So it has been an awesome and wild time here at SIA 2010. Sorry I have been slacking on the blogs but it has been a busy and exhausting few days here in Denver.
Each day of the show has been pretty much the same but still fun. For the most part I hung around the booth most of the day in case any buyers came in looking to talk to a rep or trying to find the right rep for their appointment, as well as answer any questions I could if they were just checking the booth out.
There were a couple great things about the down time however. The first is obviously the shwag. I got a crazy amount of free stuff from a many number of booths, that we refer to as shwag. Among the number of stuff I got was a crazy amount of stickers, a bunch of hats, t-shirts, and even a jacket from Volcom. I was most stoked about all of it.
The other great part was all the people and reps I met in my free time. Shout out to Pete and Rich who are two of the Midwest Rome reps who hopefully I'll get to chill with this summer and even help them out since Pete reps for IPath skate shoes and puts on some skate events. Pete actually puts out a lifestyle magazine in the Midwest called Corduroy so be sure to check out his blog. Besides that, all the reps at Rome were awesome and it was sweet to meet a bunch of other industry people including the Marketing Directors for both Bataleon Snowboards and Academy Snowboards, who told me to keep in touch, so I'm stoked about that.
So today was the last day of the show. I pretty much did the same thing, got some shwag, talked to a couple of buyers, and cruised around the show a bit. However, the show ended at 2:30pm today, which is when the day started getting long. All of us interns, along with my "bosses" Ron and Runke, broke down the booth. We ended up working unitl 10:30pm, but we got the entire booth taken down. The booth is made of a ton of wall pieces that have to stacked and locked togehter, so the takedown process consisted of tearing those walls apart and staking them in crates. You'll be able to get a better idea of the booth once I'm back in Steamboat and put the pictures up. Besides that, we had to repack all of the product and get it ready for the on-snow demo tomorrow at Winter Park. Thankfully Ron hooked us up with some delicious pizza, so that helped us get motivated.
So now I am chillin in the hotel with Chuck, Steve, and David, getting everything packed up and ready to go to Winter Park bright and early at 7am tomorrow. It has been an awesome week in Denver, thanks to everyone at Rome for making it a great time, and I have high hopes for Winter Park and trying out the new product. Peace.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
SIA Denver: Day 3
Today was our third day here in Denver for the SIA tradeshow with Rome SDS. It was another day of setup, but today was especially awesome because a ton of the sales reps came in today as well as the awesome new product for 2010/11.
The day started with some more set-up of shelves and things like that, followed by the product. We headed down to the loading dock where we've moved a number of boxes to grab more boxes of product. Rome has a pretty big product line so it was a considerable amount of boxes. We got hooked up with free cart service to get it all up to the show floor, so that was definitely nice.
After that, the day was spent getting the booth show ready. I spent a good chunk of my time pulling the bindings out of their many boxes and organizing them on the many display shelves. With only a few complications, it went pretty smoothly and still took at least 2 hrs. Other people were getting the boots and boards on the wall and steaming all the outerwear for the sales presentations. After that was some pizza lunch from a local place called Anthony's, then onto some cleaning. We had to start picking up the booth, organizing all the tools in the back area, and vacuuming everything. Following that was some final details in the boot and bindings displays and a sales meeting with all the reps. I unforunetaly wasn't able to sit in on it since I had to take care of some cleaning, but I was approached by the Sales Manganer Sully who asked me to pretty much be his apprentice at the show, helping buyers find the appropriate reps and making sure sales meetings go smoothly. He said he thought it would be good for me to get experience with the sales at the show, so I am very excited for tomorrow.
Once everything wrapped up and us interns were the only ones left with our supervisor Runke, it was around 5pm, so it was nice to get out earlier today. Afterwards, Steve, David, and I went to a sub shop called the Cheba Hut, which is pretty similiar to a Jimmy Johns except I thought it was better. Since then, we've just been hanging out, taking it easy in the hotel since we're sure the tradeshow is going to be some crazy times. Tomorrow is the first day of the show, so be sure to check back for the blog on that, as well as a seperate blog with all pictures I plan on taking. Peace.
The day started with some more set-up of shelves and things like that, followed by the product. We headed down to the loading dock where we've moved a number of boxes to grab more boxes of product. Rome has a pretty big product line so it was a considerable amount of boxes. We got hooked up with free cart service to get it all up to the show floor, so that was definitely nice.
After that, the day was spent getting the booth show ready. I spent a good chunk of my time pulling the bindings out of their many boxes and organizing them on the many display shelves. With only a few complications, it went pretty smoothly and still took at least 2 hrs. Other people were getting the boots and boards on the wall and steaming all the outerwear for the sales presentations. After that was some pizza lunch from a local place called Anthony's, then onto some cleaning. We had to start picking up the booth, organizing all the tools in the back area, and vacuuming everything. Following that was some final details in the boot and bindings displays and a sales meeting with all the reps. I unforunetaly wasn't able to sit in on it since I had to take care of some cleaning, but I was approached by the Sales Manganer Sully who asked me to pretty much be his apprentice at the show, helping buyers find the appropriate reps and making sure sales meetings go smoothly. He said he thought it would be good for me to get experience with the sales at the show, so I am very excited for tomorrow.
Once everything wrapped up and us interns were the only ones left with our supervisor Runke, it was around 5pm, so it was nice to get out earlier today. Afterwards, Steve, David, and I went to a sub shop called the Cheba Hut, which is pretty similiar to a Jimmy Johns except I thought it was better. Since then, we've just been hanging out, taking it easy in the hotel since we're sure the tradeshow is going to be some crazy times. Tomorrow is the first day of the show, so be sure to check back for the blog on that, as well as a seperate blog with all pictures I plan on taking. Peace.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
SIA Denver: Day 1 and 2
I am currently in Denver for round two of the SIA tradeshow. I went with Rome again this year so it was great to see everyone again and get another inside look at the company and product.
Day one started off rough. I planned to wake up at 7:00am, ride to Silverthorne to meet up with Steve, and try to be in Denver nice and early to meet up with Rome and help them start setting up the booth. Unfortunately, I somehow screwed up my alarm, and didn't end up waking up unitl 9:30am to Steve calling me and wondering where I am. We didn't get on the road unitl 10 and got to Silverthorne around noon. My friend Kayleigh gave me ride, so I hooked her up with some gas and delicious Burger King. From there Steve and I rolled out to Denver and arrived around 1:30pm. After having major parking issues, we made it to the Denver Convention Center.
We went to registration, got our passes, and headed in... and immediately got lost. We wondered around the main floor of the Convention Center for at least 20 minutes before calling Ron, the guy who hired us, and found out the whole show was on the second floor. So we headed upstairs, passed through security into the show... and got lost. The SIA show is huge. Plus the ski section is right inside the doors, so we didn't really recognize any of the companies. After wondering around and running into some friends from CMC who are working for Nomis/Technine/Sound Outerwear, we found a map and realized Rome was on the opposite end of the show. We finally rolled up to the Rome booth fashionably late around 2:30pm. We apologized for being late but they didn't even care, they were just stoked to have more free help. It also turned out that David, a fellow CMCer, was working for Rome as well. So after saying whats up to everyone and catching up a bit, we got to work.
Th day was filled with putting up walls in the booth, painting a bunch of the walls since they're white and have gotten quite beat up over the years. We also had to unload a few things from Home Depot out of the Rome van, but other than that, the day was pretty short since we got there so late. From the show, we went out to eat with the Rome guys to catch up a bit at an amazing local burger joint called Cherry Cricket.
After gubbing, it was time to finally meet up with our buddy Chuck and get to his Burton-paid-for hotel. Unfortunately, he was out with the Burton crew, so Steve and I decided to meet up with his buddy Carson at DU. But just our luck, we got incredibly lost. After driving around for at least a half hour, most of those minutes Steve spent on the phone with Carson trying to navigate the mess of one ways, we finally made it. We chilled there for a couple hours before Chuck called us and we finally made it to the hotel, and thankfully the ride back went a lot smoother.
We are staying at the Mariott Residence Inn about 4 blocks from the tradeshow. It is super nice, Burton definitely hooks their interns up. I'm not complaining about Rome since all of us interns are getting a board and bindings, but this hotel is awesome. We were all crazy exhausted from the day, so we passed right out when we got to the hotel, excited to get back to work in the morning.
Day 2 started nice and early at 8:00am when we got up for the Mariott's delicious complimentary breakfast, then rolled out at 8:45am. Little did we know, but today was going to be a VERY long day. We got there at 9 and immediately went to work. We spent a crazy amount of the day painting the entire booth as well as setting up a back room full of shelves for everyones stuff during the show. Ron and the owner of Rome, Josh, spent close to 10 hours putting up vinyl stickers on their signs and walls of the booth with some sick graphic displays. Even thought that doesn't sound like that much work, all the random jobs throughout the day added up to a 11 hour day, 9am - 8pm, but we got the booth very ready for the product coming in the next day.
After the show, we went out to dinner with the Rome guys again, but this time we switched the style up and got cultured. We went to a restaurant called Little India, which doesn't sound to authentic, but it turned out to be the opposite. I ordered Lamb Saag, which I still don't know what it is, but it was delicious. When the food came out, most of us were surprised to see that all our food came out in bowls and looked like dipping sauce. After that came the delicious bread and rice, and from there the dinner got phenominal. I learned you were supposed to pile the rice and dish on the bread and eat it almost like a taco. This still might not be the correct way to eat Indian food, but it worked out well for us.
Since it was crazy hard to get up from the table after an 11 hour day, I passed right out when we got back to the hotel after a much needed shower, ready to do it all again the next day. Peace.
Day one started off rough. I planned to wake up at 7:00am, ride to Silverthorne to meet up with Steve, and try to be in Denver nice and early to meet up with Rome and help them start setting up the booth. Unfortunately, I somehow screwed up my alarm, and didn't end up waking up unitl 9:30am to Steve calling me and wondering where I am. We didn't get on the road unitl 10 and got to Silverthorne around noon. My friend Kayleigh gave me ride, so I hooked her up with some gas and delicious Burger King. From there Steve and I rolled out to Denver and arrived around 1:30pm. After having major parking issues, we made it to the Denver Convention Center.
We went to registration, got our passes, and headed in... and immediately got lost. We wondered around the main floor of the Convention Center for at least 20 minutes before calling Ron, the guy who hired us, and found out the whole show was on the second floor. So we headed upstairs, passed through security into the show... and got lost. The SIA show is huge. Plus the ski section is right inside the doors, so we didn't really recognize any of the companies. After wondering around and running into some friends from CMC who are working for Nomis/Technine/Sound Outerwear, we found a map and realized Rome was on the opposite end of the show. We finally rolled up to the Rome booth fashionably late around 2:30pm. We apologized for being late but they didn't even care, they were just stoked to have more free help. It also turned out that David, a fellow CMCer, was working for Rome as well. So after saying whats up to everyone and catching up a bit, we got to work.
Th day was filled with putting up walls in the booth, painting a bunch of the walls since they're white and have gotten quite beat up over the years. We also had to unload a few things from Home Depot out of the Rome van, but other than that, the day was pretty short since we got there so late. From the show, we went out to eat with the Rome guys to catch up a bit at an amazing local burger joint called Cherry Cricket.
After gubbing, it was time to finally meet up with our buddy Chuck and get to his Burton-paid-for hotel. Unfortunately, he was out with the Burton crew, so Steve and I decided to meet up with his buddy Carson at DU. But just our luck, we got incredibly lost. After driving around for at least a half hour, most of those minutes Steve spent on the phone with Carson trying to navigate the mess of one ways, we finally made it. We chilled there for a couple hours before Chuck called us and we finally made it to the hotel, and thankfully the ride back went a lot smoother.
We are staying at the Mariott Residence Inn about 4 blocks from the tradeshow. It is super nice, Burton definitely hooks their interns up. I'm not complaining about Rome since all of us interns are getting a board and bindings, but this hotel is awesome. We were all crazy exhausted from the day, so we passed right out when we got to the hotel, excited to get back to work in the morning.
Day 2 started nice and early at 8:00am when we got up for the Mariott's delicious complimentary breakfast, then rolled out at 8:45am. Little did we know, but today was going to be a VERY long day. We got there at 9 and immediately went to work. We spent a crazy amount of the day painting the entire booth as well as setting up a back room full of shelves for everyones stuff during the show. Ron and the owner of Rome, Josh, spent close to 10 hours putting up vinyl stickers on their signs and walls of the booth with some sick graphic displays. Even thought that doesn't sound like that much work, all the random jobs throughout the day added up to a 11 hour day, 9am - 8pm, but we got the booth very ready for the product coming in the next day.
After the show, we went out to dinner with the Rome guys again, but this time we switched the style up and got cultured. We went to a restaurant called Little India, which doesn't sound to authentic, but it turned out to be the opposite. I ordered Lamb Saag, which I still don't know what it is, but it was delicious. When the food came out, most of us were surprised to see that all our food came out in bowls and looked like dipping sauce. After that came the delicious bread and rice, and from there the dinner got phenominal. I learned you were supposed to pile the rice and dish on the bread and eat it almost like a taco. This still might not be the correct way to eat Indian food, but it worked out well for us.
Since it was crazy hard to get up from the table after an 11 hour day, I passed right out when we got back to the hotel after a much needed shower, ready to do it all again the next day. Peace.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Avalanche Safety Class: The Pictures
Sorry for the delay, but as I promised, here are the pictures from the hike up Cameron's Pass for my Avalanche Safety class.
Beautiful shot from the parking lot at the base of the mountain.
Starting the hike.
Cody and Chuck at one of our rest stops.
Had to leave my mark on the mountain.
This is the gas station we stopped at in Walden. I had to take it for my friend Corey who we call McCorkle.
Beautiful shot from the parking lot at the base of the mountain.
Starting the hike.
Cody and Chuck at one of our rest stops.
Had to leave my mark on the mountain.
So there you go, as I said, the trip was incredible and if you plan on coming to school here at Colorado Mountain College Alpine Campus, I highly recommend this class. Peace.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Breckenridge.
I am currently taking it easy in my room tonight after an adventure to Breckenridge to visit some friends. We arrived a bit late Friday night, hung out with old friends Steve, Josh, Colin, Carver, and Poncho from Steamboat last year, and then rode Breck today. It's always fun to see those guys and Breck was sick. The weather wasn't the best but it was still good times. The following video is a little edit I put together for Josh from the day, so enjoy. Peace.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Final Semester Classes.
This is my last semester here at the Colorado Mountain College Alpine Campus. It feels like I've been here for a few months when it's actually been two years. It's crazy how time flies in a place like this, but since this is just the start of the semester, I thought I'd write about what classes I'm taking this last semester to give you a final look at some of the things offered here at CMC.
Avalanche Safety:
Considering I wrote two blogs about this class, I'm not going to say anything here except to check out those blogs because this class was probably my favorite class that I've taken here.
Public Speaking:
This class is pretty self explanatory. There are a couple teachers who teach it here but I'm taking it with Susan Herman. So far she's been really cool and the work load doesn't seem too tough with the 5 shorter speeches we are going to give. Right now we are working on introductory speeches about ourselves and our heritage, so it's a fairly easy one to start out with.
Integrated Portfolio and Capstone:
This is a class most people wait to take until their last semester because in it you meet with Mike Martin three times throughout the semester to build your resume and cover letter for when you leave CMC, as well as you are required to get 90 hours of work experience. Going to the SIA tradeshow definitely helps to get those hours, plus Tim or Mike have a lot of connections around town to help you get the rest. This semester I will be interning at Surefoot where Tim used to work to get the hours I need. In order to work here you need to take at least Boot Fitting 1 because the stores main purpose is building really nice custom insoles for customers.
Piano I:
I am very excited for this class. Unfortunately, not enough people signed up for Piano I, so the teacher, Marie Carmichael, had to combine the Piano I and Piano II classes, and I ended up being the only one to stay in Piano II. Needless to say, I'm pretty behind the others, but thanks to a private lesson with Marie, I'm already catching up pretty well, so I'm sure it'll be a great semester of piano.
Legal Environment of Business:
This class is probably going to be the hardest for me this semester, mostly because I'm not very interested in law at all, but also because there are quizzes due before each class and a number fo tests, although they are online so that helps. The class is again, pretty self-explanatory from the title. So far we have learned about the different types of laws as well as a bit about the Judiciary and court systems in the U.S., so soon we will be tying everything into business and how they specifically relate.
So that is what my semester is looking like this last time around. I'm definitely glad I took more credits my first few semester because now the only reason I'm taking 12 credits is because it is the minimum to stay in the dorms and get the student discount on my season pass. I will for sure be getting my fill of riding too since besides Piano from 8:30-10am on Wednesdays, I don't have class before 4:30pm all week, so needless to say I'm very happy about that. Peace.
Avalanche Safety:
Considering I wrote two blogs about this class, I'm not going to say anything here except to check out those blogs because this class was probably my favorite class that I've taken here.
Public Speaking:
This class is pretty self explanatory. There are a couple teachers who teach it here but I'm taking it with Susan Herman. So far she's been really cool and the work load doesn't seem too tough with the 5 shorter speeches we are going to give. Right now we are working on introductory speeches about ourselves and our heritage, so it's a fairly easy one to start out with.
Integrated Portfolio and Capstone:
This is a class most people wait to take until their last semester because in it you meet with Mike Martin three times throughout the semester to build your resume and cover letter for when you leave CMC, as well as you are required to get 90 hours of work experience. Going to the SIA tradeshow definitely helps to get those hours, plus Tim or Mike have a lot of connections around town to help you get the rest. This semester I will be interning at Surefoot where Tim used to work to get the hours I need. In order to work here you need to take at least Boot Fitting 1 because the stores main purpose is building really nice custom insoles for customers.
Piano I:
I am very excited for this class. Unfortunately, not enough people signed up for Piano I, so the teacher, Marie Carmichael, had to combine the Piano I and Piano II classes, and I ended up being the only one to stay in Piano II. Needless to say, I'm pretty behind the others, but thanks to a private lesson with Marie, I'm already catching up pretty well, so I'm sure it'll be a great semester of piano.
Legal Environment of Business:
This class is probably going to be the hardest for me this semester, mostly because I'm not very interested in law at all, but also because there are quizzes due before each class and a number fo tests, although they are online so that helps. The class is again, pretty self-explanatory from the title. So far we have learned about the different types of laws as well as a bit about the Judiciary and court systems in the U.S., so soon we will be tying everything into business and how they specifically relate.
So that is what my semester is looking like this last time around. I'm definitely glad I took more credits my first few semester because now the only reason I'm taking 12 credits is because it is the minimum to stay in the dorms and get the student discount on my season pass. I will for sure be getting my fill of riding too since besides Piano from 8:30-10am on Wednesdays, I don't have class before 4:30pm all week, so needless to say I'm very happy about that. Peace.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Big Mac Mondays: Episode #1
My roommate, who we all refer to as Bacon, actually has a real name believe it or not. It's Kevin McClelland, or as people in his homeland of Michigan refer to him as, Mac. This nickname, coupled with the fact that Mondays are the only day he gets to ride park with us since he has ski race training the rest of the week on top of class, is where the idea of Big Mac Mondays was born.
This episode features the riding of Tyler, Corey, Eli, Garrett, Joel, and Bacon. So without further ado, here is a taste of Steamboats park and the shenanigans we enjoy on a daily basis here in the Boat. Some of this footage is not from today, but I wanted to include it all so gimme a break! Also a quick explanation of the intro, Bacon's binding busted late in the day so he rode a couple runs with one ski, which we all thought was hilarious. Enjoy.
This episode features the riding of Tyler, Corey, Eli, Garrett, Joel, and Bacon. So without further ado, here is a taste of Steamboats park and the shenanigans we enjoy on a daily basis here in the Boat. Some of this footage is not from today, but I wanted to include it all so gimme a break! Also a quick explanation of the intro, Bacon's binding busted late in the day so he rode a couple runs with one ski, which we all thought was hilarious. Enjoy.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Avalanche Safety Class: Day 2
Day two of Avalanche Safety thankfully started a little later when we all met at 9am, but this time we started off in the classroom. We went over our trip the day before, talking about what we looked for in the snow and then went over some gear that is essential for people to carry with them into the backcountry. After that, we headed out to the vans, piled our gear in, and headed out for Rabbit Ears Pass. What was nice about today was that we weren't going for another epic hike and didn't need to carry our snowboards or skis. Another hike like the one Friday would be awesome, but we were all exhausted and happy not to be climbing mountains.
We got to the spot about 15 minutes up the pass and geared up. Today we were going to be working on finding beacons buried under the snow and essentially how to rescue people who have been caught in avalanches. The day started with us going over our gear, making sure our beacons all worked, and testing their range to get more comfortable with them. The first exercise of the day was for us to partner up and practice finding each others beacons. Each of us would have to find a beacon three times, and each time we were supposed to make it harder and harder to find by putting it farther away and by burying it deeper and deeper.
After going through that and getting more and more used to our beacons, we practiced what we had learned the day before about digging test areas and checking the snow pack's stability. After that it was lunch time so we all posted up pow-wow style and listen to John and Cody talk about what we were doing for rest of the day, which was rescue simulations.
So after lunch, we all got ready with our beacons, probes, and shovels while John and Cody buried a bag with a beacon in it to simulate a body. We then got into groups of 4 to search. My group thankfully went third because we definitely learned a couple tricks from the other groups and remembered some things they forgot. Overall, every group did really well. What was really cool was that after the first group found the bag, a student, Mikey, decided he wanted to be buried and found. After talking to John and Cody, they decided it would be really cool to try this and add a sense of realism to the exercise since we would be looking for one of our friends. Now don't worry, precautions were taken so he'd be fine. A couple students had things called AvaLungs, which are backpacks with a breathing system in the bag for people caught in avalanches, so Mikey was given that. On top of that, he had a coat over his head to create an air pocket, as well as a walkie-talkie in case something went wrong or he got claustrophobic. From there a couple other students were buried for the rest of the tests and everything went really well.
After we practiced searching for one victim, we split into two big groups of about 8 or 9 to search for two victims at once. This exercise was pretty intense because we really had to get organized so it wasn't just a ton of us crowding the hill and not getting anywhere. Thankfully everything went really well for both groups and the beacons were found in time before a person would have suffocated.
Overall I think John and Cody were impressed with how we all did, and I know we were all super stoked on how it went. Today was the final day of the class and was spent in the classroom reviewing what we've learned over this passed week, and we certainly all know a lot more about avalanches, snow pack, and how to be safe in the backcountry. At the end of the class we all got our Level 1 Avalanche Course cards to show we've completed the first level of training. From here we can take Levels 2 and 3 if we plan on becoming a guide or ski patrol and big mountains and resorts.
Like I said in the previous blog, being from the flatlands of the Midwest, I never thought I'd have the opportunity to do something like this and to learn these skills, but I'm so happy I did and cannot stress enough what a great experience this class was and that if you have the chance you should for sure take. Keep checking back for the pictures from the first hiking trip as well as a little about what the other classes I'm taking this semester are all about. Peace.
We got to the spot about 15 minutes up the pass and geared up. Today we were going to be working on finding beacons buried under the snow and essentially how to rescue people who have been caught in avalanches. The day started with us going over our gear, making sure our beacons all worked, and testing their range to get more comfortable with them. The first exercise of the day was for us to partner up and practice finding each others beacons. Each of us would have to find a beacon three times, and each time we were supposed to make it harder and harder to find by putting it farther away and by burying it deeper and deeper.
After going through that and getting more and more used to our beacons, we practiced what we had learned the day before about digging test areas and checking the snow pack's stability. After that it was lunch time so we all posted up pow-wow style and listen to John and Cody talk about what we were doing for rest of the day, which was rescue simulations.
So after lunch, we all got ready with our beacons, probes, and shovels while John and Cody buried a bag with a beacon in it to simulate a body. We then got into groups of 4 to search. My group thankfully went third because we definitely learned a couple tricks from the other groups and remembered some things they forgot. Overall, every group did really well. What was really cool was that after the first group found the bag, a student, Mikey, decided he wanted to be buried and found. After talking to John and Cody, they decided it would be really cool to try this and add a sense of realism to the exercise since we would be looking for one of our friends. Now don't worry, precautions were taken so he'd be fine. A couple students had things called AvaLungs, which are backpacks with a breathing system in the bag for people caught in avalanches, so Mikey was given that. On top of that, he had a coat over his head to create an air pocket, as well as a walkie-talkie in case something went wrong or he got claustrophobic. From there a couple other students were buried for the rest of the tests and everything went really well.
After we practiced searching for one victim, we split into two big groups of about 8 or 9 to search for two victims at once. This exercise was pretty intense because we really had to get organized so it wasn't just a ton of us crowding the hill and not getting anywhere. Thankfully everything went really well for both groups and the beacons were found in time before a person would have suffocated.
Overall I think John and Cody were impressed with how we all did, and I know we were all super stoked on how it went. Today was the final day of the class and was spent in the classroom reviewing what we've learned over this passed week, and we certainly all know a lot more about avalanches, snow pack, and how to be safe in the backcountry. At the end of the class we all got our Level 1 Avalanche Course cards to show we've completed the first level of training. From here we can take Levels 2 and 3 if we plan on becoming a guide or ski patrol and big mountains and resorts.
Like I said in the previous blog, being from the flatlands of the Midwest, I never thought I'd have the opportunity to do something like this and to learn these skills, but I'm so happy I did and cannot stress enough what a great experience this class was and that if you have the chance you should for sure take. Keep checking back for the pictures from the first hiking trip as well as a little about what the other classes I'm taking this semester are all about. Peace.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Avalanche Safety Class: Day 1
Take this class.
Before I get into why, hello again everyone. I am back in Steamboat Springs after a fun break back home in Minneapolis. Sorry for the lack of blogs so far by it's been a pretty busy first week of school catching up with everyone, snowboarding, and my new classes. But today I wanted to write about one of those classes in particular; Avalanche Safety (I'll write about the others later).
I'm sure you can guess what the class is about just from the title, but the awesome part is how you learn in the class. Many people might think it would be a bad idea to learn about avalanches hands on, but you know you're safe if you travel into the backcountry with Professor John Saunders. John is head of the outdoor education program here at CMC Alpine Campus, and has been teaching this class and others for 10 years now.
Avalanche Safety is a week long class and by the end of it, you gain your Avalanche 1 card, which tells others that you've completed the first avalanche safety training course and allows you to go on trips with the Alpine campuses Backcountry Club. I'm actually hoping to go on the trip this year to Jackson Hole, but that's getting a bit off topic. So the class consists of two 2 hour lectures and then 2 weekend field labs on Friday and Saturday, and then another classroom day on Sunday for about 2 hours. There is a book for this class as well called Snow Sense that has a lot of great info on the basics and some more advanced techniques when checking for a dealing with avalanches.
The lectures covered the basics on what to look for in the snow, introduced us to some of the equipment we'd be needing, and showed us what to expect while out in the backcountry. But the best part by far, not only because it's easier to learn hands on but the experience was incredible, was the field work.
Friday morning we set out for Cameron's Pass, which is around an hour outside of Steamboat, at 7am. After a solid nap in the car and a stop at a gas station for some rations, we arrived at the spot around 8am.
When we got there, we went over our gear and talked about the trip and some things to watch out for along with a check of all our beacons which the school provided along with probes and shovels. I will mention here that I do have some incredible pictures from the trip but I can't find my roommates camera cord, but when I do I will certainly be putting those up. However, I do have this video which is just a glimpse of the group and the amazing mountains around us as we ate lunch in a meadow in the upper base of the mountain.
From there was definitely the rough part of the trip. After lunch and talking a bit more about what to be aware of, we began hiking up a steep, powdery, and off-trail route to where we would be testing the snow pack. After hiking for a good couple of hours, we got to a spot where John and his helpers Cody and Alex, taught us the various techniques to properly test the snow pack for potential slides. Unfortunately, what makes avalanches so dangerous is that they still have a 50/50 chance of breaking, no matter how much testing you do or how careful you are, it all depends on the level of risk you're willing to accept.
After that lesson, we continued hiking up to where the tree line began to end in order for us to put what we learned into practice. The crew split up into three groups, and each group dug out an area and did the tests we learned on the snow pack. After thoroughly testing it, we all determined that the conditions were stable enough to ride, which brings me to the funnest part of the day, the decent.
A reason the hike was so rough was actually cause of our packs. We all brought either skis or snowboards to ride down at the end, so hiking up, our shoulders got pretty sore from carrying our gear, but I suppose that's to be expected from some first timers. So after seeing that the conditions were good enough ride, we took turns dropping into powder lines in order to descend safely, since there still was a chance for an avalanche.
The run was awesome and it was great to be riding some real backcountry powder. Unfortunately, one of the students suffered from exhaustion as we began our decent. Alex, one of John's assistant teacher's helped the student make it down safely with what little energy he could muster. The rest of us waited at the bottom, hoping he made it down soon, because by this point it was getting dark quickly. When he did make it down, we were only at the meadow where we stopped and ate lunch, so the rest of us strapped back up and rode down the trail we had hiked to get to the meadow. After a long ride and some more hiking in some uphill spots, we finally made it back to the vans completely exhausted and aching. About a half hour later, John and the student made it as well, safe and sound.
A big reason the student made it ok was John's preparedness. He had packed a mini gas stove and a steal mug, so he heated up some water and added some mixture high in glucose to help gain energy and restore his muscles. This was definitely a lesson to the rest of us on how ready you have to be to handle any situation in the backcountry. Another eye opener was the fact that it got dark before we had made it to the bottom, and almost none of us had headlamps or flashlights. To really drive it home, Alex told some of us about a time when he had to camp out two nights before getting picked up from a snowmobile trip that went horribly wrong, but everyone in the group had the bare essentials to survive, and they all did so.
So needless to say, we all passed right out on the ride back to school. The worst hike of the day ended up being the hike back to the dorms from the school's lower parking lot because our bodies were all completely sore and tired, and we had to make one last trek with all our gear. Once I got to my room, I immediately took a hot shower and layed down in my bed. I would have written this blog that night but there was no way my mind was able to comprehend everything that had happened that day.
I never thought I would experience something like this in my life, but I am so thankful that I was able to. It just goes to show that CMC has some incredible opportunities for people to experience. But the class is not even over and today was another adventure that I will write about soon, but for now I'm exhausted so I'll leave that story for another time. Peace.
Before I get into why, hello again everyone. I am back in Steamboat Springs after a fun break back home in Minneapolis. Sorry for the lack of blogs so far by it's been a pretty busy first week of school catching up with everyone, snowboarding, and my new classes. But today I wanted to write about one of those classes in particular; Avalanche Safety (I'll write about the others later).
I'm sure you can guess what the class is about just from the title, but the awesome part is how you learn in the class. Many people might think it would be a bad idea to learn about avalanches hands on, but you know you're safe if you travel into the backcountry with Professor John Saunders. John is head of the outdoor education program here at CMC Alpine Campus, and has been teaching this class and others for 10 years now.
Avalanche Safety is a week long class and by the end of it, you gain your Avalanche 1 card, which tells others that you've completed the first avalanche safety training course and allows you to go on trips with the Alpine campuses Backcountry Club. I'm actually hoping to go on the trip this year to Jackson Hole, but that's getting a bit off topic. So the class consists of two 2 hour lectures and then 2 weekend field labs on Friday and Saturday, and then another classroom day on Sunday for about 2 hours. There is a book for this class as well called Snow Sense that has a lot of great info on the basics and some more advanced techniques when checking for a dealing with avalanches.
The lectures covered the basics on what to look for in the snow, introduced us to some of the equipment we'd be needing, and showed us what to expect while out in the backcountry. But the best part by far, not only because it's easier to learn hands on but the experience was incredible, was the field work.
Friday morning we set out for Cameron's Pass, which is around an hour outside of Steamboat, at 7am. After a solid nap in the car and a stop at a gas station for some rations, we arrived at the spot around 8am.
When we got there, we went over our gear and talked about the trip and some things to watch out for along with a check of all our beacons which the school provided along with probes and shovels. I will mention here that I do have some incredible pictures from the trip but I can't find my roommates camera cord, but when I do I will certainly be putting those up. However, I do have this video which is just a glimpse of the group and the amazing mountains around us as we ate lunch in a meadow in the upper base of the mountain.
From there was definitely the rough part of the trip. After lunch and talking a bit more about what to be aware of, we began hiking up a steep, powdery, and off-trail route to where we would be testing the snow pack. After hiking for a good couple of hours, we got to a spot where John and his helpers Cody and Alex, taught us the various techniques to properly test the snow pack for potential slides. Unfortunately, what makes avalanches so dangerous is that they still have a 50/50 chance of breaking, no matter how much testing you do or how careful you are, it all depends on the level of risk you're willing to accept.
After that lesson, we continued hiking up to where the tree line began to end in order for us to put what we learned into practice. The crew split up into three groups, and each group dug out an area and did the tests we learned on the snow pack. After thoroughly testing it, we all determined that the conditions were stable enough to ride, which brings me to the funnest part of the day, the decent.
A reason the hike was so rough was actually cause of our packs. We all brought either skis or snowboards to ride down at the end, so hiking up, our shoulders got pretty sore from carrying our gear, but I suppose that's to be expected from some first timers. So after seeing that the conditions were good enough ride, we took turns dropping into powder lines in order to descend safely, since there still was a chance for an avalanche.
The run was awesome and it was great to be riding some real backcountry powder. Unfortunately, one of the students suffered from exhaustion as we began our decent. Alex, one of John's assistant teacher's helped the student make it down safely with what little energy he could muster. The rest of us waited at the bottom, hoping he made it down soon, because by this point it was getting dark quickly. When he did make it down, we were only at the meadow where we stopped and ate lunch, so the rest of us strapped back up and rode down the trail we had hiked to get to the meadow. After a long ride and some more hiking in some uphill spots, we finally made it back to the vans completely exhausted and aching. About a half hour later, John and the student made it as well, safe and sound.
A big reason the student made it ok was John's preparedness. He had packed a mini gas stove and a steal mug, so he heated up some water and added some mixture high in glucose to help gain energy and restore his muscles. This was definitely a lesson to the rest of us on how ready you have to be to handle any situation in the backcountry. Another eye opener was the fact that it got dark before we had made it to the bottom, and almost none of us had headlamps or flashlights. To really drive it home, Alex told some of us about a time when he had to camp out two nights before getting picked up from a snowmobile trip that went horribly wrong, but everyone in the group had the bare essentials to survive, and they all did so.
So needless to say, we all passed right out on the ride back to school. The worst hike of the day ended up being the hike back to the dorms from the school's lower parking lot because our bodies were all completely sore and tired, and we had to make one last trek with all our gear. Once I got to my room, I immediately took a hot shower and layed down in my bed. I would have written this blog that night but there was no way my mind was able to comprehend everything that had happened that day.
I never thought I would experience something like this in my life, but I am so thankful that I was able to. It just goes to show that CMC has some incredible opportunities for people to experience. But the class is not even over and today was another adventure that I will write about soon, but for now I'm exhausted so I'll leave that story for another time. Peace.
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