By Wendy Lautner, wlautner@TahoeRenoOnline.com
March 26, 2008

Sometimes I like life a little on the wild side.

Pushing limits is what drew me to skiing and the mountains in the first place. But it doesn’t take more than a few rides up the chairlift for the experience to feel a little like, well, Disneyland.

No knock on the “happiest place on Earth” – not at all – being whisked nearly 2,000 vertical feet in less than 10 minutes is nothing to scoff at. But certainly achieving those 2,000 vertical feet with your own two feet, one in front of the other, for the purpose of claiming a more pure ownership to the fresh tracks in front of you is more like, well, nirvana.

Backcountry travel is a growing pursuit. As the cost of lift tickets rise, resorts become more crowded and technology continues to improve, the number of people who crave the unmistakable feeling of adrenaline coursing through their veins will turn to recreation without borders – skiing, riding, snowshoeing, snowmobiling without boundaries.

At the leading edge of this frontier is Expedition: Kirkwood, a resort-based, all-mountain adventure program aimed at educating those willing to work for their turns and experience the vastness of our beautiful wilderness responsibly.

Expedition: Kirkwood’s leading edge is Bill Jaskar, former operator in the 1st Force Reconnaissance Company for the United States Marines. Although he’s seen 147 degree days in Djibouti and hunted some of the world’s most wanted men in the underbelly of Iraq, he seems just as comfortable bedding down in below-freezing snowstorms and sleeping in the company of coyotes.

Accompanied by the good-natured South Lake Tahoe native and backcountry-guru-gone- green-builder Geoff Clarke, the two represent a wealth of knowledge and a teaching style that goes beyond standardized testing. Critically thinking in mountain environments is simply the air Expedition: Kirkwood guides breathe. Spend a couple days in their presence and you just might find your oxygen intake at a whole new level.

At a recent AIARE (The American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education) Level 1 course offered exclusively to resort employees, Jaskar and Clarke combined the traditional two-day avalanche certification course with an overnight camping option.

“I love teaching the AIARE and overnights because it gives students a reality check. This course was all inclusive and I felt that two nights sleeping on the snowpack, considering overnight temps and precipitation really drove some key points home,” Jaskar says. “It hammered rain on the second night. The students were stoked.” Not to be confused with soaked.

The class, one of many courses covered under Expedition: Kirkwood curriculum, nurtures curiosity. Gaining experience in the backcountry, Clarke contends, is about “identifying the right questions” in order to “stack the cards in your favor.” Acknowledging the precarious state of snowpack in general, Clarke and Jaskar both emphasize “protocol-based thinking gets you into trouble” and a more holistic approach to mountain travel steeped in constant research, observation, logic and devoid of ego saves lives.

Of course, there are some absolutes. Slopes with an angle of 38 degrees are most prone to slide activity. Terrain traps are never a good place to travel. Ninety percent of avalanche accidents are attributed to the “human factor.” Cold temperatures and a shallow snowpack generally results in faceting – a process which creates sugar-like snow, a prime surface for slides. Warm temperatures and deep snowpack generally provide a weak energy transfer between the ground and the surface of the snowpack, resulting in rounded crystals and a consolidation of the snowpack. But, of course, there’s always variables.

Two days is a short time to pick up a lifetime of experience, but emphasizing the philosophy of backcountry travel seems to make up invaluable time. Considering 90% of avalanche accidents are directly related to the “human factor,” it seems sensible to start there. Identifying common psychological factors like the “Blue Sky Syndrome – nothing bad can happen, it’s such a beautiful day”; “Summit Fever – to the top or bust”; and “Lack of Leadership – I’m not the one in charge” burn powerful images into the mind, but the human psyche is difficult to understand and almost impossible to control.

Using hands-on activities, like finding buried avalanche transceivers (a necessary piece of equipment in the backcountry checklist) and digging pits to analyze layers in the snowpack, as well as case studies with photos and videos, and intense periods of question, answer and critical thinking students begin to understand the commitment involved in being part of the backcountry traveling club. It’s a club whose members thrive on limitless exploration, fresh air and pristine places. And it’s a club whose code of ethics includes the utmost respect for mountain environments and the people who decide to travel in them. Membership comes slowly, but the benefits seem to make a strong case in favor of joining.

Were you born to be wild?

Find out more about the culture of backcountry travel and heighten your awareness at Expedition: Kirkwood, visit www.kirkwood.com.