Tyler's Backcountry Awareness

Tyler's Backcountry Awareness Empowering and challenging backcountry riders to expand their skills so that their adventures can reach new heights.

Backcountry rider Tyler Lundstedt’s undeniable and contagious passion for snowmobiling in the great Rocky Mountains led him and fellow riders to ever greater heights and challenges. Born in 1987, Tyler came to work in construction and running heavy equipment, but that was just to pay the snowmobiling bills. Ever smiling and always with a helping hand, Tyler would be found engaged in something prod

uctive. Those riding with Tyler would experience the mountains in ways most never will. The more obscure and hard to reach places offer the challenges and skill-building excitement an enthusiastic rider can appreciate. On January 21, 2012 Tyler died in an avalanche near Buffalo Pass in Colorado. The passion he shared with the world is a tremendous legacy. Tyler’s Backcountry Awareness was created to challenge riders to build their skills in safety and preparedness.

Backcountry travel is something that requires preparation throughout the season. In order to be fully prepared, you sho...
05/01/2026

Backcountry travel is something that requires preparation throughout the season. In order to be fully prepared, you should be refreshing your knowledge and honing your skills regularly. The best way to do this is to focus on four components highlighted below:

1. Continue your avalanche education
2. Practice avalanche rescue
3. Track the season’s conditions
4. Investigate trip options

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There are three areas to cover every time you practice avalanche rescue:• How to respond if caught in an avalanche• How ...
04/28/2026

There are three areas to cover every time you practice avalanche rescue:
• How to respond if caught in an avalanche
• How to organize avalanche rescue with teammates
• How to care for and evacuate an injured party from the backcountry

It is also important to evaluate your avalanche rescue skills to make sure that you are reinforcing correct habits and continuing to improve skills you may infrequently use. You want to be able to employ your skills efficiently and as quickly as possible. As noted earlier, the chance of survival decreases significantly after 10 minutes. Timing your practice gives you an indication of how effective your skills would be in a real-life response situation. Practice and time your skills to ensure you are able to recover a target buried at least three feet deep in 10 minutes or less.

The bottom line is that avalanche rescue is a daunting and challenging task. The upside is that training can improve response outcomes. As an example, the highly trained guides of heli-ski company Canadian Mountain Holidays have an average response time of 8 minutes. That skill and efficiency comes from regular practice and training.

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Not only will you learn about avalanche safety, planning, and rescue in our avalanche classes...but out learning environ...
04/25/2026

Not only will you learn about avalanche safety, planning, and rescue in our avalanche classes...but out learning environments will also give you the opportunity to see views that the majority of other humans will never get to see!

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04/24/2026

Whether you take our Intro, Level 1, Rescue, or Level 2 Avalanche Courses, each one will infuse new learning that includes riding your snowmobile between learning opportunities.

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Monitoring conditions means both making regular observations while traveling along your route and stopping to make relev...
04/19/2026

Monitoring conditions means both making regular observations while traveling along your route and stopping to make relevant observations. These observations may have been planned for during PLAN YOUR TRIP or conditions warranted a closer examination. Monitoring conditions ranges from looking for avalanche activity, to noting changes in the weather, to closely examining the snowpack by digging a snow profile.

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Riding with partners who are experienced with the routes and conditions in your area is a practical and effective form o...
04/17/2026

Riding with partners who are experienced with the routes and conditions in your area is a practical and effective form of seeking mentorship in this challenging skill. Traveling with experienced riders and discussing what you see in the backcountry is often the most instructive path to understanding avalanche terrain and the factors that define it. Observing active or recent avalanches from a safe distance will cement a visual memory of the terrain that can be involved. Avalanche activity often occurs in known areas, following established paths. Learning what can happen in one area can help you apply that view in another.

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04/14/2026

Spring riding can create new adventures that you hadn’t planned on...and those can start right out of the parking lot.

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Regardless if you take our Intro, Level 1, Rescue, or Level 2 courses, each one has learning in the classroom combined w...
04/10/2026

Regardless if you take our Intro, Level 1, Rescue, or Level 2 courses, each one has learning in the classroom combined with learning and application out on the mountain. You can rest assured that you will leave each class with “hands in the snow” learning.

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SLOPE ANGLEMost slab avalanches occur on slopes between 30° - 45°. Loose snow avalanches can occur on steeper terrain. ...
04/09/2026

SLOPE ANGLE

Most slab avalanches occur on slopes between 30° - 45°. Loose snow avalanches can occur on steeper terrain. Pay attention to the steepest parts of the slope, even when the average angle could be considerably lower. Mapping software is capable to a point, but can lack the resolution to show specific steep features in the terrain. Be aware that maps also often underestimate slope angle.

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04/05/2026

“Limit exposure” by avoiding the obvious paths, steepest slopes, and trigger zones. Consider entering slopes below start zones or lower in the track. Or if in doubt, avoid avalanche terrain. The terrain may have avoidable terrain traps, mid slope start zones, overhead cornices, and less obvious avalanche slopes. Managing exposure requires experience, but “options exist to reduce or eliminate exposure with careful route finding”.

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In the field, the group should ground-truth their assessment by reevaluating all slopes the group will travel on or near...
04/01/2026

In the field, the group should ground-truth their assessment by reevaluating all slopes the group will travel on or near for their avalanche potential.

When assessing consequences, ask yourself:
• Does this slope have the potential to avalanche?
• If so, how big and destructive could the avalanche be?

Realistic terrain evaluation—and a respectful fear of an avalanche’s consequence—are the two most valuable assets when deciding where you go and how you go.

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Once you’ve excavated a buried victim and ensured your patient has a clear airway, is breathing, and has a pulse, your t...
04/01/2026

Once you’ve excavated a buried victim and ensured your patient has a clear airway, is breathing, and has a pulse, your team still has serious medical and logistical issues to deal with. Patient care is first and foremost. Ensure the patient is treated for or protected against hypothermia and other environmental threats and then perform a complete head to toe physical assessment for injuries. If you don’t have adequate first aid training yet, take a wilderness first aid course from a reputable provider in your area. Consider the first aid training and skills of you and your partners when Assembling Your Group. Just as you practice your rescue skills regularly, keep your medical emergency skills sharp and up to date through regular training.

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1401 E Lincoln Avenue
Fort Collins, CO
80524

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