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skiing during Avalanche Institute of Research and Education level 1 avalanche course with mountain madness

Avalanche Institute of Research and Education AIARE 1 Course

Don’t second guess yourself in the backcountry — get the tools to make good decisions

Are you a ski­er, snow­board­er, climber or snow­shoer that trav­els in avalanche ter­rain? Avalanche Insti­tute of Research and Edu­ca­tion (AIARE) Recre­ation­al I is an intro­duc­to­ry class with lec­tures and two field days that cov­ers the phe­nom­e­non of avalanche, avalanche ter­rain, deci­sion mak­ing, trav­el tech­niques, human fac­tors, and com­pan­ion res­cue. These cours­es are designed for recre­ation­al­ists look­ing to get out and have the nec­es­sary tools to make informed deci­sions about risk fac­tors, and to be able to ask the right ques­tions before head­ing out. And for those look­ing to up their game, it meets the require­ment for our more advanced back­coun­try ski tours.

At the end of this course you should be able to:

  • plan and pre­pare for trav­el in avalanche terrain
  • rec­og­nize avalanche terrain
  • describe a frame­work for mak­ing deci­sions in avalanche terrain
  • apply effec­tive com­pan­ion rescue.

For pro­fes­sion­als, such as entry lev­el guides and ski-patrollers look­ing for essen­tial skills to keep them­selves, and oth­ers safe in avalanche ter­rain, this is the place to start before jump­ing into pro­fes­sion­al lev­el cours­es such as the Lev­el 2 course.

Price

  • Mount Rainier w/​Online Lectures

    $575 – 2 evening lectures + 2 full field days

  • Intro to Back­coun­try Tour­ing Exten­sion (call for details) – $350

  • Stevens Pass w/​Online Lectures

    $575 – 2 evening lectures + 2 full field days

  • Intro to Back­coun­try Tour­ing Exten­sion (call for details) – $350

  • Sno­qualmie Pass w/​Online Letures

    $575 – 2 evening lectures + 2 full field days

  • Intro to Back­coun­try Tour­ing Exten­sion (call for details) – $350

Dates

Course Schedule

  • Thurs­day & Fri­day lec­tures online (details to come), 6 pm — 9:30 pm
  • Sat­ur­day & Sun­day field ses­sions, 8:30 am — 5 pm

Intro to Backcountry Touring Extension

  • Add a day to your AIARE Rec 1 course to hone your trip plan­ning and work on trav­el tech­niques and ter­rain selec­tion — then grab your skis or board and get out on your own.
  • 2 stu­dent minimum

Policies

Itinerary

Note on Itin­er­ary: Although we do our very best to fol­low the sched­ule list­ed, this itin­er­ary is sub­ject to change due to inclement weath­er, unsafe route con­di­tions, or oth­er rea­sons beyond our con­trol and in the guide’s best judgement.

Equipment

View Our Rentals
  • Mount Rainier w/​Online Lectures

    $575

    2 evening lectures + 2 full field days

    Book Course
  • Stevens Pass w/​Online Lectures

    $575

    2 evening lectures + 2 full field days

    Book Course
  • Sno­qualmie Pass w/​Online Letures

    $575

    2 evening lectures + 2 full field days

    Book Course

Student to Instructor Ratio

10:2

Difficulty

Advanced Beginner

Continuing Education

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