October 2019 • 49WHY AVALANCHE EDUCATION AND
PREPAREDNESS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT
INVESTMENT YOU CAN MAKE
ly involved with the American Institute
for Avalanche Research and Education
(AIARE) and have a passion for teaching
the motorized community about ava-
lanche safety.
“I’ve been involved in dozens of ava-
lanches, whether caused by myself, my
group, or another group in the area,”
Duncan said. “In about 2011, I wanted to
provide riding clinics and guiding in the
Lake Tahoe area, so I took my first level
one (avalanche course). Back then, all you
needed was avalanche awareness and you
could apply for guiding permits. That real-
ly opened my eyes to seeing how little
education the motorized community had.”
As Duncan took us through the three
hours with a clear, concise and thought-
provoking presentation, my reality
became more and more clear: if I am going
to ride in the backcountry, I will be
involved in an avalanche – it’s not a mat-
ter of if, it’s a matter of when. In the 20
seasons that the American Avalanche
Association (1998-2019) has been track-
ing snowmobile-related avalanches, there
have been 169 accidents and 196 fatalities
as of Jan. 14, 2019, including three this
past season. And when it happens, what
will I do?
So, I took Duncan’s advice. I got on the
AIARE website to find out where I could
get more education about avalanches. I
quickly found a listing for AIARE
Motorized Providers and honed in on one
group: The Mountain Riding Lab in
Jackson, Wyoming. What drew me was
three questions on its web-
site:- Could you rescue some-
one in your group if they
were caught in an ava-
lanche? - Does your group formu-
late a plan based on the ava-
lanche forecast and know
how to identify terrain to
avoid? - Are you confident that
your terrain choices and
travel techniques will keep
you and your buddies out of
harm’s way?
When I read those
words, a painful real-
ization hit me: I am a
liability to myself and
my crew. I couldn’t
confidently answer yes
to any of the ques-
tions. The closest I
could get is that maybe
I could rescue some-
one in my group.
Maybe.
Maybe and no are
the wrong answers.
Those responses mean
death.
So I got a new
Mamut probe and
shovel, Barryvox S
transceiver and a
Highmark Spire pro-
tection airbag system
vest, loaded the trailer,
and pointed the truck
north to take a
Motorized AIARE level
1 course. My goals
were to overcome my
own ignorance about the subject and
share what I learned with the community.
The Mountain Riding Lab is owned
and operated by Will Mook and Mat
Schebaum, a couple of experienced profes-
sional guides and skilled backcountry
snowmobilers who have turned their
attention to avalanche education for rid-
ers. After our last day of class, they talked
about what influenced them to launch
their company and why they are so pas-
sionate about the subject.
“We definitely sought
out more training to simply
be better snowmobile
guides,” Matt explained.
“But it was an article by
Jake Urban, founder of
Jackson Hole Outdoor
Leadership Institute, that
helped inspire us to seek the
instructor path.
“Jake pointed out to the
avalanche education com-
munity - his peers - that
motorized users desperate-
ly needed the education,
were underserved, and that
the information had toPROPER TRAINING It’s not just getting the
right gear, you need to be able to use that
gear effectively in an emergency.GREAT POWER, GREAT
RESPONSIBILITY The
backcountry capabilities of
today’s mountain sleds makes
avalanche awareness paramount.Number of
avalanche
fatalities in the
last 20 seasons
that the American
Avalanche
Association has
been tracking.19 6