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demic, as people seek less
crowded places to play —
attendance at the center’s
classes has followed suit,
McNeil said.
The center teaches stu-
dents how to analyze terrain
and assess avalanche danger
during a three-day course,
and how to rescue people
caught in a snow slide, a
one-day class.
A trio of three-day classes
earlier this year attracted
about 18 students each,
while a one-day course had
21 students, McNeil said.
These are larger turnouts
than in the past, and the
additional revenue — three-
day courses are $450, and
one-day classes $125 —
make it possible for the cen-
ter to expand its work.
This is the fi rst year, for
instance, that the center has
issued forecasts four days
per week — in past win-
ters there were two forecasts
each week, on Thursdays
and Saturdays, McNeil said.
“We’ve developed a bit
of a reputation for high-level
education,” he said.
Two types of travelers
McNeil said the cen-
ter’s courses tend to attract
two distinct groups of back-
country travelers — snow-
mobilers, and those who
get around under their own
power, whether by skis,
snowboard or snowshoes.
Generally
speak-
ing, snowmobilers who
take classes are experi-
enced backcountry travel-
not more so, in the classes,”
McNeil said. “They’re just
like sponges taking in infor-
mation. It’s pretty cool to
see.”
This is avalanche
country
Northeastern
Oregon
is not infamous for deadly
avalanches compared with,
say, the Alps or parts of the
Rocky Mountains.
But that doesn’t mean
avalanches are uncommon
here, McNeil said.
Although
the
Wal-
lowas have been branded
as “America’s Alps,” the
comparison, however apt
in terms of scenery and
geology, is fl imsy in other
respects.
Most notably, the Alps
teem with villages and ski
resorts and highways, all
built in avalanche country.
Most of the ava-
lanche-prone terrain in
Northeastern Oregon, by
contrast, is uninhabited and
visited by a comparatively
tiny number of people.
The bottom line is that
any avalanche in the Alps
is much more likely to have
humans in its path than one
in this corner of Oregon.
But McNeil said the
conditions that breed ava-
lanches frequently occur in
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parts of Northeastern Ore-
gon — slopes that are steep
(but not necessarily verti-
cal, since cliff s can’t hold
enough snow to fuel a big
avalanche), and weather
conditions
that
create
unstable layers within the
snowpack.
A relatively common sit-
uation that poses a hazard —
and one that’s in place now
in much of the region —
is a long period of tranquil
weather, with little snow
falling, McNeil said.
In that case, and in partic-
ular when the surface of the
snow melts and refreezes,
the shape of the snow grains
tends to morph from circu-
lar, with the grains read-
ily bonding to create a fi rm
structure, to square.
These squarish grains,
what skiers often call “sugar
snow,” do not bond as well,
McNeil said, resulting in a
layer of weak snow.
When new snow accu-
mulates on that weak layer,
the weight of the new snow
can trigger an avalanche.
The weight of a skier,
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ers, McNeil said, and many
have some skills in identify-
ing avalanche dangers even
if they don’t have the tech-
nical knowledge that he and
other instructors do.
As for the nonmotor-
ized travelers, McNeil said
many who attend the cen-
ter’s courses are newcomers
to mountain travel.
But regardless of the stu-
dents’ mode of travel and
experience level, the goal
is the same, McNeil said —
to teach them to recognize
places they should avoid
during their trips, and how
to rescue someone who gets
caught in an avalanche.
McNeil said that although
many of the local snowmo-
bilers he has taught have
years or decades of experi-
ence traveling through the
mountains, they understand
the value of knowing how
to study terrain and snow
conditions to assess the risk
level.
At the most basic statisti-
cal level, snowmobilers tend
to have a higher risk simply
because they travel so much
faster and cover so much
more ground that they’re
more likely, at some point,
to ride into terrain where
avalanches pose a threat.
“Riders are just as
engaged as the skier group, if
Wednesday, February 9, 2022
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snowshoer or snowmobile,
naturally, greatly increases
the risk.
An ice layer on the sur-
face is similarly danger-
ous because new snow, like
boots losing traction on an
icy sidewalk, is likely to
slide off rather than stick.
Various other conditions
also can exacerbate ava-
lanche danger, McNeil said.
If a couple feet of snow
falls in a short period, as
happens most winters in
parts of the region, the new
snow, even if accumulates
on a stable layer, might not
might not itself become
internally stable for a few
days, he said.
During that period the
deep, unconsolidated snow
can be prone to sliding.
Wind is also a major
factor.
When wind blows from
a consistent direction at
a speed of between about
10 mph and 15 mph for an
extended period it can cause
slabs of snow to form on the
leeward side of ridges.
If slabs accumulate atop
layers of less dense snow,
there is a greater risk of
what are known as “wind
slab avalanches,” McNeil
said.
He said the center’s staff
members use a variety of
data, in addition to their own
observations from snow pits
they dig, to compile their
forecasts. These include
readings
from
remote
weather stations.
One of those stations has
a direct, and poignant, con-
nection to the Wallowa Ava-
lanche Center.
The Kip Rand weather
station, in the southern Wal-
lowas north of Halfway,
was named for the man who
McNeil succeeded as the
center’s director.
Rand died on March 8,
2016, from injuries he sus-
tained in an avalanche on
Chief Joseph Mountain in
the Northern Wallowas,
south of Joseph.
The Kip Rand station is
vital because it measures
wind as well as temperature.
Most of the other remote
stations lack an anemometer.
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