Saturday 14th Jan: Recreational Avalanche Course Day 1

After a busy week training I was pretty knackered by Friday night. Over the weekend we had a two day avalanche course, which involved trekking far, using transceivers, and digging pits. I quite enjoyed the science bits of the course, and knowing how to use a transceiver was pretty cool dude! One test involved the instructor hiding five beacons, and one body without a beacon, then as a team we had to dig out the bodies, and using a probing rod find the other body. I was surprise that after 10 minutes we had found all the bodies, good news if we ever have to search for anyone; given that there is 50% survival rate after 30 minutes (due to suffocation, if the trauma didn't kill you). By the end of the day I was knackered and wet, had something to eat and hit the sack early on, so I could ready myself for the hike tomorrow.