If you’re ready to take your winter expeditions to the next level, it’s crucial to fully understand the risks you’ll encounter. An avalanche safety course is a must for anyone looking to safely enjoy all of the deep and pristine powder and untamed wilderness that the winter backcountry has to offer.
Here we’ll discuss the importance of logging an avalanche safety course, the various courses available and how to find the course that’s right for you, what the curiculum looks like, and how to maintain and update your knowledge continuously.
With the right preparation, you’ll hit the slopes with confidence and greatly improve your chances at carrying out safe and enjoyable backcountry adventures for years to come.
Do I really need an Avalanche Safety Course?
Yes! Without a doubt!
An average of 27 avalanche-related fatalities occur each year in the US. Many of these incidents are avoidable with the proper knowledge and precautions. An avalanche safety course can quite literally mean the difference between life and death in the backcountry.
A mass of snow and ice flying down a mountain slope, maybe triggered naturally, maybe by human activity. Avalanches are destructive and deadly. A proper and thorough understanding of avalanche safety is a mandatory prerequisite to any winter backcountry expedition.
If you are planning to leave the normal boundaries of a patrolled resort, with it’s well-maintained and inspected runs, you need to know what you’re in for.
Which Avalanche Safety Course is Right for Me?
The gold standard in avalanche safety courses is the AIARE series. AIARE stands for the American Institute for Avalanche Research.
The AIARE is a nonprofit dedicated to avalanche safety and research. This organization has developed and maintained a data-backed curriculum on avalanche safety since 1998. There’s really no substitute for the immersive, comprehensive, and data-backed instruction laid out by the AIARE.
The AIARE is a nonprofit dedicated to avalanche research and education. They’ve been empowering backcountry explorers with life-saving knowledge and skills since 1998. Their research-based curriculum is disseminated through over 100 providers across the US, South America, Europe and Asia.
AIARE courses are a common offering in any region where avalanches are common. They’re currently offered through over 100 providers across North and South America, Europe, and Asia.
Course offerings are extensive. For newcomers to the sport, you’ll be mostly interested in the following 3 specific offerings.
AIARE Avalanche Rescue Course
The AIARE Avalanche Rescue Course is a 1-day exercise in avalanche rescue training.
The core concept driving this course is that a seasoned professional will setup a scenario and walk you through it with some personalized guidance towards improving your emergency preparedness.
This course serves well as both an introduction and a refresher to avalanche safety. A real emergency scenario will certainly involve participants of varying levels of skill and knowledge. Here you’re given the opportunity to approach that type of experience in a safe and guided manner where knowledge can disseminate fluidly.
You should emerge from this 1-day experience with some basic backcountry knowledge. You should be able to identify and use all of your avalanche safety equipment. You should be able to provide a clear description of how to proceed if your backcountry traveling partner is caught in an avalanche. And you should have a clear gameplan for further expanding your knowledge and your mountain awareness.
It’s strongly encouraged that you revisit this course every two years, regardless of your level of experience. It is intended to hone and refresh your skills and your ability to perform effectively on a team of rescuers. It should also help keep you up to speed on the newest developments in avalanche science.
If you’re still just dipping your toes in backcountry exploration, the Avalanche Rescue Course may well be your introduction to avalanche safety courses in general. However, it is highly recommended that you complete the AIARE 1 before considering any of your own independent backcountry ventures.
The AIARE 1
The AIARE 1 is the key curriculum to beginning your own, independent exploration of backcountry touring. This course goes beyond a basic introduction to provide you with the skills and knowledge required to safely plan and carry out your own adventures. If this sounds like the right course for you, click on over here.
This is widely considered mandatory for backcountry explorers. It is not recommended to embark on any trip into avalanche territory without at least one and ideally multiple companions who have undergone at least this basic training.
Understandably, the AIARE 1 is more of an undertaking than the Avalanche Rescue Course. The AIARE 1 involves 24 hours of study, spread across 3 days. It should include
Completing the AIARE 1 should leave you with the skillset to safely carry out your first entry-level backcountry expedition. You should be able to plan a safe route through avalanche terrain. You should be able to effectively analyze and evaluate avalanche risk. You should be able to efficiently launch an emergency rescue, locating and surfacing a buried companion. and, you should be well versed in using the AIARE Risk Management Framework to guide your choices in the backcountry.
The AIARE 1 is by no means, a complete offering. but it will get you the base of knowledge to get started on planning and executing your first routes in a group. And it will get you on the path towards furthering your backcountry education.
AIARE alternatives
The AIARE curriculum is the most common and popular avalanche safety curriculum at this point. But it is informed by guidelines lain out by the American Avalanche Association.
Provided that you find a course that follows the accepted guidelines, these similar courses should suffice. And, depending on your locality and the purpose of your instruction, there may well be a perfectly acceptable alternative.
Course Variations
There are a number of variations of the standard courses to designed to better serve various schedules and demographics.
There are plenty of women-only sessions available. And you can find some hybridized online courses that help to ease scheduling difficulties. The AIARE 1 can also be found in both a 3-day and a 4-day format.
Finding Your First Avalanche Safety Course
Officialy recognized course listings can be found on both the AIARE and the AAA websites.
AIARE Course Listings
AAA Course Listings
Further Learning
The AIARE 2
The AIARE 2 is intended to expand on the base of knowledge gained from the AIARE 1.
It’s strongly suggested that, in addition to having completed the AIARE 1, you have at least a full season of backcountry exploring under your belt before jumping into the AIARE 2.
This course subscribes to the same 3-day structure as the AIARE 1, but follows a more advanced curriculum. Expect more focus on the details of backcountry preparedness. You should emerge from the AIARE 2 with a greater familiarity with forecasting procedures, an expanded understanding of snowpack evaluation, and the knowledge required to consider leading a small backcountry excursion.
The key value here is in developing an understanding that will enable you to better collect field data and compile your own forecasts, making you less dependent on official forecasting.
The AIARE Pro Series
If your aim is to move into professional backcountry guide work or perhaps into becoming an instructor yourself, you’ll be interested in the pro series. And, in fact, these courses are often prescribed by employers directly.
With the AIARE 1 as a prerequisite, the AIARE Pro 1 serves to cover many of the same topics as the standard courses with the added benefit of an American Avalanche Association (A3) recognized certification.
The AIARE 1 Pro, combined with an intructors course will enable elligibility to teach the AIARE 1 course yourself.
Conclusion
Avalanche safety courses come in a variety of formats to suit different levels of knowledge and experience. If you’re a beginner, you may want to consider a basic online course that covers the fundamentals of avalanche safety. These courses typically cover topics like how to identify and avoid potential hazards, how to use safety equipment such as beacons and probes, and what to do in an avalanche situation.
If you’re more experienced, you may opt for an in-person course offered by a local guide or mountain instructor. These courses are often more intense and go into greater depth. They cover a range of topics from basics like avalanche terrain analysis and proper use of safety equipment to more advanced skills such as snowpack evaluation and rescue techniques.
No matter which course you choose, there are a number of benefits to taking an avalanche safety course. For starters, it provides an opportunity to learn the basics of avalanche safety and practice using the necessary equipment in a safe environment. It also helps you understand the risks associated with avalanches and how to recognize potential hazards in the backcountry. Finally, it can help you develop a greater understanding of how to use avalanche safety equipment and rescue techniques.
A well-regarded avalanche safety course is essential for anyone who wants to explore the backcountry safely. This guided learning can help you to identify risks and master the basics of avalanche safety. So, if you’re planning on heading out into the wilderness, be sure to find an avalanche safety course that’s right for you.