3-day Beginner AIARE Level 1 Avalanche Safety

Starting your journey to become a competent backcountry traveller can be overwhelming. There's a lot to learn, and it can be challenging to know where to start. Avalanche safety education is crucial, but it's hard to meet the learning objectives of your Level 1 without some level of comfort using your backcountry gear. How do you get that without putting yourself unknowingly at risk? This 3-day course is the answer - it combines our Backcountry Skiing and Splitboarding Beginner Course with AIARE Level 1 Avalanche Safety to provide a thorough introduction to touring, trip planning, and avalanche avoidance for intermediate to advanced resort skiers or snowboarders, who are new to backcountry. On day 1 you'll focus on skinning, transitions, and building a foundation for winter travel. The weekend will cover our standard AIARE 1 curriculum, which you will know be ready for. From AIARE Level 1 Avalanche Safety: Traveling in a winter environment has inherent risk. Snow conditions dramatically change throughout the winter, affecting snow stability. The ability to recognize avalanche terrain, assess the snow around you, and communicate effectively within your group is critical to your safety. This AIARE Level 1 avalanche course is designed to give students a basic understanding of why avalanches occur and to develop a framework for making decisions while traveling in avalanche terrain. Additionally, the course provides instruction in beacon use and companion rescue should an avalanche occur. AIARE 1 follows a hybrid model, with approximately 8 hours of self-paced, online coursework followed by two 8-hour days in the field. You will receive access to this approximately 2 weeks before your course. All of our AIARE Level 1 courses require attendance at an online pre-course meeting 2 evenings before your course start date. For Sat-Sun courses this is typically Thursday evening 6:30-8:30pm. All online learning is due prior to this meeting. Your instructor will reach out before the course with more information. Overall, this course is best suited for those who have some experience in a winter backcountry environment, are familiar with their gear, and have participated in a free Avalanche Awareness course. It is important to note that some of the avalanche rescue and snow pit testing components previously taught on an AIARE Level 1 course have been deemphasized in order to provide more field time for developing the decision-making skills that prevent backcountry users from being caught in avalanches. If you are looking for more devoted rescue practice and certification, check out our Avalanche Rescue course.