On December 16, 2013, the women of Jackson made one thing clear—they want to be prepared in the backcountry. Partnering with the Jackson Hole Outdoor Leadership Institute (JHOLI), SheJumps brought 33 women together at the Teton County Search & Rescue facility for our Ladies Avalanche Awareness Night. Taught by JHOLI owner and instructor Jacob Urban and instructor Nancy Bockino, the clinic was an excellent introduction to/refresher of the basics of avalanche safety.
More people are traveling into the backcountry every year! SheJumps aims to educate the ladies who venture out in avalanche terrain on how to stay safe!
Indeed, the clinic gave a great overview of the various types of avalanche threats and the red flags that might indicate the presence of such threats. Furthermore, a thorough review of the local avalanche bulletin was provided, including how to interpret the information included in the bulletin and how to utilize that information in real-time decisions in the backcountry. With the use of photos, our JHOLI partners also helped participants analyze different terrain features and identify which ones might pose a threat. In their light and easy manner, instructors also covered the basics of performing a beacon search and the simple but incredibly valuable information of what the contents of your backcountry pack should include. Finally, instructors provided a brief but necessary overview of decision-making in backcountry travel, including the process of forming an initial plan, determining a point person (and a backup) in the case of a slide or accident and the absolute necessity of open communication within a group as they venture into avalanche terrain.
Jackson Avy Clinic
All in all, it was an excellent clinic. An exceptional instructor, Jacob Urban manages to engage students in a manner that keeps their rapt attention no matter how dry material may be. And with Nancy Bockino by his side providing information in an easy to understand manner and sharing her experiences as a woman who travels in the backcountry, the two instructors made the three hour clinic fly by! We were stoked to see so many women turn out for the clinic and aim to continue bringing avalanche safety events to the ladies backcountry community in Jackson—keep an eye out for our upcoming beacon clinic and clinic focusing on decision-making in the backcountry!
We would like to give a huge shout-out to JHOLI for volunteering their time to provide this clinic and look forward to partnering with them again in the future! Furthermore, we would certainly recommend following this clinic up with an Avy 1 or Avy 2 course to bring the information from paper to reality. And if you are interested in doing so with Jacob and JHOLI, you can find more information at http://avalancheandwildmedtraining.com/. Also, thank you to Teton County Search & Rescue for the use of their beautiful facility and thank you to all of our SheJumps participants and supporters—we could not do it without you!!! See you on the snow!
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