Canyon Lakes Recruiting Nordic Rangers for 2014 Season

The Canyon Lakes Ranger District is looking for volunteers to ski or snowshoe this winter in the busy Cameron Pass area, where 32 miles of trail can see over 300 skiers a day on a weekend.

This popular area includes trails that border Highway 14 between Chambers Lake and Cameron Pass. The area receives enough snow to ski before many others and snow often remains after other areas have lost their snow cover. For this reason, the number of winter recreationists at Cameron Pass continues to grow.

Volunteers ski or snowshoe “with a purpose,” helping the Forest Service educate winter visitors and provide winter use statistics. To volunteer, participants will take part in a minimum of four days patrolling and attend Forest Service-provided training. The kick-off meeting is Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m. at 2150 Centre Ave., Building E, in Fort Collins. The required classroom training is Dec. 4, 6-9 p.m. and the required field training is Dec. 7 from 8 a.m.- 4 p.m. For more information or to RSVP, call Kristy Wumkes at 970-295-6721 or email kwumkes@fs.fed.us.

Along with a general introduction to the program, the kick-off also introduces potential new members to many of the partner-organizations, such as Jax Outdoor Gear and Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and to some of the returning Nordic rangers.

The Cameron Pass Nordic Ranger program began in 1992. Volunteers assist the Forest Service by skiing or snowshoeing area trails to provide safety, trail, and low-impact backcountry use information to winter enthusiasts; help maintain area ski trails and trailheads for safety; and gather visitor use information to aid in Forest Service planning. Some of the Nordic rangers work as a winter trail crew to help keep the trails cleared of downed trees and limbs, install signs, and shovel paths to the restrooms.

Many of the trails are in the Rawah and Neota Wilderness areas, where routes can be challenging. Backcountry skiing also includes risks inherent with winter conditions in the mountains, including extreme cold. These are some of the key reasons volunteers in the area are so valuable to its many users, especially those with little winter sports experience.


Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com

Avalanche Fatality near Cameron Pass

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center is reporting that a backcountry skier was killed and another seriously injured in an avalanche on March 2nd. The avalanche occurred southwest of Cameron Pass, just outside Rocky Mountain National Park. The 26-year-old victim attended Colorado State University. His friend was evacuated to a nearby hospital by helicopter.

This was the 4th avalanche fatality in Colorado this season, and the 4th avalanche fatality to occur in the United States in March. On March 1st there were fatalities in Wyoming, Utah, and New Hampshire.

CAIC still warns that avalanche danger for the Front Range zone is CONSIDERABLE (Level 3), and human triggered avalanches are likely on many slopes. Today's forecast reads in part:

Observers report large whumpfs, shooting cracks, and remotely triggered avalanches. Recent avalanche activity has been on east, southeast, and west facing slopes that are near or above treeline. Today wind and storm slabs will still be easy to trigger. Slopes that are near and above treeline are the most dangerous. The winds have been both strong and from a variety of directions, so new wind drifts will be on a variety of aspects and cross-loaded terrain features.

The recent wind slabs drifted on top of persistent slabs and deep persistent slabs. The weak layers are facets in the lower snowpack or depth hoar at the bottom. These slabs have become stubborn and harder to trigger, but if you find the right spot, the result will be a large and dangerous avalanche. Avalanche mitigation work last Thursday triggered very large, destructive avalanches (R4D3) with debris piling 12 feet deep. Observers find hard and clean test results.

You can trigger one of these large avalanche by starting a smaller avalanche in the wind slabs, or by hitting a thin spot on the side or lower edge of the persistent slab. That makes it easy to move from relatively safe to very dangerous terrain with just a few steps. You should approach all avalanche terrain with a healthy dose of caution, careful evaluation, and a large margin for error.

Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com