Stations set up to check avalanche beacons

The Flathead Nordic Backcountry Patrol has installed four beacon check stations at popular backcountry sites to help strengthen its search-and-rescue program.

The beacons were purchased with a donation from the Northern Rockies Avalanche Safety Workshop.

The beacon check stations, which run on battery power, automatically check to see if a person’s avalanche transceiver is on and working. The person wearing a transceiver must stop within range of the device. A green light indicates the avalanche transceiver is on and working; a red light means it isn’t.

Signs also remind backcountry users to carry shovels and probes and provide tips on avalanche safety, including contact information for avalanche updates from the Flathead Avalanche Center (www.flatheadavalanche.org).

Three of the beacon check stations have been installed at backcountry access points off Whitefish Mountain Resort.

One is located at the top of Flower Point, a popular backcountry access point for the Canyon Creek drainage, and warns skiers and snowboarders of the avalanche danger out of resort bounds on the other side of the ski ropes.

Other beacon check stations are located at the snowmobile parking area at the summit of Whitefish Mountain Resort and on Taylor Creek Road, an access point for Hellroaring Peak. Both Canyon Creek and Hellroaring Peak have been the site of avalanches in the past, including a fatal avalanche in Canyon Creek in 2008.

The fourth beacon check station is located in Essex at the Marion Lake/Essex Creek trailhead, a popular location with backcountry skiers in the Middle Fork drainage.

The patrol has an agreement with Whitefish Mountain Resort and Flathead National Forest to monitor and maintain the units.

A Whitefish Community Foundation grant — the 2014 Doris Schumm Community Spirit Award — will help establish a rescue cache on Flower Point at Whitefish Mountain Resort to facilitate a more efficient response to backcountry emergencies outside the ski-area boundaries.

The grant also will be used to purchase rescue gear and first-aid supplies that will be used by the patrol when it is called to respond to emergencies in the area.