avalanche Safety
Courses
awareness • Rescue • What to Bring • Testimonials
Avalanche safety
As part of Skeetawk’s mission to “…promote safe outdoor recreation and education”, we have continued to expand our avalanche safety experience to bring you two American Avalanche Association–accredited courses: Avalanche Awareness and Avalanche Rescue. Scroll down to read more about each course. Book BOTH courses and save $75!
Avalanche Awareness
LENGTH: 1 full field day, 8:00am — 4:00pm approx.
COST: Adults $200, Students w.ID $175
DATES: COMBINED, 12/16 & 12/27
BOOK BOTH COURSES & SAVE
The Avalanche Awareness Course is geared towards aspiring backcountry travelers ages 16+ new to backcountry travel and don’t know how to start. This hands-on, on-mountain introductory course will take students up to mid-mountain via the cabin snowcat and introduce the use of backcountry rescue gear, recognising avalanche terrain, red flags of snow instability, and backcountry travel techniques. This course does not take the place of an Avalanche Level 1 course, but makes a good first stepping stone.
learning objectives
After successful completion of the course, the student can:
1. Describe the equipment necessary for winter backcountry travel
2. Find and interpret local mountain weather forecast and avalanche advisory information
3. Understand how to build a trip plan and how to break it into sections
4. Use a systematic way to check a beacon’s function
5. Identify green, yellow, and red light terrain
6. Perform and interpret traveling test and what data those test can provide
7. Recognize that most fatal avalanche accidents were triggered by people involved and that preparation and training prior to backcountry travel can save lives
This course is accredited through the American Avalanche Association
Avalanche Rescue
LENGTH: 1 full field day, 8:00am – 4:00pm approx.
COST: Adults $250, Students w.ID $225
DATES: COMBINED, 12/16 & 12/27
The Avalanche Rescue Course is a great supplement to the Avalanche Awareness Course. The class is geared toward backcountry travelers ages 16+ who have a season of backcountry travel or who have already taken the Avalanche Awareness Course and would like to learn the ins and outs of avalanche rescue.
Learning objectives
After successful completion of the course, the student can:
1. Learn to anticipate & recognize avalanche terrain
2. Group communication & travel safety protocols
3. Understand the priorities/process to take if involved in an avalanche
4. Demonstrate effective use of search and rescue techniques with 1 and 2 beacons burials
5. Demonstrate effective methods to use in beaconless burials
6. Describe likely anticipated medical issues of avalanche victims
7. Understand the need for further medical training/knowledge
8. Understand how to request EMS resources & what to expect with larger ICS responses
This course is accredited through the American Avalanche Association
what to bring
- • Ski or Snowboard gear (touring setup is greatly encouraged but not required)
- • Snowshoes if you don’t have a touring setup
- • Backpack
- • Lunch/snacks and water
- • Avalanche Beacon*
- • Avalanche Probe*
- • Packable Shovel*
- *Avalanche Kits available for rent for $35/day
Testimonials
“[Avalanche Awareness] was the perfect course for me to understand how to use my gear and how to start touring in the backcountry, as well as begin to understand avalanche hazard without the intensity of a full on avalanche course. Highly recommend to anyone who just got a touring setup and is wondering what their next step is. Fallon even helped me figure out how to work my boots and fit my skins!”
“It was fun, recommended if you plan on doing outback backpacking in avalanche terrain.”
“Learning about how to classify areas as red, yellow, or green; snow tests; the beacon practice with real-time feedback. These make me feel a lot more comfortable recreating around snowy mountains and knowing what to start looking for.“
Questions? Contact us at alps@skeetawk.com