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Hello From Tyler's Backcountry Awareness

About
Empowering and challenging backcountry riders to expand their skills so that their adventures can reach new heights.
Company Overview
Our mission is to provide entry level avalanche education and training at no cost, to raise awareness and reduce accident occurrence in the back-country.
Tyler's Backcountry Awareness also provides several advanced classes, but in a cost-effective manner.
About Tyler
Backcountry rider Tyler Lundstedt’s undeniable and contagious passion for snowmobiling in the great Rocky Mountains led him and fellow riders to ever greater heights and challenges.
Born in 1987, Tyler came to work in construction and running heavy equipment, but that was just to pay the snowmobiling bills. Ever smiling and always with a helping hand, Tyler would be found engaged in something productive.
Those riding with Tyler would experience the mountains in ways most never will. The more obscure and hard to reach places offer the challenges and skill-building excitement an enthusiastic rider can appreciate.
On January 21, 2012 Tyler died in an avalanche near Buffalo Pass in Colorado.
The passion he shared with the world is a tremendous legacy. Tyler’s Backcountry Awareness was created to challenge riders to build their skills in safety and preparedness.
General Information
Currently we are diligently working with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE) to develop a motorized user course. A mix of class room education and then field work applying the new skills and studying snow conditions
Funding
100% of our funding is through donations, club membership, and fundraising events. Our board and employees are unpaid, so all of your donation goes directly to funding classes and information. We currently have a 'pending' status on our 501c3 not-for-profit with the IRS. Without the donations and membership, we cannot continue to provide the services that help so many people, so take a moment and donate or join today!

Instructors & the TBA Team
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Brian Lundstedt
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Brian started riding every weekend with his bothers and dad shortly after moving to Colorado in '93. “Sleds in those days were a lot different; I remember when we were some of the first of our friends to get ‘long tracks’ in '96. Since then, I have never looked back.” Brian has had the privilege to call the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado and southern Wyoming his playground for most of his life.
Since he was young, his father always made Brian and his brothers attend annual ‘refresher’ backcountry survival and avalanche courses. “Those classes are something that now, I can look back at my life and remember the good times. My brothers and I always looked forward to a couple hours in class just before season started. It was a teaser of that snow was coming, and solidified that our season was about to begin. Now, I am very excited to be able to share my life of experiences with everyone.”
Brian dedicates endless hours to learning more about avalanches. “My education continues with every class I attend or put on”, he admits, “There is always more to learn when it comes to making sure you get home”. Brian has been working very closely with the experts of snow at the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education [AIRE], to develop a motorized-user program that addresses both the style and the vast expanse of terrain that we, as motorized users, traverse each day.
“My trusty steed is a 2011 Skidoo Summit 800 equipped with an Aerocharger turbo and plenty of track. My choice of terrain? Well, that is easy, steep and deep! I prefer tight trees to open meadows, and feeling as if I was hit by a truck at the end of every day. If you aren’t stuck at least once you weren't riding. I enjoy riding with Calvin Felker, Jordan Lundstedt, Steve Marlenee and most recently Matt Entz. When we get together, I know it’s going to be a rough day and that means the most fun.”
This riding style means that Brian has to practice what he preaches; when he is on the snow Brian asserts that he performs stability tests and keeps an eye out for ‘red flags’. "It is imperative that I pay attention to the conditions and check the bulletin before I ride."

Steve Marlenee
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Steven was introduced to snowmobiles in the mid-eighties, while visiting his hometown of Scobey, MT. Family friends kept a Kitty-Cat, and Steven admits that he was “Hooked with the first squeeze of the throttle”. It would be nearly a decade before Steven got his first sled, a 1986 Arctic Cat Wildcat. “It had metal cleats that ran the entire width of the track, but that thing was mean. We raced around the prairie like nobody’s business.”
Steven attended College in Missoula, MT, where he earned a BS in Microbiology and Medical Technology. “In Missoula, the opportunities to sled were endless. Within a couple of hours, you’ve got Lolo, Skalkaho, Hoodoo, Surveyor, West, Island Park, Cooke, etc. Having the opportunity to get some mountain-riding experience has been essential in developing my riding, and who I am as a person.”
In 2007, Steven founded Mountain Snow Adventures, LLC, and guided snowmobile tours in Cooke City, MT. “Until I got into guiding, I really didn’t pay attention to avalanche conditions. They were something that happened to ‘other people’, and that is just a bad ideology to have. Guiding required that I take classes, both avalanche and first aid, and it wasn’t until then, that I realized how bad my previous riding mentality was. I changed a lot about how I ride and where. I have an entire routine that I run through before and during each ride, and I attribute that to staying safe over the years.” Although Mountain Snow Adventures is no longer in operation, Steven still rides every weekend.
“At this point, I’m on a 2005 Arctic Cat m7 with a Boondockers Turbo, and just about every other ‘mod’ you can throw at a sled. I’ve been happy with the machine, but it’s time for a new one. I really like all of the new sleds, but I’m a two-stroke guy at heart, so I think Yamaha is out of the question. While I find myself riding just about every type of terrain out there, I truly feel at home in the trees. I enjoy trying to finesse my machine around; I like being on the ‘verge’ of getting stuck, all the time. I’m trying work on learning how to jump, but it’s really not taken hold yet. I really like to get in the backcountry with a couple good friends and push each other’s riding limits.”


Join us on March 2nd, 2013 at 100 Octane Bar, Fort Collins, CO for the 2013 Benefit Auction (All Ages Event)
Help us keep the memory of Tyler Lundstedt alive and raise money for avalanche awareness and education.

Tyler's Backcountry Awareness Home Page
Tyer's Backcountry Awareness Facebook Page
 
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