It's mid-March and the mountains surrounding Las Vegas are covered in snow! Many people have a hard time believing it, but winter conditions, which include snow-fall, is one of the major elements that the Mountain Rescue Unit works in. Because of this, the Unit heads to the mountains once a year to review avalanche conditions, rescue techniques, and Winter survival.
Here's a picture of what an avalanche chute looks like, including broken trees and other debris. This is clear evidence that many avalanches have occurred in the area:
The team reviewing information on avalanche conditions:
Digging out and looking at snow pack:
One example of how to build a shelter using Team equipment:
This is a picture of the team digging after a probable probe hit:
Setting up an anchor for extrication:
Patient extrication:
Team photo:
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