Beacon Basin at Government Camp, OR Mazama Lodge

What is the Beacon Basin? A facility for practicing with any brand of avalanche transceiver Available to anyone, generally designed for avy classes and practice by rescuers, patrollers, and others who need to drill in use of beacons 11 transmit-only avalanche beacons buried in different orientations allow you to practice various rescue scenarios A control console allows you to switch any of the beacons on and off Provided by BCA, and made available on the Mazamas Lodge ski field.

Getting to Mazama Lodge Park your car in the sno-park and walk up to the lodge. No parking is permitted on the road in front of the lodge. Dont forget, you need a Sno-park permit for each vehicle.

gate Location of Beacon Basin Timberline Lodge Highway Department/State Police bldg Govt Camp Snow Park Summit Ski Area Beacon Basin Control box location is marked by red/orange pole

What to bring 6 C batteries – important! These provide power to the buried transmitters. Avalanche beacons for everyone in your party. Several Avalanche probes – please do not dig up the buried beacons; probe for them. There is a plywood probe target above each buried beacon.

Checking availability of the Beacon Basin Check the Mazamas website to ensure that there are not conflicting activities going on at the lodge – Contact Roger Artigues or (971) ) or mazama lodge (503) to reserve use of the basin ahead of Drop-ins welcome. If nobody else is using the facility, go ahead and run through some practice

Use of the lodge facilities Mazamas members use the lodge free of charge. A small day fee is charged for each non-member. You can also plan to spend the night for a reasonable overnight charge. You can contact the lodge managers and arrange for snacks, meals, etc for your group if desired.

How it works and is installed Eleven beacons are connected to a central switch box which supplies power to a beacon when its switch is moved to the right. A light glows next to switches that are turned on. A wire goes to each beacon to carry power from the switch box. When it is turned on, it starts transmitting. Each beacon is sealed in a plastic container and buried in the snow, the wire runs back to the switch box. A plywood target is buried on top of the beacon, to make it easier to find with a probe

Orientation and location of beacons

Practicing with the beacons The control box is inside an orange igloo cooler, open the cooler (dig it out of the snow first if necessary) and pull the box out, there should be enough slack in the wires Insert six C batteries in the control box. Switch on one or more beacons at a time. It takes a few seconds before the beacon will start transmitting. Practice finding the beacons. Please do not dig up the beacons. Probe until you find the plywood target and leave the beacon in place. (digging may cut the wires that control the beacon) Have your beacon in search mode as you switch on the basin beacons to ensure that youre getting a signal. Try another beacon if the first doesnt work.