Who knew the Utah Avalanche Center could make a ski movie as good as any other adrenaline-fueled tomfoolery currently on tour in mountain towns? For this week’s Friday Video, we’re featuring the UAC’s “2011-2012 Utah Backcountry Review,” an educational recap about last season’s snowpack and avalanche accident season. If you think that may sound like an avy forecaster at a lectern beneath a powerpoint presentation, then you don’t know the awesomeness of Utah’s avalanche pros.
Trent Meisenheimer and Craig Gordon are the culprits who put together this excellent and fun video review. Aside from the recap, there’s professional-quality powder footage, amazing video of avalanches, and music that sounds like it was pulled directly from my iPod (which means it rocks.) The footage has been collected from lots of sources thanks to GoPros and whatnot swarming all over the backcountry these days. It all comes together nicely to not only get us pumped for the upcoming season, but to also get us thinking about snow safety before we head into the mountains.
2011-2012 Utah Backcountry Review from Trent Meisenheimer on Vimeo.
Along with the video, the UAC sends along these helpful tips for getting ready for avalanche season:
1. Get your avalanche gear out. Check your beacon, shovel, probes. Make sure your beacon’s batteries are fresh.
2. Bury your beacon in the leaves and practice a quick search using your searching techniques.
3. Remember shallow snow is weak snow. If there is enough snow to ride, there is enough to slide.
4. Its a long season, be patient.
5. Read an avalanche book (Bruce Tremper’s Staying Alive In Avalanche Terrain)
6. Early season consequences can be severe if caught in an avalanche. There are more exposed rocks and stumps to be dragged through.
7. Begin checking your local avalanche forecast.