Is your fear of avalanches keeping you from adventuring in the backcountry?
Most often, our fears are based out of our lack of knowledge. Learning about new things often opens our eyes to the reality of the situation. Granted, avalanches are certainly deserving of respecting and taking seriously but they’re not something that happen randomly.
AIARE Framework
American Institute for Avalanche Research & Education (AIARE) provides an excellent framework for us to utilize in order to travel safely in the backcountry. In order to stay consistent and ensure that we are making good decisions every time we go out, we need a system. The AIARE framework provides that system.
AIARE Level 1 Course
Become a Good Backcountry Partner
The level 1 course focuses on becoming a good backcountry partner. A good backcountry partner is someone who knows what observations to make, what those observations mean, and how to navigate the backcountry safely.
This course is often done in a hybrid format. There is online curriculum that will need to be completed prior to the start of the course. This will give you a lot of information and plenty of time to familiarize yourself with what we’ll be talking about in the field.
Before the field days, there will be one 2-3 hour zoom call before your two field days. The zoom call will be a great time to get to know everybody, familiarize yourself with the local avalanche center, read the avalanche forecast, and a brief introduction to mapping.
The two field days will cover the following:
- Departure Check / Beacon Function Check
- Intro to Avalanche Rescue
- Proper Gear & How to Use
- Terrain Awareness
- Recognizing Avalanche Terrain
- Make Group Decisions about Terrain Choices
- Terrain Traps
- Snowpack Analysis
- Basics of Layers & How they Interact
- Compression Tests
- Picking Backcountry Partners
No pre-requisites but it is highly recommended that you are able to ski / ride at an advanced level. If you’ve never toured before, an intro to backcountry would be greatly beneficial to dial in your gear before the course.
AIARE Rescue Course
Dial in Your Rescue Skills
The Avalanche Rescue Course is a 1 day, deeper dive into avalanche rescue. During this course, you’ll go over advanced beacon settings, multiple burial rescue scenarios, and patient care and extraction to landing zone. This course is an entire day devoted to dialing in your avalanche rescue skills.
There will not be a ton of teaching on patient care. It’s highly recommended that you take a Wilderness First Aid or a Wilderness First Responder course as part of your backcountry education. During this course, client care will be mostly limited to packing patient in a rescue sled and moving them to a landing zone.
No pre-requisites and it’s recommended to practice avalanche rescue regularly. This is a great course to find new backcountry partners, as well.
AIARE Level 2 Course
Become a Leader in your Backcountry Group
The Level 2 Course is focused on becoming a leader in your backcountry groups. This course builds upon your level 1 and rescue course and challenges students to make choices in more complicated situations. Each student is encouraged to take the lead and work on leadership skills. Like the level 1 course, the level 2 is a hybrid format consisting of a zoom call before your field sessions.
The field days will cover the following:
- Demonstrate Leadership Skills
- Facilitate Small Group Discussion
- Utilize Simple Risk Management Strategies
- Deeper Dive into Snowpack
- Propagating Saw Test
- Different Grain Types
- Terrain Awareness
- Use Weather, Snow, and Avalanche Observations
- Appropriate Terrain Use While in the Field
- Start Putting Together Your Own Forecasts
Pre-requisites are Level 1 and Rescue Course.
For more information or to book a course, please fill out our
contact form.
This adventure is made possible by our partner Jackson Hole Mountain Guides / The Mountain Guides
