Welcome to Tahoe Backcountry Safety Awareness Week 2021!
Day 1 – Welcome to the New Backcountry
Today kicks off Backcountry Safety Awareness week with content to help new users get started and refresh the basics for veterans. We finish things off today with a backcountry edit featuring local terrain to get you stoked for the season!
Check out all of Day 1’s content below.
Live Events
We have a full schedule of live events this week. View the schedule and register here.
Don’t miss tomorrow’s Find Your Line: Backcountry Trip Planning Live Webinar hosted by Blackbird Mountain Guides and Caltopo.
Tuesday Dec 14 @ 6:30-7:30pm
How to Get Started
Backcountry skiing and riding can feel like an overwhelming sport. There are hazards to manage and lots of gear to understand. In this video we’ll talk about the most important things to get you started as a backcountry skier.
Introduction to the Backcountry
Backcountry Tips with Claire Hewitt-Demeyer
Tahoe Backcountry Alliance produced this short video with local professional snowboarder, Claire Hewitt-Demeyer to provide a quick starting point for those who are thinking about getting in to the backcountry.
Follow Claire’s adventures on Instagram: @wheres_claire_now
Make the Backcountry Safety Pledge
and be entered to win a Boundary Ridge™ Kit from Mountain Hard Wear!
Learn more and make the pledge here.
Claire Hewitt-Demeyer – Riding Local Terrain
First Tracks Productions produced this interview and action edit with local professional snowboarder, Claire Hewitt-Demeyer. Watch Claire as she descends from some well-known and lesser known lines in the Tahoe region from this past winter.
Follow Claire’s adventures on Instagram: @wheres_claire_now
BLACKBIRD BIPOC AVALANCHE SCHOLARSHIP
The purpose of the Blackbird BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) Avalanche Course Scholarship is to acknowledge structural racism that has contributed to a lack of representation in the ski industry and remove financial barriers to avalanche education to make backcountry skiing more accessible and representative of our population as a whole.
To that end, they are offering an AIARE 1, a Women’s AIARE 1, or Lift Accessed Avalanche Rescue course to the chosen recipient. This avalanche course scholarship will be for an in- person course in the Truckee / Lake Tahoe area.
The application deadline is Dec 20, 2021.
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Partners and Resources
The Tahoe Backcountry Alliance is the voice for the human-powered winter backcountry community in the Lake Tahoe area, advocating for and informing our community about critical issues affecting winter backcountry recreation in and around Tahoe.
Sierra Avalanche Center’s mission is to inform and educate the public about backcountry avalanche conditions in the greater Lake Tahoe area.
Alpenglow Expeditions is the only guide service in Tahoe accredited by the American Mountain Guides Association. Join our professional mountain guides for an inspiring adventure in the Tahoe backcountry, whether it be our industry-leading AIARE 1 courses with both traditional and hybrid options, or a day of powder skiing bliss in the Palisades Backcountry. Give our team a call to discover your options – we’re open 7 days a week in the Village at Palisades Tahoe.
877-873-5376 | AlpenglowExpeditions.com
Founded by IFMGA/American Mountain Guide Zeb Blais, Blackbird Mountain Guides offers a full range of mountain adventures and skills courses to up your game in the backcountry. From AIARE avalanche education and heli-accessed BC lodge ski touring to rock and alpine climbing across the globe, their AIARE and AMGA trained guides can make your mountain dreams a reality. Set up a trip or book a course with them today!
Golden State Guiding is a full service Guide Service in California offering privately guided backcountry splitboarding and skiing programs, AIARE Avalanche Courses, and rock, ice, and alpine climbing programs. GSG is also a 1% for the Planet member and our main beneficiaries are the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center, Protect Our Winters, Yosemite Conservancy and Friends of Joshua Tree.
The Lake Tahoe Snowmobilers is a 501(c)3 run by a group of volunteers committed to winter avalanche safety education and practice, promoting positive backcountry experiences and snowmobile for all backcountry users, and advocating for motorized backcountry experiences and access for all, regardless of health-status, physical abilities, socioeconomic background, or culture. Reach out to [email protected] with any questions or find us at LakeTahoeSnowmobilers.com or
@laketahoesnowmobilers on Facebook and Instagram.

