Story By: Spencer Porden
Almost 40 students took part in a free avalanche awareness course on Friday and Saturday that was hosted by the Sheridan Community Land Trust, the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center, and Antelope Butte Mountain Recreation Area.
The course included a classroom portion that took place on Friday night, followed by a field day on Saturday up at Antelope Butte. Students learned the proper use of avalanche beacons, probes, and proper retrieval methods to recover someone who might have been swept under the snow by an avalanche.
Several members of Sheridan and Johnson County Search and Rescue were present at the course as well. The course drew students all the way from South Dakota.
Mark Weitz, with the Antelope Butte Foundation, said that the foundation hopes to sponsor an Avalanche 1 class, which is a more in-depth course than the awareness level class, in the future if there is enough interest.
This was the second year the the Sheridan Community Land Trust has put on the free class.