Professional Avalanche Training 1

This course is designed for avalanche workers early in their careers, or for experienced workers wanting to stay current with industry standards. The focus of this course is to prepare students to be contributing members of a risk management team by developing observational skills, as well as communication and rescue skills.  During this course, we will focus on developing systems for planning and executing a route, as well as for evaluating snow stability.  The goal of this course is to help students become skilled observers who will contribute to a professional team.

This is a pass/fail course.

Have questions on the pro/rec split? See our pro/rec frequently asked questions page for more details, including a visual of the course progression.

NOTE: This Professional Level 1 course can fulfill the field requirement for the National Avalanche School, however we also offer a four-day National Avalanche School specific field session as well.

Day 1: Intro Evening Zoom Meeting; 6pm – 8pm

• 6:00 – Course Intro, Goals, Expectations, Logistics for tomorrow and beyond, Q&A
• 8:00 – End of Day

Day 2: Field Day; 7:30am – 5pm

• 7:30 – Meet @ trailhead, Morning Avalanche Hazard Assessment, Instructor model AM Meeting
• 8:00 – Field Session
  • Instructor Demo – Weather Plot Observation
  • Instructor Demo – Snow Pit construction and test review
  • Rescue Test –  Probe strike and excavation 
    • Concurrent student-led snow pit practice and weather station
• 1:30 Classroom Session
  • AM/PM sheet expectations, examples and AM hazard meeting Assignments
  • Season History
  • Q & A from Pre-Course work
  • Plan For Tomorrow – Logistics, routes, expectations
• 5:00 End of Day

Homework – Complete PM Sheet, Prepare AM Sheet, Review Route Planning Example

Day 3: Field Day; 7:30am – 5pm

• 7:30 – Meet @ trailhead, Morning Avalanche Hazard Assessment (Student-Led), Using a Checklist
• 8:00 – Field Session – Small Groups Rotation 1, Full Profile Instructor Demo, Student Full Profile practice, Grain ID coaching, Avy Path ID Exercise, Travel, Ongoing Snow/Wx Obs/Doc, Test Pit Demo
• 4:00 – Field session Ends, Debrief , Groups share tour Obs, consolidate for PM form, Introduce Routes/Logistics for Day 3
• 5:00 End of Day

Homework – PM Form, Prep for AM Form, Avy Path ID Exercise, Route-plan for tomorrow.

Day 4: Field Day; 7:30am – 5:00pm

• 7:30 – Meet @ trailhead, Morning Hazard Assessment, Student-Led Multi Elev/Aspect Tour, Test/Test plus pits, Gathering of Obs, Use of Checklist, Avy terrain ID, Group management, etc
• 2:00 – Meet @ Classroom, Debrief Groups present concise statement re. Obs from tour ,Q & A, Objectives and goals, building tomorrow’s tour plan
• 5:00 – End of Day

Homework: AM/PM Form, Tour Plan, Upload Photos of Field Book and Avy Path ID Exercise Worksheet

Day 5: Field Day; 7:30am – 5:00pm

• 7:30 – Meet @ Trailhead, Morning Hazard Assessment – Student-Led, Student Led Multi Elev/Aspect Tour, Terrain and Group Management, Ongoing Obs – Pits, Weather, Avalanche, Human, Full Profile practice, Communicating precise and pertinent obs
• 4:00 – Trailhead Debrief, Share/Consolidate obs, What would you share with your local avalanche center discussion, Day 5 Logistics
• 5:00 End of Day

Homework: Study for exam day, Upload Best AM Form, Best PM Form, Any missing docs

Day 6: Field Day; 7:30am – 5:00pm

• 7:30 – Meet at Trailhead, Study Profile Exam, Weather Plot Obs Exam
• 12:00 – Field Session ends
• 1:00 – Written Exam online (including Avalanche videos)
• 2:30 – Written Exam Done— Review
• 3:00 – Debrief
• 3:30 – Course Close