendar of classes and events, including member
clinics and a brand new resort-based course.


 
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#2 ·
Quick bump here. The first free basic avy awareness class is tomorrow night at the Lindsey Auditorium at the University of Denver. It's a great refresher for those who have taken avalanche classes and an awesome class for those who want to get into backcountry riding. It is also FREE!
 
#5 ·
Yeah, FOBP is definitely the best free course you're gonna find. I went to one at REI and it was basically just a 45 minute infomercial for Colorado Mountain School. The only possible good it did was potentially scare some idiots from dropping in at Loveland Pass. Which I guess shouldn't be discounted. No real info shared though.
 
#7 ·
I'll probably be at the one at the Oriental too. I always check out one class to make sure I know what is covered for when I am teaching the on snow day. Plus Justin is our new lead instructor this year and his style will be different than Bobski's. So if you want to try to meet up before had for food and beer at maybe Patrick Carrol's, I'd be down.
 
#13 ·
Most here have heard about Jamie Pierre dying in an avalanche this past weekend. The Utah snow pack is pretty crappy. The Colorado snow pack is worse. There is a another free basic avalanche awareness class tomorrow night at the Oriental Theater in Denver. I'll be there. I highly recommend members who can find the time to show up and check it out. Worth your while even if you never go out into the backcountry.
 
#14 ·
How many Denver folks are attending tomorrow's avy class at the Oriental Theatre? Just throwing this out there as a feeler, but anyone from the forum interested in meet up for a beer or whatever beforehand? Think it would be cool to get a group of us from the forum together and meet some of the people we have been interacting with online for some time now. Either way, I'm really looking forward attending the class and learning something new. See you there.
 
#16 ·
There is another free class tomorrow night at CU Boulder, Humanities Room 1B50. 7pm.

Also, we have released the info on our resort based course out of Winterpark. There is a cost to this one, but you won't be required to hike, or even have avy gear if you don't have it. It will cover basics for resort based sidecountry skiing and should be a great introduction for those who want to decide if backcountry riding is something they want to do or not.

You can check it out here.
 
#18 ·
For the on snow course, you need to have basic avy gear. Beacon, shovel, probe, plus a way to carry it. You will also need to have some method of travel, snowshoes, or splitboard. Other than trying to boot pack it.

The Berthoud course is going to be a bit more advanced as we go over using your beacon and practice searching with it. In addition to covering terrain selection, some pit tests and analysis.

The resort course should cover most of this, but since you don't have to have avy gear for it, and the fact that it's geared towards the sidecountry slider, it's not going to as in depth. It will probably mostly stress terrain selection, travel protocols, and some pit work. To be honest it's new and I am not 100% sure what our instructors are planning on covering. So the only gear you would need to bring to this one is your typical riding gear you use at the resort everyday. Though I would recommend bring a full avy gear kit. I am sure some time will be set aside on how to use that gear making it worth your while.
 
#25 ·
The on snow was last weekend. Things went great! Thanks to everyone who participated. FOBP is in the early planning stages of a spring party. We have Kyle Miller's Freerider to show. We'll probably be pairing it up with some other local talent's film for the event. Drinking will ensue.



I'll create a new thread for the event. All you Front Rangers should come out for it once we nail the date.
 
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