A partnership between the Rocky Mountain Conservancy and Kent Mountain Adventure Center taught 12 Estes Valley-area locals avalanche rescue skills in Rocky Mountain National Park earlier this month, highlighting the importance of winter backcountry safety.
Participants spent the day in the Bear Lake area learning about avalanche beacon searches, probing techniques, and shoveling methods.
The “Avalanche Companion Rescue Course” was led by KMAC wilderness guides Dustin Dyer and Eden Bolick. The Conservancy, which is the official philanthropic partner of Rocky Mountain National Park, sponsored the event to make it free for participants. The nonprofit supports the Park in various ways, including funding search-and-rescue efforts. Both organizations are based in Estes Park.
“This partnership with KMAC helps bring high-quality avalanche education directly to our local community,” Conservancy Education Coordinator Katie Colson said in a statement. “Education is one of the most powerful tools we have for keeping people safe and helping them build real-life skills and confidence for safer winter recreation.”
While KMAC teaches similar courses to formal search and rescue groups, this course was more tailored to everyday backcountry users
“Local skiers and hikers are the ones out there every day and will likely be the best responders if anything happens to their group or a group of strangers,” said Dyer, who co-owns KMAC.
Each participant gained intensive hands-on practice and one-on-one time with the instructors, and gained new skills and awareness to remain safe while recreating in winter backcountry conditions, a press release from the conservancy said.
Course participant Rebecca Detterline, a volunteer instructor with Ignite Adaptive Sports, said in a statement provided by Rocky Mountain Conservancy that the course was a good opportunity to practice skills that prepared her for a potential emergency in the backcountry.
“All of the exercises were interactive and group-oriented so no one was standing around getting cold,” Detterline said.
Gabby Sherwood, a spokesperson for the Conservancy, said the partnership is a result of overlapping missions the two organizations share.
“At the Conservancy, we are committed to promoting stewardship and education throughout Rocky Mountain National Park,” Sherwood said. “A big part of what we do is protecting the fragile ecosystem, trails, and facilities that everyone loves in the park, but we are also committed to protecting the people who are recreating in the park. We want people to enjoy the park and come home safe to their loved ones.”
KMAC has led some version of the course for the last four seasons and this is the second year working with the Conservancy. This year was the first course to fill all twelve slots.
Dyer said there isn’t much avalanche danger around Estes because of the lack of snow this year, but it is important to be aware of the dangers if venturing into the national park. Based on what he regularly sees on park trails in winter, Dyer said snowshoers and hikers could use more knowledge and are mostly just getting lucky.
“If there is one thing I would love to pass to everyone that spends time on these trails is just how to identify avalanche terrain – slopes with snow on them steeper than about 30 degrees,” Dyer said. “Without avalanche equipment and training we recommend identifying these slopes and avoiding travel onto or under them.”