From the basin north of Coon Hill’s east ridge, looking up at the rocky ridge we traversed in the morning. You can see the narrow, obvious gap in the middle of the rocks–that was our rappel.
Yesterday was a long day of short roping, practicing transitions, and some marginal skiing, all in prep for our upcoming American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) ski-mountaineering course in Valdez, Alaska. My buddy Joey Thompson and I convinced IFMGA guide and CAIC avalanche forecaster, Tim Brown, to come out for an all-day session on Coon Hill, above the west entrance to Eisenhower Tunnel.
We climbed up to the east ridge of Coon Hill, then short roped across some rocky terrain towards the summit (12,970 ft.). Short roping involves traveling with clients on a shortened section of rope (as little as four feet) in an effort to move across relatively moderate, but perhaps dangerously exposed, terrain. This keeps a group moving efficiently, rather than stopping and placing anchors every length of rope. It’s a tough skill, especially with crampons on one’s feet and skis on the back.
After moving across the east ridge, we tapped the summit and began down the north ridge to some E/NE-facing couloirs dropping into the Williams Fork drainage. We rehearsed lowering clients into a narrow couloir, then practiced some belayed skiing. None of these are particularly difficult skills, but to execute them in the field, in a timely (and safe!) manner takes some practice.
South-facing aspects are corning up nicely by 9:30 and below 11,000 feet the snowpack is going fast. Will we get a wet avalanche cycle (like the Bridgers just got)? Who knows–the sun’s still pretty low in the sky and gradually heating the snowpack. We found no wet snow on north aspects and witnessed only one small wet slab on a SE aspect. Keep your guard up, though, as water starts percolating through the snow to the well developed depth hoar lurking beneath.
Tomorrow we’re headed to A-Basin to practice transceiver searches in the beacon park. During the AMGA advanced ski course, aspirants are tested on sled rescue competence, transceiver skills, and required to build an emergency bivy shelter in 30 minutes. A-Basin is the perfect place to practice because a) they have a Backcountry Access beacon park, b) it’s the best spring skiing scene in the state, and c) there’s good hiking terrain just out of the area.
A beacon park, for anybody who hasn’t geeked out on their avy stuff yet, is simply an enclosed area in which there are anywhere from three to ten avalanche beacons buried. A switch box at the entrance allows you to turn on any or all of the beacons, at which point you can simulate searching for buried victims. Fun to practice…with the hope you never need to do it!
Maybe the best part of training up at the Basin is breaking for lunch–the sundeck’s full, the barbeque’s going, and everybody is chilled out. Gone are the mid-winter days of charging for first tracks and folks are content to pass the day carving corn in the sunshine. It’s the place to be.
I’ll post some pics from tomorrow’s day. We hope to work on the “three-circle method” and “micro-strip searches” in the park (read about those on Backcountry Access’s website), as well as doing a run-through of the sled-rescue drill. Stay tuned!
