Storm tests wilderness skills

Participants in a wilderness skills class in Sisters Country got a lesson in surviving severe winter weather last weekend.

Doug Early of Sisters had taken a course with Lake Tahoe-area wilderness skills instructor Ned Tibbits of Mountain Education before, and he invited Tibbits to come to Sisters to conduct an intermediate winter wilderness course. Mountain Education operates on a suggested donation basis, which means there's no financial commitment in advance. With the weather looking bad, most of the participants bailed out - except for Early and his son Jared, a senior at Sisters High School.

Instruction included topics such as balance when walking on snow; snowshoe or ski use techniques; crampon and ice-axe use; self-arrest skills; navigation and avalanche awareness and avoidance.

The three men headed out Thursday from Upper Three Creek Sno Park and camped at Park Meadow. The next day, they headed up onto the ridge that connects Broken Top and South Sister. It was then that they realized a heavy storm was descending and they decided to shelter in place.

"Not knowing how hard it would be to get back to the truck, we hunkered down," Tibbits said.

They had time to establish a safe camp on the ridge, with tents well anchored. It was a good thing, too, because the wind gusts were

punishing.

"I've been to an air show and heard an F-16 before," Tibbits said. "It was screaming. It was forecasted to be 70 miles per hour. I don't know what the actual was, but it was in that vicinity."

The wind was shrieking so loudly the men could not hear each other yelling from adjacent tents, so they gave it up and communicated by cell phone.

"We actually ended up texting each other because there was no way any of us were going to get out of our tents," Tibbits said.

Some three to four feet of snow fell on the ridge overnight, and Tibbits was forced to get out of his tent at 1:30 a.m. and shovel it away so his tent wouldn't collapse under its weight. Another foot of snow would fall over the weekend.

The three men stayed hunkered down in their tents as the storm blew itself out. Early and his son hiked out on Sunday afternoon. Tibbits stayed another night and came out Monday.

"Doug was pretty savvy," Tibbits said. "He brought all the right gear and knew what he was doing."

Proper gear, knowledge and experience - and making good decisions - are keys to safety in what could be dire circumstances. For most people, the wisest course is to avoid going out into the backcountry in the face of a storm. Even for the experienced, it's no stroll in the park.

"We were prepared for it," Tibbits said. "But nevertheless, when the wind's blowing like that and everything, it's an adventure."