Available Dates

June 2nd - June 3rd 2025

June 2nd - June 3rd 2025

June 2nd - June 3rd 2025

Aim

Develop the necessary skills to travel safely and enjoyable through glaciated and mountainous terrain.

Objectives

• Confident identifying avalanche terrain and using the Avalanche Terrain Exposure Scale (ATES)
• Confident identifying negative and positive behaviours in decision making
• Comfortable using PeakPlanningProcedure™ for daily process
• Confident identifying inputs that cause avalanches
• Confident using companion rescue equipment
• Comfortable interpreting the public avalanche bulletin
• Comfortable conducting terrain analysis using Google Earth and route photos
• Understand how to locally forecast avalanche hazard and risk based on available resources

Climbers travel through terrain quite differently than skiers. While a skier might take minutes to travel down an avalanche path, a climber can spend the entire day in avalanche terrain. Micro terrain like a small wind or spindrift slab can carry a climber over a cliff. What a skier might consider to be a sluff can often be substantial enough to push a climber of his or her stance, potentially causing a fall. Often skiers can access slopes adjacent to their intended objective to safely gain information about the stability of the snowpack. On the other hand, a climber may never travel into the macro terrain that threatens them from above.

Prerequisites

No prior experience is required. This course is suitable for beginners.