Snow school and resupply

The group has been busy the past several days. Between moving camps and dealing with winter weather, they have also started some of what we call 'snow school'.  This includes more technical skills involving snow travel, involving how to safely use ice axes to stop yourself from sliding down a snow field.  It's all done in a controlled area with much supervision.  Why do we do this?  Well, part of the course could include an attempt at summitting Downs Mountain (13,355ft).  It's not a technical climb, but it does involve crossing a lot of potentially steep snow fields, so the group needs to have the knowledge of how to keep each other safe.  There are a lot of factors that go into the possibility of summitting and it's never a guarantee, but we love to give the group the tools they need in case it becomes a possibility.

Today was also their last resupply via horses.  The group had a significant hike up a couloir, where they gained 1,700ft in altitude and then crossed a good amount of high alpine meadows in order to meet the horses. From here on out, they will be carrying the food and supplies for the rest of the course.  We also had an instructor exchange, Paul will be going out of the field and our other head instructor- Dave- will be coming in to finish off the course.  Be praying for his integration into the group, it's always hard to come in after a group has had significant experiences together!

I"m sure I'll be getting some more pictures over the next few days, so stay tuned for more later!