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Avalanche awareness classes offered Wednesday, Thursday

Free courses cover safety basics
Mark Allen, center, uses a probe and Aaron Ball, right, uses a digital transceiver to find a buried pack during avalanche training in winter 2012. Friends of the San Juans will offerfree avalanche workshops next week in La Plata County.

Friends of the San Juans is offering free avalanche workshops this week in La Plata County.

A seminar in Bayfield on Wednesday will mark the La Plata County debut of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center’s “Know Before You Go” avalanche awareness program.

Attendees of all ages will learn the fundamentals of safety in the 90-minute course under the instruction of Jeff Davis, a San Juan Mountain backcountry avalanche forecaster for CAIC.

Friends of the San Juans and the Silverton Avalanche School are also offering a second series of courses and rescue clinics on Thursday and Friday in Durango and at Molas Pass.

Swiss avalanche expert Manuel Genswein will lead a classroom presentation and outdoor field clinic with avalanche professionals.

Admission is free for all courses, though participants must register at www.thesanjuans.org/event_calendar/ for the field clinic.

Risks are high for avalanches in winter for the San Juan Mountains, which have seen a particularly white winter this year.

Risks were heightened again last week as 2 to 4 feet of new snow pelted the mountain range, meaning higher potential danger for backcountry explorers and skiers.

So far, three have died in avalanches in Colorado this winter, most recently last Tuesday when an avalanche killed a snowmobiler near Wolf Creek Pass.

jpace@durangoherald.com



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