New resources for Tahoe backcountry skiers, riders, seasoned and new
Richard Bothwell speaks loudly, so he can be heard over the howling wind and gives the conditions report for the day, capping it off with “A-plus,” he says. It’s always an A-plus day on the snow, unless there’s free coffee and cookies. Then it’s an A-plus-plus day.
Bothwell hopes his new guidebook, Light Tours of Tahoe, will help others get out and have an A-plus day, perhaps even an A-plus-plus day of their own.
He holds to his sunny outlook, even on these windy days and says in his social media videos, “if you like conditions like this, you’ll love the conditions today, A+.”
“It’s kind of tongue-in-cheek,” Bothwell says to the Tribune, “but I’m trying get people to have an open mind about all conditions.”
This crossroad where humans meet those conditions is an area this long-time avalanche educator and ski guide is familiar with. He started Slablab to research and provide resources for the winter recreation community, but Bothwell says the idea for the guidebook actually came about on a social media post.
One of his previous avalanche class students had seen a light tours guidebook for Colorado and wanted to know if a similar book existed for California. Up until Nov. 2023, ski guidebooks in Tahoe had primarily only featured what he calls “hero lines,” big steep aspirational routes.
Bothwell responded to the need and partnered with Andy Sovick, publisher and owner of Beacon Guidebooks. Together the duo put the idea on paper.
Sovick says Bothwell is the exact type of person he likes to work with on tour books, “somebody who takes it very seriously, who is really interested in getting it right and putting responsible and reliable information in people’s hands.” But they didn’t stop there.
The guidebook routes and information are also available on the onX Backcountry app, a navigation app with hiking, biking, skiing and climbing routes.
Sovick, also the senior content manager for onX, says, “The addition of this guidebook to this app really gives people something to grab onto to get into the backcountry without risking everything.”
And he says that’s what light tours are designed to do. They are more mellow routes that “largely and mostly” avoid avalanche terrain. He says he uses those terms very intentionally, “it’s not like we tell you to go out without training or the proper equipment, because we can make mistakes as skiers and get ourselves into trouble, but if you do follow the routes that we highlight, then you will avoid avalanche terrain.”
Bothwell echoed this as well and says he and Sovick pause and use their words carefully when discussing it, “I don’t want to say it is impossible to get involved in an avalanche if you are in or close to the terrain that’s in the book that I offer. It would surprise me, as I do work really hard to try to curate a list that is definitely on the simpler side.”
By simpler, he’s referring to the Simple or Class 1 category of the Avalanche Terrain Exposure Scale, or ATES, that classifies terrain into categories based on the severity of avalanche exposure. It’s the least severe category, other than non-avalanche or Class 0.
The other categories in order of severity are Challenging (Class 2), Complex (Class 3), and Extreme (Class 4).
Who Light Tours of Tahoe is for
Bothwell says the routes in Light Tours of Tahoe are great for anyone who has just taken an AIARE 1 class, and is now looking to get out into the backcountry. The guidebook provides routes they can cut their teeth on without worrying about being exposed to high-consequence avalanche slopes.
However, Sovick says some people, including himself, don’t always want to avoid avalanche terrain.
His co-worker, Senior Product Manager Charlie Von Avis notes, “The problem is that where it is fun to ski, is where avalanches occur.”
For those who are in search of those hero lines, Bothwell says, this book can be for them too, because somedays, conditions-wise, “it’s just not a day for the Cross.” The Cross Couloir, he explains, is a landmark seen from South Lake Tahoe and also a classic key backcountry ski descent off Mount Tallac.
It’s on those days when the other avalanche variables, weather and snowpack, make for high-risk avalanche days.
“On high danger days when the conditions have changed,” Bothwell says, “we make different terrain choices.”
Backcountry skiers that are still itching to get some turns in on those days, can use these less risky simple terrain routes and still get outside.
He says the routes are also ideal for those trying out new backcountry partners. They can test their chemistry on less committing terrain first.
One group of skiers that Bothwell wasn’t expecting to utilize the book are seasoned backcountry skiers who now have kids, and want to take their kids to simpler routes. He felt honored hearing about this unexpected group, “if my contribution is helping multigenerational ski families go skiing and helping kids get into the backcountry. I’m pretty happy about that contribution.”
Both Sovick and Bothwell want to see the book open up the mountains to people and allow them to explore areas they are unfamiliar with.
“I hope that people use this book to have more adventures,” Bothwell says, “and more aspirations of their own, beyond the pages of the book.”
ATES map overlay coming to onX Backcountry app for Tahoe region
Multiple new features, including an ATES layer, on the onX Backcountry app will make evaluating new terrain easier. It will become available to the app in the Tahoe region in the coming months, once local fact checking is complete.
Using a technology called AutoATES, the feature overlays color coded ratings on a topographic map within the app, whether or not a route has been placed on the region of interest. They’re also working on layers for potential release areas and runout zones for the Tahoe area.
The app currently includes other layers to that map:
- Local Avalanche Forecast
- SNOTEL site data
- Slope Angle
- Slope Aspect
- Government Land
- Private Land
These layers can be toggled on and off, and some combined over the map.
The ATES, potential release areas, and runout zones layer are currently offered in parts of Colorado, Montana, and Utah.
Sovick points out that all of Bothwell’s tours are ATES rated the “old fashioned way: manually and carefully.” He says “we have applied ATES ratings to hundreds of zones and thousands of routes in our books this way for years.”
He says local expert knowledge is still important, that’s why developers work with local avalanche forecasters to localize and verify certain elements of the AutoATES terrain mapping. This takes time, which is why it isn’t available in Tahoe yet.
They’re taking the time to get into the nitty gritty, as Sovick puts it, by obtaining human validations since area specific snowpack characteristics differ from region to region and can impact potential release models, and runout simulations.
The app’s website provides the reminder that the ATES layer only accounts for terrain, which is one of three pillars to an avalanche. The other two are weather and snowpack, and need to be evaluated in addition to ATES in order to make informed decisions about avalanche risks in specific areas on a day-to-day basis.
Resources for daily weather and snowpack conditions can be found on the Sierra Avalanche Center with a daily advisory provided typically around 7 a.m. Sovick says the app also has an avalanche forecast layer from Avalanche.org that can be toggled on and off.
Once Tahoe does receive the ATES map overlay and other snow layers, Sovick explains, they will work as a compliment to the guidebook and its routes.
Within the app, you can find the guidebook routes by looking for the arrow-like Beacon Guidebooks emblem on the map.
“One of the coolest things about Richard’s light tour routes,” Sovick says “is that when you get to the top of the prescribed approach that we give you. If it’s on a clear day, you can see a bunch of terrain beyond where we highlighted and it’s all possible with enough wisdom and smarts and fitness, you can keep going, so we hope that people will use this, have more adventures and go farther when they are ready.”
The books are available at shops in the greater Tahoe area, including Alpenglow Sports, Tahoe Sports LTD, The Backcountry, and Tahoe Mountain Sports. They can also be purchased on Beacon Guidebook’s website.
The onX Backcountry app company does offer a free trial for those interested. They’re also having holiday sales between Dec. 14 – 25 where premium memberships are available for $5, discounted from $30, and Elite memberships, usually $100, are going for $30.
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