Learning avalanche awareness skills is a prerequisite for safe backcountry travel.
Learn from an AMGA Certified Ski Mountaineering Guide
All Peak Mountain Guides avalanche instructors hold AMGA Ski Mountaineering Guide certification, AIARE Level III avalanche certification, and AIARE Level 1 instructor certification. We are one of the few avalanche course providers that can make this claim. By attending an avalanche course taught by a certified ski mountaineering guide, you will be learning from an instructor with an incredible depth of knowledge and a honed ability to create effective learning opportunities. Additionally, you will learn "bonus" ski touring skills not typically included in avalanche courses such as:
- map reading & tour planning
- striding
- pacing
- AVA and kick turning
- tracksetting techniques
- downhill skiing skills
We teach you the essential skills and knowledge
At Peak Mountain Guides we offer a 3-day Level 1 course sponsored by the American Institute for Avalanche Research & Education (AIARE). As the foremost authority on avalanche education, AIARE has developed the most up-to-date and thorough curriculum for all levels of avalanche education. Utilizing this highly effective curriculum, we teach you the essential skills and knowledge for understanding how to identify conditions that promote avalanche hazard and how to make informed terrain choices to avoid those hazards. Upon completion of the course you will have the tools to make educated decisions about where to travel safely in the backcountry. All students who complete the course receive an AIARE Level 1 certificate.
In-depth and personalized instruction
All of our courses are kept to a maximum enrollment of 6 students. This small group size maximizes learning time for everyone and enables us to provide the most in-depth and personalized instruction.
AIARE Level 1 Course Description
The level 1 course is a 3-day introduction to avalanche hazard management, with an emphasis on decision making. The course provides an introduction to the following concepts, skills, and techniques:
- Avalanche types and characteristics
- Metamorphism and layering in the mountain snowpack
- Avalanche terrain recognition
- Avalanche danger factors and red flags
- Trip planning and preparation
- Routefinding and travel techniques
- Decision making and human factors
- Companion rescue with beacon, shovel, and probe
- Field observations of layering in the snowpack
- Field snowpack tests including the compression test and Rutschblock test
- Use of informational tools including the avalanche bulletin and avalanche danger scale
- Use of decision making tools including the observations checklist and the decision making framework
Level 1 Avalanche Course Sample Itinerary
The course takes place from 8-6 each day, with a one-hour break for lunch.
Day 1:
We meet at 8:00 am and begin with introductions and an overview of the course. The remaining morning is spent introducing avalanche types and characteristics, avalanche terrain, metamorphism and layering in the mountain snowpack, and companion rescue. These classroom presentations include case studies, powerpoint slideshows, and videos to keep everyone engaged and learning. After a one-hour break for lunch, we drive to Red Mtn. Pass for an afternoon field session on companion rescue.
Day 2:
We meet at 8:00 for a morning classroom session. The day's topics include avalanche danger factors and red flags, human factors and decision making, and a look into your instructor's backpack to see what he/she carries during a day of backcountry touring. After a one-hour break for lunch, we drive to Red Mtn. Pass for a short ski tour to make snowpack observations, practice terrain selection, and learn snowpack tests. We'll return to the classroom in the late afternoon to debrief our tour and for one more classroom session on trip planning and preparation.
Day 3:
We meet at 8:00 to review the daily avalanche bulletin and to create a tour plan for the day. Using our observations of the previous day and information from the avalanche bulletin, we will be able to make informed terrain choices for our big tour. Using maps and local knowledge to select a reasonable outing for the day, we'll also build in options and escapes for easier or safer tours in the event we find different conditions than expected. During this final day the emphasis is on application of skills and knowledge, and students will have the opportunity to make terrain selection choices, do the routefinding for the group, and employ travel techniques—all with valuable coaching and feedback from the instructor.
*Peak Mountain Guides AIARE Level 1 Avalanche Courses are located on the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests under special use permit from the Forest Service, USDA. Peak Mountain Guides is an equal opportunity service provider.*
|
