Backcountry Film Festival at EOU

When: Thursday, January 19th @ 7pm

Where: EOU Campus, Badgley Hall, Huber Auditorium

All Students FREE Admission - Non-students $5 at the door - Raffle prizes include backcountry guidebooks, shovels, probes, magazine subscriptions and more. Raffle tickets are 1 for $2 or 3 for $5.

The Mountaineers Books are a sponsor of the Backcountry Film Festival and are giving away two copies of the latest backcountry ski & snowboard guidebook. Click here to enter to win the Mountaineers Book Backcountry Ski & Snowboard Routes Oregon (2011) by Christopher Van Tilburg.

Wallowa Avalanche Center presents pre-film Avalanche Awareness Program @5pm

The seventh annual world tour of the Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film Festival highlights the beauty and fun of the winter backcountry experience. Submissions come from renowned filmmakers who travel every corner of the globe to submit their best backcountry work, and from grassroots filmmakers who take a video camera out on their weekend excursions and submit their best film short. The films are juried by a select panel of judges and the top films are assembled into a 90 minute program.

The festival was created to highlight Winter Wildlands Alliance’s efforts to preserve and conserve winter landscapes for quiet users. The festival travels to more than 75 communities throughout the United States, and then overseas to Antarctica, Europe Australia and Asia. Funds raised stay in local communities to support local human-powered recreation efforts and to raise awareness of winter management issues, avalanche training/ safety and winter education programs.

This year’s program includes nine different films including festival award winners “Solitaire” (festival cut) from Sweetgrass Productions, voted Best of Festival. Two years in the making, this film from the wilderness of South America is worth the wait. The Best Short award goes to “Chalk and Ski.” Produced by Chris Dicky and Purple Orange LLC, it’s a chalk-in-hand daydream about skiing and winter. And the Best of the Backcountry award goes to a “Breaking Trail” (festival cut) from Powderwhore Productions. Known for their amazing ability to capture deep powder and fresh lines, brothers Noah and Jonah Howell remind us why we venture into the backcountry.

Avalanche Awareness Education Program

Yesterday I (Jerry Isaak, Outdoor Program Coordinator) went up to First Basin on Wing Ridge in the Wallowa Mountains, with Keith Stebbings, Director of the Wallowa Avalanche Center to gather some early season weather and snowpack information. You can read a summary of our field observations on the Wallowa Avalanche Center website. We encountered full winter conditions, with strong winds and increasingly heavy snowfall as the day progressed.

As the snowpack deepens in northeast Oregon the likelihood of avalanches also increases. The recent avalanche fatality in Utah highlights the potential hazards of traveling in avalanche terrain. However, travelling in the mountains during winter (whether skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, climbing, dog sledding or some other mode of travel) can be one of the most rewarding outdoor experiences. Avalanche awareness and education, along with good decision making, can help to mitigate some of the risks of traveling in avalanche terrain.

The Wallowa Avalanche Center has developed an Avalanche Awareness Education Program that will be presented at Eastern Oregon University on December 7th in the Outdoor Program (Hoke Union Building, Room 102). This free presentation focuses on the fundamentals of traveling safely in the winter environment where avalanche hazards exist.  The presentation addresses avalanche hazard awareness, tour planning, familiarity with avalanche center bulletins, basic equipment considerations, and the need for skill in companion rescue.  The presentation will begin at 7PM and will last until around 8:30PM.

Contact gisaak@eou.edu for more information.

Ski Bus from La Grande during Winter!

Anthony Lakes Ski Area has arranged transportation from La Grande to Anthony Lakes during the ski season! Saturday and Sunday transportation will leave from La Grande at 7:30AM and return at 5:00PM.

There are no more excuses for students who haven't bought a season's pass (only $199). Come out on Thusday evening to Huber Auditorium at 6PM (movie 'The Art of Flight' starts at 7PM) to buy your season pass and get stoked for snow!

Transportation Logistics:

Saturday, Beginning December 3rd. The bus will leave from The west side Community Bank at 7:30. Cost $5.

Sunday, beginning December 4th. Transportaion will be provided and leave from Legacy Ford at 7:30. Riders will need to call at at least 2 days in advance either Legacy ford at 541-963-2161 or Anthony Lakes at 541-856-3277. Cost is free.