This post is meant to make my family feel better.
Because as you might know, in March Scott and I are headed into a backcountry ski chalet for a week with a group of friends. It's going to be a great trip, but the caveat is that backcountry touring does not have the advantage of avalanche control that resort skiing offers. And so each time the avalanche danger rating across the province goes up to 'high' or 'extreme,' I get a phone call making sure I know.
So to be better prepared for backcountry conditions, this weekend Scott and I headed up to Whistler for a course in avalanche safety. It was an opportunity for most of us who are going to the chalet to take the course at the same time - as a refresher for some, and a first-time for others. (I fall in the latter category).
It was a pretty intense weekend, with about 6 or 7 classroom hours and two full days out in the mountains, on the edges of the Whistler/Blackcomb ski boundary. But the content was extremely interesting (not to mention important), the instructors incredibly knowledgeable, and the weather was sunny and beautiful, perfect for standing around in the snow for hours.
So, although taking the avalanche course is, as an acquaintance I ran into in the elevator today said, a little bit like "learning just enough to really scare your pants off," I'm feeling pretty confident about heading into the chalet with the new knowledge that I have, and with a group of people that I like and respect, who are smart and pretty knowledgeable, and who have a good idea of what to do, and how to do it.
Now I've gotta run, I have a tranceiver search to do...