MORES CREEK SUMMIT -- With the snow coming down, it's finally time for winter recreators to get up into the mountains and enjoy it. But that also means it's time for Search and Rescue to train to help those people in case they're in an avalanche.
Saturday, the Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue Team was training for something they're expecting to do this season - finding and pulling people out from under feet and feet of snow after an avalanche. They say avalanches normally happen after a big snowfall.
"People start getting that high where they want to get out, and they want to go skiing and snowboarding," said Delinda Castellon with Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue. "But they're not actually thinking about checking the avalanche conditions."
"We want to make sure that our members are prepared in case we need to do a search in avalanche conditions," said Winston Cheyney, also with Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue.
The team drilled on probing, digging and locating beacons. But Cheyney said no matter how well-trained a rescue team is, the best one, is the closest one.
"Your chances of surviving a lengthy burial are not very great," said Cheyney. "If it's a member of your party that's buried, I think the most important thing to realize is that you are the rescue team. You don't go for help, you stay there and you carry out the rescue yourself."
With all the recent snow that can still be unsettled, the team is expecting avalanches and a potentially busy season. But obviously, they'd rather not have to go out at all.
Search and Rescue team members say anyone going into the backcountry this winter should prepare by checking avalanche conditions and taking beacons with them.
If you'd like to know more about avalanche preparedness, you can check out the Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue Unit here and learn more about avalanches here.