Day 3 – Be a Friend in the Backcountry
Day 3 is about taking care of the outdoor spaces where we love to play and practicing proper backcountry etiquette.
Live Events
We have a full schedule of live events this week. View the schedule and register here.
Backcountry Beacon Hunt
Hosted by: Tahoe Mountain Sports & Tahoe Donner
Location: Alder Creek Adventure Center in Truckee, CA
Date: Saturday Dec 18
Time: 3:30pm
Description: Come have fun learning how to use your equipment and practice using an avalanche beacon. You don’t want the first time you use your beacon to be in an avalanche scenario so come out to practice. Warm up with drinks, snacks, and socializing following the event in the Alder Creek Adventure Center! This event is free and open to the public.
Backcountry Tips and Etiquette
Advocacy Panel
Members of the human-powered and motorized winter sports community get together to chat about safety and issues affecting their user groups.
Moderator:
Jill Sanford – Sierra Business Council
Panelists:
Greg Garrison – Tahoe Backcountry Alliance
Devin Middlebrook – Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and City of South Lake Tahoe
Todd Wold – Lake Tahoe Snowmobilers
Sierra Business Council / Tahoe Backcountry Alliance/ Lake Tahoe Snowmobilers / Tahoe Regional Planning Agency / Outdoor Alliance California
Skin Track Etiquette
On your way up the mountain, be sure to practice proper skin track etiquette.
- Bathroom breaks minimum 25′ away from skin track
- Do not bootpack in the skin track
- Minimize the amount of skin tracks on the mountain
Parking Lot Etiquette
Where to park and parking lot etiquette are an important part of being a Friend in the Backcountry.
- Respect private property
- Respect parking closures
- Maximize parking at congested trailheads
- Carpool when you can
- Be friendly and courteous
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.
Motorized & Non-Motorized Resources and Maps
Be informed about forest boundaries and OSV (Over the Snow Vehicles) riding areas.
LakeTahoeSnowmobilers.com > Resources > Resources and Maps.
Over Snow Vehicle Boundary Maps
Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit OSV Map
Humboldt-Toiyabe (Mount Rose) OSV Map
Win a Free Spot in an AAIRE Course!
Alpenglow Expeditions and Golden State Guiding have generously donated free spots to their AIARE courses to help our community access this critical safety education.
How to enter:
Visit the @alpenglowexpeditions and @goldenstateguiding Instagram pages to learn how you can enter to win.
Learn more and see their full course offerings:
Alpenglow Expeditions Avalanche Courses
Golden State Guiding Avalanche Courses
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.
View Day 1 Content: “Welcome to the Backcountry!”
View Day 2 Content: “Preparing for the Backcountry”
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.
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.

