Avalanche course at Morrell Mountain

Students just returned from a week in the mountains having finished up their Level 1 Avalanche course.   Our route initially took us from the Rich Ranch up past Cottonwood Lakes, then off-trail to a one-night tent campsite.  The next day we continued cross-country up to our base camp for the rest of the course: the Morrell Mountain yurts operated by Missoula-based Yurtski.The snow didn't quit for most of the trip, and during our first day out, the rain poured continuously until we gained enough elevation for the precip to turn to snow. So everybody earned their winter/spring camping merit badges for outstanding attitude and work ethic in the face of challenging weather and terrain.

At this point in the trip, we had gained most of our elevation, so everyone was feeling rather ecstatic.                                         

Once we arrived at the yurt, everybody took a short lunch break before setting up camp again: we slept in tents and cooked on snow platforms while reserving the yurt for dining table and gear drying space.

A portion of the avalanche course occurred in terrain well above our yurt basecamp, so there was still an uphill climb to get to class.

Yurtski's 20 foot yurt offered a warm and dry respite from the storms - a place to hang out, eat, and dry gear.

New this year on the mountain is an additional 10-foot yurt offering extra space to dry gear.  With the wood stove cranked, the place is a veritable sauna. It's the third week of March, but there's still almost 9 feet of snow on the ground.

The outhouse seat might be a bit chilly, but the views are lovely and the serenity is unparalleled.

Dudley Improta of the West Central Montana Avalanche Center instructs students in isolating a test snow column prior to performing a compression test to look for snowpack instability.

Students practiced searching for buried victims with beacons, shovels and probe poles.