Avalanche Awareness Expert Teaches Classes

Each winter, helicopter skiers pay handsomely for the services of Rod Gibbons so they can rejoice in the most radical powder while Gibbons makes sure the adventure is safe.

Gibbons, 41, lives in Sagle, Idaho, much of the year, but for eight years, he’s spent his winters guiding in British Columbia and other wilderness areas of the world.

He’s an internationally certified mountain guide, one of the most prestigious distinctions in the outdoors.

He’s also a seasoned instructor for the American Avalanche Institute, founded in Wyoming in the 1970s.

After being on the scene for avalanche disaster rescues, Gibbons much prefers sharing his knowlege in avalanche awareness courses.

“The Level 1 course is for someone who hasn’t been introduced in a formal class to avalanche phenomena, safety procedures, equipment and techniques,” he said.

“It’s a tune-up. It gets at the basics. It’s geared to the working person, with two evening sessions and all-day weekend field sessions at a ski resort.”

Level 2 courses start with a quick refresher of the basics before delving into the exceptions to the rules they learned in Level 1.

“You can’t give all of this stuff to people in the Level 1 class or their brains would blow up,” Gibbons said.

“We’re talking about a limited field of interest here, but in Sandpoint were getting more than 20 participants a year.

The course has a student-instructor ratio of no more than 7-1.

Two types of people attend. Ski area patrollers and backcountry adventurers.

“We see a lot of backcountry skiers finding themselves getting better at their skill and starting to venture farther into the backcountry,” he said. “Or maybe they got themselves into a pickle once and scared themselves, or they realize ahead of time that if they’re going to be doing these things they’d better learn the rules.” , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: AVALANCHE TRAINING Gibbons has scheduled three avalanche training courses. Jan. 4-7, Level 1, at Sandpoint and Schweitzer Ski Area, $147. Jan. 13-14, Level 2, at Schweitzer, $165. Jan. 25-28, Level 1, at Spokane and Silver Mountain, $147. Info: 325-9000. Info: (208) 265-4718.