Every winter I get the chance to introduce middle school kids to backcountry skiing. The Community School 8th graders (in Sun Valley, ID, where I live) start their winter off with an Avalanche Awareness Class that culminates in 3 days of back-country skiing. During the first month of the course, the kids combine classroom work with beacon drills in our town “beacon park” or in the parking lot of the school. After a month of this, they get to take their new skills out of school for 3 day trip & do the “real” thing. This is where I come in…as a guide hired to be sure that they are making the correct decisions along the way. During our 3 days together, the kids call our local avalanche hotline & collect weather & hazard information. They then choose our ski destination & safe travel routes. Along the way, they use the skills they have learned to evaluate the hazard & look for signs of instability. They practice beacon searches on their skis. They have a yummy picnic & hot chocolate. And finally, at the end of this (red light/green light) evaluation process, they get to GO SKIING! And if we are lucky, as we usually are this first week of February, we get to ski great powder! Sweet! At last the reason for this class FINALLY becomes clear….skiing untracked powder RULES! It is so rewarding for me to see their ear to ear grins after their first run of perfect powder in the back country. These kids are stoked! Many of them are on AT gear, but each year there are more & more kids ripping it up on tele skis. And best of all, many of them are sporting K2s! Our local shops also rent K2s, so lots of kids get to put 2 & 2 together….K2s & killer skiing. These are our future fellow back country skiers & I am honored to be a part of introducing them to the goods!
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