Central Sierra Nevada

Starting to get excited about the upcoming winter? There is no better time to attend a fall SAC fundraiser. Fuel the excitement further with some free, high quality online avalanche education. There is something of interest for everyone, regardless of the degree of prior knowledge. See the advisory page for more details.

Per the calendar, the autumnal equinox has passed. Thoughts are shifting towards the upcoming winter and excitement is building. There are many great SAC fundraiser ski movie tour stops on the event calendar for October as well as volunteer opportunities in the fundraising department.

If you are looking for some preseason avalanche education and avalanche avoidance skills, check out the Canadian Avalanche Centre's Online Avalanche Course. It is a free resource, very well put together that offers excellent text, photos, videos, and even some interactive exercises. There is something of interest for every level and type of winter backcountry traveler. One could spend anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours on this course if you delved deep into all of the sub lessons and sub topics. Don't miss the sections under "Reducing Risk in the Field" including the "Good Travel Habits" sub lesson on "Managing risk associated with different avalanche problems". It is well worth the time. When you are done with the online course, check the Education link at the top of this page for a listing of providers for field based avalanche classes. There is no substitute for field based education and the opportunity to make real world decisions with the guidance and feedback of a professional avalanche educator.

The SAC non-profit Board of Directors is already hard at work on fundraising. The Tahoe National Forest is starting to gear up the field data collection and forecasting program for this winter and will begin field observations and daily avalanche advisories once conditions warrant.