mountains

Online Avalanche Safety Training

Posted by doug on Fri, 2010-06-18 15:54 in avalanche, backcountry, caa, easy, education, mountains, safety, sledlink, Snowmobiles, Story

Safety in the backcountry is paramount for a fun, enjoyable experience yet many  backcountry travellers are still not equipped with some basic,  practical skills to help them get home safely. The link below will take you the CAA's (Canadian Avalanche Associations) Online Avalanche First Responder Training Course.   If you lack specific avalanche training, this is where to start. You owe it to yourself, your family and those with whom you travel to know what the hazards are before venturing into the backcountry.  Be Mountain Smart, take the course today.

http://access.jibc.bc.ca/avalancheFirstResponse/index.htm

"Hello, I'm Arfi"

Posted by doug on Tue, 2012-02-21 14:59 in avalanche, mountains, planning, Sledding, sledlink, Story

Hello, I'm Arfi…..

Arfi stands for Avalanche Research Forecasting Interface and it was developed by the Applied Snow and Avalanche Research Group at the university of Calgary. It's a collection of avalanche forecasting resources, tools, webcams and more, all collected into one simple, interactive google map.   It's designed to help both professionals as well as recreationists.  At Sled:link, we strive to bring you a condensed web resource for all your sledding needs and Arfi brings to the table a great tool through which to help plan your travels and sledding destinations. Read more »

Snowmobiling of a different sort.....

single track dirt biking on snow covered ridge line trail

West Coast Snowpack Confidence Eroded

Posted by doug on Wed, 2012-01-04 09:58 in alpine, avalanche, bulletins, danger, hazards, mountains, rescue, risk, safety, Sledding, Story, training, treeline, warnings, weather

I think it’s fair to suggest that for the most part, we’re pretty lucky on the coast when it comes to snowpack stability.  We typically experience a rapid increase in the hazard rating in avalanche terrain during intense storm cycles which may include rapid warming and severe rain events (e.g look out the window) but similarly, these weather patterns tend to help consolidate and bond those week layers and help stabilize the pack and while the hazard never goes away, it often decreases near as rapidly as it increases in this wet, coastal climate. 
Read more »

1st Annual Sled-Fest Success & Surprises

Posted by doug on Thu, 2011-12-29 15:21 in events, gear, mountains, sledfest, sledlink, snow safety, snowmobiling, Story, videos, whistler, you tube

It’s true, any organizer of an event hopes beyond hope that the weather on event day will be perfect blue bird, just the right temperature and in our case, with just the right amount of freshly fallen snow but truth be told, that was not the case during yesterdays 1st annual Brandywine Sled-Fest.  The rain barely let up long enough to get the fire going and the freezing levels were so high that most of the mountains were soaked in heavy, “mash-potato” snow, making the avalanche conditions high at most elevations and the visibility near zero.  Read more »

11 'Mountain Snowmobile' Hand Signals You Should Know

Posted by doug on Tue, 2011-12-20 23:21 in bc, courses, mountains, safety, Sledding, sledlink, snowmobiling, standards, Story, training

The following hand signals were developed by Doug Washer to address safety and communication challenges in the professional mountain snowmobile guiding and mountain film production industries.

Snowmobiling in mountainous terrain presents a series of challenges to communication that are well addressed by understanding and incorporating these simple, yet effective measures into your every day professional and recreational snowmobiling environment.  They help to address basic issues from talking over the engine to advising others of preferred routes or warnings of avalanche activity that a sledder Read more »