With more and more people entering the backcountry these days—especially around Mount Washington—there’s a greater and greater need for the right resources to keep backcountry travelers educated and their skills sharp. A lot of people might not realize it, but Mount Washington is serious avalanche terrain and venturing into the mountains, whether on skis, a snowboard, snowshoes, or campons, takes a little bit of know-how to do safely. And even after you’ve gotten your avalanche education, keeping your skils sharp is critical. Avalanche search and rescue skills are vital if something goes wrong, and you don’t have all day to remember how your beacon works. Knowing how to execute a timely beacon search is a technical skill, and it’s perishable, meaning regular practice is important. An avalanche beacon training and practice park, like the one the Friends of Tuckerman Ravine are building at Pinkham Notch, with the help of the Mount Washington Snow Rangers and Appalachian Mountain Club, might be the best way to practice those skills, outside of an actual emergency. But they need your help to make it happen.

Each $25 donation will enter you to win a slew of prizes from Eastern Mountain Sports and other brands.

EMS will choose 10 winners to take home one of two $100 EMS Gift Cards, an EMS Schools course, a Marmot Jacket, an Osprey Pack, EMS Trail Snowshoes, EMS Trekking Poles, a Black Diamond Ice Axe, a pair of EMS Traction Spikes, and a LifeStraw Water Bottle.

The park—which is planned to be built behind Joe Dodge Lodge in Pinkham Notch, easy walking distance from the parking lot and next to one of the busiest backcountry access points on the mountains—would be the first of its kind on the Northeast, and would be free and open to the public. Simply roll up with your beacon and probe and flip a switch on the park’s control panel to activate the transmit signal in one of eight buried practice transceivers—Then get to searching. The control panel will even alert you that you’ve hit your target. The park is designed to be the perfect tool for avalanche educators teaching courses, as well as backcountry skiers and riders who want to spend just a few minutes prior to starting their skin to refresh important skills with their group. No more borrowing and burying a friends beacon, only to be led right to it’s hiding place by footprints and piles of snow.

By donating, you’ll be supporting FTR’s purchase of a the beacon park’s equipment, as well as signage, and to support periodic “beacon” repositioning to keep the practice area fresh for returning visitors. And on top of that, for each $25 donated, you’ll be entered for the chance to win a collection of prizes from Eastern Mountain Sports, Marmot, Osprey, Black Diamond, and LifeStraw.

Donations are being collected by the Friends of Tuckerman Ravine, a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization and all contributions are tax deductible.

Help make the Mount Washington Avalanche Beacon Park a reality, here!

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