SLIDE SCHOOL
I read some parenting advice in The Globe and Mail decades ago that confirmed my thoughts on the subject: sometimes it's good to scare your children; it makes them more wary in life. Since we were heading to Revelstoke for Christmas this year, my wife Ray and I gave everyone an AST1 avalanche safety course from Stay Wild Backcountry. It was about time. Our three sprogs grew up playing in the trees instead of race course ruts; and the older they got, the bigger the mountains they played in. Last autumn, our No. 2 moved to Revy. Learning to use an avalanche transceiver came early in life at our house. The Easter bunny would sometimes leave the kids’ chocolate stash buried with a transmitting beacon under the snow or leaf litter. A couple…