A snowmobiler searching for a hidden beacon in the new transceiver training park at the Elsina/Dinah warming hut. Members of the Driftriders Snowmobile Club covered four beacons with plywood and buried them two - three feet deep in the snow. This allows anyone with a transciever the opportunity to test their ability to locate the signal buried in the snow and find the buried object using their probe when they hit the plywood. "We've needed this for a long time," said avid Seeley Lake snowmobiler Dave Sharbono. "This is a public service to be able to test our beacons."
SEELEY LAKE - Imagine you are with a group of five friends on a snowmobiling outing in the Seeley Lake area. The weatherman has just blessed your group with 12 inches of "cold smoke" and everyone is having a wonderful time. Then, the unthinkable happens and an avalanche swallows everyone in your group except you. It is up to you and your skill set to find and save your friends who will likely die of suffocation in 15 minutes.
That scenario is a nightmarish possibility for anyone who skis, snowshoes or snowmobiles in the backcountry. Folks who recreate in and around avalanche terrain should ALWAYS have the three essentials - an avalanche transceiver, an avalanche probe pole and a shovel.
Just owning these three essential tools is not enough. The key to being prepared to deal with such a situation is to know how to use those tools and practice, practice, practice and then practice some more.
Since everyone in your group is wearing an avalanche transceiver, you will be able to use your skills to locate them. Remember they only have 15 minutes, so you need to be fast. The best way to be really fast at an activity is to practice that activity to the point it becomes automatic.
In the past, if we in the Seeley area wanted to become very proficient at transceiver searches, we would take one or two transceivers, place them in Ziploc bags, throw them in the snow and then try to find them. Sometimes that was OK and sometimes it was frustrating.
Take heart Seeley Lake residents and visitors, there is a new educator in town. The West Central Montana Avalanche Center has provided the Seeley Lake area with a four-station transceiver training unit. Back Country Access (BCA) manufactures the unit.
There are four buried transmitters located throughout the park. These simulate avalanche victims. These transmitters are not traditional avalanche transceivers but rather are signal points within the training unit itself. Users can chose one, two, three or four "victims" to search for. This training park is available to all who recreate in the snow. It is very user-friendly and is a great way to increase your transceiver skills.
The training park is located at the Elsina/Dinah warming hut area, is battery powered and will be maintained by the Driftriders Snowmobile Club.
While we never want to think that we will be caught in an avalanche, it is paramount that we and everyone we recreate with is skilled enough to react appropriately during that golden 15 minutes.
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