Module 1: Winter Pack & Gear

Bring your full winter day pack to the Module 1 Fall Session.
Students continuing on for Module 2 should bring as complete a pack as possible in preparation for the Module 2 Winter Field Sessions.
But all students must bring at least winter gloves and some sort of pack, so as to practice unzipping layers to access the beacon, manipulating the beacon with bulky winter gloves, and extricating from a pack then assembling probe and shovel.
 All students also need to be prepared for outdoor beacon practice in whatever weather is forecast for the day.

Toward the end of the afternoon, students for only Module 1 will be released for the day, while Module 2 students will take their winter packs and avalanche rescue gear (but not on-snow backcountry travel gear), and wearing hiking boots or trail runners (but not ordinary sneakers or running shoes), we will then hike a little over 800 vertical to the summit of Northfield Mountain and back to assess fitness levels and overall outdoor travel competence for the Winter Field Sessions.
This hike will take place in whatever weather conditions we have that day, even full-on cold driving rain. Only dangerously high winds will cancel.

Upon the return from the hike, the instructors will present a gear show-and-tell, then inspect student gear, both packs and on-snow travel setups. Any deficiencies will be noted and will have to be corrected to the satisfaction of the instructors by the deadline noted in the student checklist.