Snow Course
Mountain Education's
Snow Course Description
News Article: Snow Travel Course For Hikers by Susan Alcorn
Snow Course is Free to Hikers
Registration Required
When: 10 AM at the first scheduled day
Where: North side of Highway 50 at Echo Lake Road half mile west of Echo Summit in El Dorado County. Park in the Sno-Park.
What: Parking at the Sno-Park requires a parking pass. The cost of the pass is currently $5 per day. You will need three day passes to park your car during the course. Click here for the local parking permit vendors, weather conditions, map and additional information
Click Here For a Detailed Day by Day Description
Click Here For The 2010 Snow Course Schedule (Registration Required)
Purpose
The purpose of this course is two-fold,
-to help prospective thru-hikers learn the skills necessary to have confidence in dealing with three of their biggest on-
trail hazards, navigation, snow, and creek-crossings.
-to provide a weekend trip that also serves as a "test-run" so hikers can test all their "systems," menu, clothing, equipment, and skills knowledge, before their final departure date.
Prerequisites
It is expected that you have backpacked for at least a week or two in one continuous trip in your past, be sufficiently "fit" to snowshoe all day with the load of a thru-hiker's pack, be aware of and prepared for winter exposure conditions (see "What to bring and prepare for" below), and come prepared to hike for three days with all your own food and equipment as if going out on a preliminary trip before your thru-hike starts. Young men and women under 18 should be accompanied by or have written release from their parents.
Cancellation
If there is insufficient snow a week prior to departure or there are too few students to run the trip a particular weekend, the Course will be cancelled and you will be notified by email or cell phone. If the weather is storming or students are not equipped for storm-driving, the trip may be cancelled or postponed last minute. You will be notified by cell phone.
Format
The format is informal and based on a supervisorial way of teaching. It is our intent to pour into you all that we know of "what works" regarding snow travel and related issues. So, from the time we meet in the trailhead parking lot, your instructor will be constantly "streaming" information and instruction to you. It is your responsibility to listen and apply it in practice then and there. It is the instructor's responsibility to individually supervise how you apply that knowledge or skill in a safe manner.
Cost
Timing
The timing is intended to expose you to the worst of winter's elements and/or to similar snow conditions that you will experience on your thru-hike under the supervision and protection of your guide/instructor. If you learn how to deal with the worst of things, snow, cold, ice, storms, etc., you'll have more confidence and security with your surroundings once out on your own. Thus, the Courses are offered in the dead of winter, from when the snow starts flying through thaw in the spring (December through May).
Because we know that your schedule is tight, as you prepare for your thru-hike and finish up at your jobs or school, you decide what weekend works best for you. Once we have a minimum of six students for a Course, the date is secured and the trip is on. You let us know when you want to go, we'll confirm you're in, we'll let you know when the date is a "go," and, then, we'll see you at the trailhead!
Location
The location is selected so that you learn in "average" High Sierra terrain while on the Pacific Crest Trail, one of our favorite locations is Desolation Wilderness, Echo Pass, Highway 50, South Lake Tahoe, California. Here we find the conditions you need to learn on, unstable snow, cornices, open and buried creeks, frozen or partially frozen lakes, steep terrain for ascent, descent, and self-arrest training, and enough Crest Trail to practice your Visual Route Referencing skills.
What to Bring and Prepare for:
The Basics:
Come with all the food and equipment you would take on your thru hike for four (4) days (always extra food for the snow). Remember, this is, also, a "test-run" for you, your menu, and gear. Bring the USGS Topographic maps of the area: Echo Lake, Pyramid Peak, Emerald Bay, and Rockbound Valley, or similar scope and detail.
Snow Additions:
Clothing - additional layers for the cold (i.e.: long-johns, down parka, wind shell, gloves or mittens, balaclava, extra socks, down booties, etc..), a hat with brim/visor for the sun, an extra bandana for your neck and another for tent spills.
Food - bring enough food and fuel for four days. Bring double servings or greater (you will be getting lots of exercise!) that are high in calorie and fat content.
Equipment - snowshoes, ice axe*, two hiking poles with snow baskets*, snow shovel, "glacier glasses," sunscreen, skin lotion, "chapstick," gaiters, snow boots that will work with snow shoes, waterproof pant and jacket shells, a snow-stable stove and pot set, a second pot for carrying snow to melt, a way of keeping several quarts of water in your tent (water bag), a thicker-than-summer sleeping pad, and the tent you plan to take on your thru hike. Be aware that we may have snow fall on us while out, so keep in mind that the tent needs to shed it somehow, rather than compress it (on one trip, we had 5 feet fall on us and we were up all night digging out).
* What works best is to carry and use one of each, a regular hiking pole with a snow basket and a Black Diamond "Whippet" ice axe pole. You'll be taught later how to use this combination. If you cannot do this, bring as long an axe as you can or whatever you have. Ice axes can be rented. (The axe should be long enough to reach from your down-stretched arm to the ground and be Certified.)
What to Prepare for:
Whether arriving as individuals or in a group, expect to be hiking as if you were on your expedition, only this time with a guide/instructor on the side. We will travel as a group and close enough together to be able to hear everyone. There will be constant discussion. You can bring skis, if that is the method by which you choose to hike the snow portion of your thru hike, but we discourage it. Snowshoes can be rented, also.
We will meet in the Echo Pass, California, Snow-Park Parking Lot on the north side of Highway 50 at 10:00 am on Friday mornings. Follow the signs to the left to "Johnson Pass Road." We will be there about an hour. If you are running late, stay in touch with Ned by cell phone; we can only wait an additional half-hour. If you are driving there, you will need California Snow-Park Permits for the dash of your car for the three days you will be parked there (one per day). They can be purchased at numerous places in Reno (if you are renting a car at the airport), South Lake Tahoe, Meyers (the Chevron gas station), or from the west side, at the general stores in Strawberry or Kyburz on 50 on the way up. Come with two quarts of water per person to start. If the weather is already foul, yet you have and know how to drive with chains or have a 4-wheel drive with snow tires, stay in touch via cell phone. If you don't, you'll need chains and know how to install them. This is all part of foul weather training.
Ned & Julie Tibbits
Mountain Education
South Lake Tahoe, CA
Click Here For The 2010 Snow Course Schedule (Registration Required)
Click Here For a Detailed Day by Day Description
For additional details or to reserve a spot contact
ned@pacificcrestcustombuilders.com
