Greetings Backcountry Riders!
Everyone with The West Central Montana Avalanche Foundation and Center hope you’re doing as well as possible in these “interesting” times.
The dog days of summer have us starting to daydream about the upcoming Winter. So… is anyone up for some good news??
We will be offering an expanded slate of Avalanche Education courses this season!!!
Expect some of the nuts and bolts of how we’ve run courses in the past to look a little different. Also, if 2020 has taught us anything, we know we don’t have a crystal ball to foresee the future. We are confident that as long as state and local conditions and directives allow, we have a plan to safely get folks the education and experience they need to make good decisions in the Montana backcountry and beyond.
We know that a good number of folks are looking to do the responsible thing and get signed up for an avalanche course ASAP to upgrade or refresh their snow sense. Good on you all, & we appreciate your enthusiasm!
Right now we are finalizing our special use permit allocations from the Forest Service and doing some technology upgrades so that we can serve students better. You can understand that the Forest Service is “a little busy at the moment” with a pretty active fire season. We’ll also be rolling out a revised cancelation policy to address potential changes to course availability due to state and federal directives, or a participant’s health status. We usually release our winter course listings at Our Pray for Snow Party on the first friday of October. This year, due to unprecedented interest and inquiries, we’ll be releasing our course listing 2-3 weeks earlier than normal.
Look for course listings to go live September 15th, and registration will open up by September 18th.
The course listings will explain the main adaptations we’ll be making to keep everyone healthy.
As for the Pray for Snow Event, we know a lot of folks look forward to it every year. We’re currently working out the details on changing that event to make our Fall kickoff as safe as possible. Expect an announcement over the week of September 7-11.
If the tail end of last season is any indication, everyone we know is thinking this will be an exceptionally busy backcountry season this winter.
Let’s all cross our fingers for a deep La Niña winter, & keep on & keeping each other safe and sane.
Thanks again for your enthusiasm and stay tuned!
-YOUR FRIENDS AT THE WEST CENTRAL MONTANA AVALANCHE FOUNDATION
