First thing in the morning n February 29, the Freeski Devo program left for Copper Mountain for an introduction Avalanche Awareness and Snow Science lesson. Many were excited to learn about a new aspect of Skiing beyond the Freeski world. Reed Ryan, a veteran patroller and a Team Summit parent, met the crew, then proceeded to exceed everyone’s expectations.
With a daughter of his own, Ryan knew the Devo team would learn best through hands-on experience. So Ryan gathered some of his patroller friends, buried a few beacons, grabbed some dummy fuses, and baked a cake. Check it out:
First on the agenda, was understanding how useful the snow stake could be. There is so much more to a snow stake than just seeing how much snow fell overnight. Its location must be an accurate representation of what actually fell. (Meaning no possibility of wind loading or reducing sun, among other factors.) After each reading, the accumulation gets recorded and reset. This information is used by not just the mountain, but the community at large to help provide a better picture of the season.
After the general introductions and conversation about snow stakes, the Freeski Devo Crew split into different groups, partnered with a Copper Mountain Patroller. From there they all took the long way to get to lunch as their assigned patroller explained the basics of what defines Avalanche Terrain. What avalanche paths look like, and their effects on the environment. A great way to get a good feel for this information is very much to ski the inbounds terrain. So that’s what the Freeski Devo crew did and that was a blast!
Landon took this awesome selfie on his way up the Three Bears Chair for lunch.
Lunchtime at the Patrol Headquarters on top of Tucker Mountain. A great way to drive home how to identify avalanche terrain!
And a great time to introduce how Copper Mountain and other resorts mitigate all the potentially dangerous slopes.