The Flathead National Forest and Glacier Country Avalanche Center offer a free avalanche awareness and safety training program beginning Monday, Jan. 3.  

The program, focused for downhill and cross-country skiers, snowboarders, snowshoe enthusiasts and mountaineers, will consist of four evening lectures and two all-day field sessions.

The evening lectures will be Mondays and Wednesdays (Jan. 3, 5, 10 and 12) from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Flathead National Forest office in Northwest Kalispell, 650 Wolfpack Way.  

The Saturday field sessions will be Jan. 8 and 15.  

Registration is not required for the workshop but participants are encouraged to contact the Flathead Forest at 758-5284 or visit www.glacieravalanche.org for more information.  

Flathead National Forest Avalanche Specialist Stan Bones said, “The program will include information about avalanche terrain, mountain weather and snowpack, stability evaluation and decision making, and avalanche rescue.”  Bones encourages participants to attend all sessions to gain maximum benefit.  

REMINDER:

The Flathead National Forest issues avalanche advisories for Northwest Montana throughout the winter. Advisories are issued twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday mornings. Advisories include information about snowpack conditions, weather forecasts, and hazard evaluations.  Visit www.glacieravalanche.org  or call 406-257-8402 for these advisories.  Anyone traveling in the backcountry will always need to make their own time and site specific avalanche hazard evaluations.