2020-2021 PI Avy Fund Backcountry Chats
The Peter Inglis Avalanche Education Fund is back for its fourth season of Telluride Backcountry Chats. Join us to increase your knowledge and awareness of and in the backcountry. Check back often as we will be adding more dates and information soon. This season’s chats will be held virtually online via Zoom. If you miss the live event, the recording will be made available. We hope you can join us!
Thank you to our sponsors: Telluride Mountain Guides, San Juan Outdoor Adventures, Mountain Trip and Telluride Helitrax. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please email telluridemountainclub@gmail.com.
A great backcountry awareness program to kick off your season is Know Before You Go (KBYG) from Friends of the CAIC. Not much science, no warnings to stay out of the mountains, no formulas to memorize. In about an hour, you will see the destructive power of avalanches, understand when and why they happen, and how you can have fun in the mountains and avoid avalanches. Watch for the first time or refresh your memory via this link: https://support.friendsofcaic.org/pages/know-before-you-go-online.
2020-2021 Events
Monday, March 1
6:15 PM
Virtually on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86216302329
Building Expertise with Sarah Carpenter & The American Avalanche Institute
Sarah Carpenter is a co-owner of the American Avalanche Institute. She teaches avalanche courses to both recreationists and professionals and loves sharing her excitement about the winter environment with others. Sarah also works as a ski guide in the Tetons. She lives in Victor, ID with her husband, Don, in a house they built together (with a lot of help).
PAST EVENTS
Monday, February 1
6:15 PM
Virtually on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87008247965
Powder Fever and Longevity in the Backcountry with Bill, Fischer & Coop
The values of a process-oriented approach to skiing in avalanche terrain
We all know the feeling, standing on the top of untouched powder and already dreaming of the turns to come. That’s why we do it, we love to ski. It’s a way of life and it has lead all of us to this town in the middle of the San Juans. But how do we grapple with our inner desire to get the fresh tracks? How do we temper our decision making and focus on our process so that we can sustain skiing as a way of life for many years to come? In this chat, we highlight the values of a process-oriented approach to skiing in avalanche terrain.
Fischer Hazen was born and raised here in the San Juans. Skiing was his first passion in these mountains and is what keeps him here dreaming of winter. He spends his year working for Mountain Trip guiding big snowy mountains around the world, teaching avalanche education courses and backcountry skiing guiding!
Jonathan Cooper (“Coop”) has been searching out adventure and powder skiing all around the mountain west for just over a decade. He landed here in SW Colorado and has been on a journey to understand his own human foibles through the complex nature of the San Juan snowpack.
Monday, January 4
6:15 PM
View the recorded video here: https://youtu.be/KyqbjXTLuiY
Risk Assessment & Treatment with Ryan Howe
Monday, December 7, 2020
6:15 PM
View the recorded video here: https://youtu.be/ecwovlArRc4.
Welcome Back Winter + Getting Your Head in the Game
If you are headed into the backcountry this winter, join us for a little refresher on all the things you’ll want to think about this season. Joining us will be Matt Steen (Snow Safety Director at Telluride Helitrax), Jon Tuckman (Snow Safety Director at Telluride Ski Resort), and Mike Barney from the CAIC. We’ll be covering:
- Snowpack: current hazard, trends, and observations
- CAIC website, observations, and weather
- Ski area boundaries and what you need to know
- Backcountry gate etiquette
- Telluride Backcountry Radio Program
GET THE CHANCE TO WIN A ONE OF A KIND REMADE PIECE FROM THE NORTH FACE. The North Face is giving a little love and a smile for the New Year to the Telluride community! Enter to win a one of a kind Remade piece from The North Face between January 8th and January 22nd, 2021, here: https://remadecontest.com/. Thanks The North Face Telluride!