Boondocking bret rasmussen 2018

To help motorized riders manage risk while boondocking, backcountry ‘professor’ Bret Rasmussen has been refining avalanche education programs for nearly a decade. Here are his top snowmobile safety tips.

Avalanche centers and rescue groups have recorded 33 avalanche fatalities nationwide to date this winter.

A quarter of those recreationists were snowmobilers and included many multi-rider burials. These tragedies aren’t new. Close to 30% of the deadly incidents over the past 12 years were sledders, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

“When I started, snowmobiles couldn’t reach avalanche terrain — period.

Year by year, sleds evolved,” said Bret Rasmussen, 63, a pioneer of backcountry snowmobile ride technique and motorized avalanche safety education.

“Snowmobilers are further and deeper in the backcountry, exposing themselves to more risk without much avalanche education: 25 [of my] close friends have lost their lives to avalanches b