Snomo specific Level 1 avy courses
Well, Well, Well,
It is about damn time people started getting pissed-off that there are no snomo specific avy courses in Washington. I have been pissed for years, and I TEACH avy courses!
I will let you all in on a dirty little secret....The lack of snomo specific avy courses is due to Forest Service policy, plain and simple. It is a permitting issue, and the fact is there are no funds to administer any new permits, so they are simply not issuing them as a departmental policy. I have been attempting for 10 years to get a permit, and know the in's and out's of the process intimately.
My name is Michael Jackson (MJ), and I am a Professional Avalanche Educator. Since 1999 I have been the Executive Director of a nonprofit called The Alpine Safety Awareness Program (ASAP). ASAP has a goal of making safety a habit by using local resources to teach avalanche awareness courses.
I have been teaching courses for many, many years, and the past five years have found me re-focusing my efforts on the snowmobile community. I have an incredible group of snowmobiler's that have been through a training program, that currently help in the delivery of a one-day, snomo specific awareness course. They are also the future of snomobile avalanche education, and together we will be offering on-the-snow courses on a limited basis this year, with more in the coming years. WSSA has endorsed our efforts, and Mick Steinman, the WSSA Safety Director is a critical part of both our outreach and our instruction team. We are currently recruiting other professional avalanche educators to assist in our efforts.
There are District Rangers that are willing to risk their professional careers by making exceptions to the current no-permit policy, but they are in the minority, and their efforts will bear little fruit for this season. They see the problem of no snomo courses, and they feel they need to try and meet the demand to the best of their abilities... more later as things develop.
What you all can do is very simple, and you are all already very good at it: Contact your club President, WSSA, Sled Dealers, etc., anyone with a voice. We need to bang the drum and get the word out to the USFS, legislators, EVERYONE with any influence on changing a policy decision.
This current policy is contrary to stated USFS policy of meeting the needs of the public for recreation on public lands. Without any doubt, currently one of the most pressing needs for the snowmobile community is to get educated on how to travel safely in avalanche terrain. Help me to get this situation changed so that we don't have to read about sledder's dying needlessly in preventable avalanche accidents.
Please check my references (modsledr, diamonddave, coyotegirl) so that you don't have to take what I say with a grain of salt. I speak from experience, and don't want to waste your time or mine. The fact of the matter is we need to get our voices heard, and we need to do it NOW, not later. So put down your end wrench, wipe the grease off of your hands, and start getting the word out to anyone and everyone: We need to have the opportunity to take a class that might just save our lives, taught by sledders, for sledders.
MJ
