On Saturday, Jan. 11, snow sports enthusiasts are invited to practice using their avalanche transceivers (beacons), hone their rescue skills and learn some backcountry travel and avalanche basics at Mt. Baker Ski Area’s annual Beacon Rally at Heather Meadows.
The event is hosted by the ski area’s Mountain Education Center (MEC), in partnership with the Northwest Avalanche Center and snow safety brand BCA.
A string of avalanche fatalities in the Baker backcountry in the winter of 1998-99 — the season with record-breaking snowfall — catalyzed the establishment of the ski area’s out-of-bounds policy and prompted management to open the Mountain Education Center to provide introductory classes for backcountry beginners, fundamentals in avalanche safety and refresher courses.
According to a 2013 article in the Mount Baker Experience magazine, more than 300 people attended the Beacon Rally in its first year, making it the world’s largest snow safety event at the time.
At the Beacon Rally, NWAC forecasters and MEC instructors will help with fundamentals, equipment use and basic avalanche awareness for backcountry users. Regardless of your experience or ski level, beacon use and rescue are perishable skills and should be practiced routinely. Real avalanche burials are stressful, dangerous and chaotic, so it’s important to recreate those conditions with challenging, timed rescue scenarios.
The MEC also offers longer backcountry courses, such as a companion skills refresher and an avalanche awareness class that is a good precursor to a more in-depth Level 1 avalanche training.
The rally goes from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Heather Meadows Base Area next to Chair 1. The event, which includes free bacon and a raffle, does not require a lift ticket or season pass but day-of registration is required.
Julia Tellman writes about civic issues and anything else that happens to cross her desk; contact her at juliatellman@cascadiadaily.com.
