South American Beacon Project

This is a video, click to watch!

This is a video, click to watch!

On August 3^rd of this year (2011) it had been dumping snow in the area surrounding Nevados de Chillan, a ski resort about 5 hours south of Santiago, Chile.

Because of all the snow the resort naturally had workers clearing the road in between the resort and the nearby town of Las Trancas. In the process of clearing the road one of the workers triggered an avalanche. That avalanche killed him. He was not wearing a beacon.

Nevados de Chillan, is a unique resort with a variety of terrain. The majority of its workers live in the pueblo of Los Llueques.  A lot of them went to school together, have family working in different sections of the resort, or are neighbors. When an event like this happens it affects the whole community.

When we (the South American Beacon Project) approached the Nevados de Chillan Ski Resort and its patrol about the South American Beacon Project, the response was enthusiastic. Within several weeks we arrived in Chillan ready to start the course. When I arrived I was informed than instead of a class of 10 (our normal maximum) we had a class of 12 patrollers.   Most had never taken an avalanche class before.

It was easy to see that this group was close. In between the slides and videos which they were excited to see, they joked with each other.  In our exercises, students were quick to jump in and volunteer, wanting to learn the skills

hands on. Our first day of classes, I covered, terrain, weather, snowpack (basic) and their
effect on avalanches, as well as partner rescue. The class broke into two groups: more and less experiences rescuers and performed hands on beacon and probing exercises. On day two the group learnt to shovel using a V shaped conveyor belt method and learnt how to look at the snow below the surface. For all but one in the group, it was their first experience with strategic shoveling, snow pits, and stability tests.

After the accident this year, almost all patrollers were equipped with avalanche rescue gear; the project donated 5 beacons to workers. As well as some other gear. The machinistas (cat and plow drivers) like the machinista who died this year, do not all have beacons, let alone the knowledge of how to use one if a partner,
coworker, or overall friend was buried. This program is crucial for resorts such as Nevados de Chillan, who previously haven’t had a source for this information, and whose workers are quite often required to go into zones with hazard without the right protection. This year was the mark of what we hope to be a long standing relationship between Nevados de Chillan, its workers, and the South American Beacon Project. This community truly is unique in its spirit.

Surrounded by huge peaks in the heart of Chile and the Central Cordillera is a ski area with a lot of history. This ski area is La Parva. With its more fruitful history also comes the history of avalanche related deaths of skiers in the surrounding backcountry (Santa Teresa) . La Parva was founded in 1952 and has a continuing tradition of breeding strong skiers who often leave its boundaries for the surrounding Andean faces. This was one of the reasons our project came there. We had the opportunity to reach over 20 employees in two class sessions.

Employee’s varied from Patrollers, most already with some degree of knowledge, to instructors, for whom the subject of backcountry safety is relatively new. We started in the classroom with an indoor presentation on avalanche safety. The subjects we covered included terrain choices, weather and its effects on avalanches, and partner rescue.

After a lunch break, we met at the base of the alpha chair ready to take what they had learnt and put it into action in the field.  This was the time to actually implement the tests, and perform partner rescue. The group was focused on the exercises at hand while asking questions that could only come up in the actual environment. As we went through burial scenarios it became clear to me how this project is needed in the area. Many of the students learned how to use their beacons for the first time even though they had travelled in the backcountry on several occasions.

Overall even though Chile was playing the world champions (Spain) in football (one of the two days) interest was high. In the days following the classes we received positive feedback from many of the students, as well as requests for further classes in the area.

The Auction is for a good cause to benefit the South American Beacon Project . The auction is also a way to show your love if you didn’t make it to the (pig roast local band) event! All the gear was donated to us and all the proceeds minus the percentage eBay takes goes to buy beacons!

Thanks to eveyone who donated gear: Levetation Project, Panda Poles, Smith Optics, Travis Knight Art, and Adjust a Grill!

Web address for the auction is:

http://shop.ebay.com/southamericanbeaconproject/m.html?_trksid=p4340.l2562

Thanks for the support!

-South American Beacon Project.

Poster By Shanna Duncan

The date is July 10th from 1:30-7:30 pm Location is at the StormMountain Amphitheater in Big Cottonwood. We are asking a 10$ donation for the show to support the project (if you donate less, cool ,or want to donate more, rad).

4 Local bands/performers are playing acoustically in your National Forest:

Fat Apollo, Mike Cottle, Jeremiah Maxey, and Salt City Slam

The mountainous regions of Chile are surrounded by steep, avalanche prone terrain. Each winter season, South Americans venture into dangerous avalanche terrain for both work and play. Many don’t even have avalanche rescue equipment or basic avalanche awareness skills, leading to countless close calls and preventable avalanche deaths.

The South American Beacon Project is a project intended to get beacons and knowledge of safe backcountry travel into the hands and minds of South Americans working and playing in uncontrolled mountain settings.

The project consists of two parts. The first part is bringing avalanche beacons down to workers who work in avalanche terrain and couldn’t otherwise afford them. (Please continue to our Beacon page to learn more about this section of the program.) The second part is providing free basic avalanche education to workers and recreators alike. The classes are broken down into several programs. (Please continue to our education page to learn more about our programs.)

Our project is made possible in three ways: sponsorships, donations, and fundraising events. (Please check out our Getting Involved page for more information.)

The South American Beacon Project hopes to bring something needed and currently unavailable to the unique communities in the South American Central Andes. Looking forward to your involvement in this important project!

-The South American Beacon Project