AIARE Avalanche Education with San Juan College
AIARE (American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education) Avalanche Courses
Along with some of the best skiing in the lower 48 states, the area north of Durango, CO also have the most avalanche prone snowpack in the U.S. Stay safe out there and take an avalanche course with San Juan College (SJC). All SJC avalanche courses use the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE) curriculum and follow the American Avalanche Association (AAA) guidelines. Course leaders have completed AIARE Level 3 training, are Professional Member of the American Avalanche Association, and go through instructor training on a continuous basis.
These courses are educational based and take place within an institutional setting. They are not how-to-ski courses, nor are they guided trips. If you are looking to get dragged around in the backcountry on a guided trip, look elsewhere. If you are looking to; drastically expand your knowledge of snow science and the avalanche phenomenon, challenge what you already know, and have an amazing time in the process, then take a SJC AIARE avalanche course!
These courses are kept small with a maximum of 12 students per course and only four courses per season. Spaces fill quickly so register now.
AIARE Avalanche Clinic Level 1 Course Overview
Decision Making in Avalanche Terrain
The Level One is a 3 day/ 24 hour introduction to avalanche hazard management.
The course is expected to:
- Provide a basic understanding of avalanches
- Describe a framework for decision making and risk management in avalanche terrain
- Focus on identifying the right questions, rather than on providing "answers."
- Give lessons and exercises that are practically oriented, useful, and applicable in the field.
Students can expect to develop a good grounding in how to prepare for and carry out a trip, to understand basic decision making while in the field, and to learn rescue techniques required to find and dig up a buried person (if an avalanche occurs and someone in the party is caught).
A final debrief includes a knowledge quiz to test student comprehension and to give feedback to instructors on instructional tools. Students are encouraged and counseled on how to apply the skills learned and told that no course can fully guarantee safety, either during or after course completion. A link is made to a future AIARE Level 2 course.
Student Learning Outcomes
At the end of the Level One course the student should be able to:
- Plan and prepare for travel in avalanche terrain.
- Recognize avalanche terrain.
- Describe a basic framework for making decisions in avalanche terrain.
- Learn and apply effective companion rescue.
Instructional Sessions
(24 hours including both classroom and field instruction)
1. Introduction to the Avalanche Phenomena
- Types and characteristics of avalanches
- Avalanche motion
- Size classification
- The mountain snowpack: an introduction to metamorphism and layering
2. Observations and Information Gathering
- Field observation techniques
- Bonding tests: rutschblock, compression test,
- Avalanche danger factors; “Red Flags”.
- Observation checklist
- Avalanche danger scale
- Trip Planning and Preparation
- Avalanche terrain recognition, assessment, and selection
- Route finding and travel techniques
- Decision making and Human Factors
- Companion Rescue and Equipment
Student Prerequisites: Students must be able to travel in avalanche terrain.
AIARE Avalanche Clinic Level 2 Course Overview
Analyzing Snow Stability and Avalanche Terrain
The Level 2 course is a 40-hour / four day program that provides back country leaders the opportunity to advance their avalanche knowledge and decision making skills. This course also includes the introductory and prerequisite components for the professional progression: the AIARE Level 3 Certificate. The Level 2 builds from the introductory avalanche hazard management model introduced in the level one and adds to it the evaluation of factors critical to stability evaluation.
Student Learning Outcomes
- Advance understanding of avalanche terrain, particularly from the perspective of stability analysis.
- Discuss how the snowpack develops and metamorphoses over time; and discuss the factors that contribute to spatial variability.
- Learn standard observation guidelines and recording formats for factors that influence or indicate snow stability. SWAG MODULE.
- Advance understanding of avalanche release and triggering mechanisms.
- Introduce a snow stability analysis and forecasting framework.
- Improve companion rescue skills including multiple and deep burials.
Instructional Sessions
(40 hours including classroom and field instruction)
- Level 1 Review
- Energy balance, the mountain snowpack and metamorphism
- Faceting; near surface and near crust faceting
- Formation of surface hoar and persistent weak layers
- Skier triggering: theory and observations
- International and national, snow weather and avalanche observation and recording guidelines (SWAG).
- Weather; interpreting forecasts, recording and observation techniques
- Snow profile techniques and bonding tests
- Avalanche observations and recoding techniques
7. Stability analysis checklist: reviewing critical factors
- Stability ratings
- Daily stability forecasts and analysis
8. Trip Planning and hazard forecasting for avalanche terrain
- Avalanche danger ratings
- Terrain selection using maps/photos
- Forecasting stability and variability
9. Terrain selection and route finding
- Group management and hazard management
- Decision making
- Human factors
10. Information gathering
- Site selection and relevancy
- Spacial variability
- Slope tests
11. Companion Rescue
- Level 1 techniques review
- Multiple burial
- Shovel techniques
Student Prerequisites: Students must have the ability to travel in avalanche terrain. An AIARE Level 1 Course (strongly recommended) or equivalent training/experience is required. A winter of practical experience after the Level 1 course is recommended before taking the Level 2 course.
*Kling Mountain Guides operates under special use permits in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park , Moab BLM, Indian Creek BLM, Manti-La Sal National Forest, Cedar Mesa Grand Gulch BLM, and Dalla Mountain Park areas. Kling Mountain Guides operates under the Durango Mountain Resort operating plan in the San Juan National Forest. Kling Mountain Guides LLC provides services and employment regardless of ethnic or cultural heritage, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or physical handicap. Josh Kling operates as an employee of Mountain Trip, San Juan College, Fort Lewis College, and the Silverton Avalanche School.. Mountain Trip, San Juan College, Fort Lewis College, and the Silverton Avalanche School all operate under special use permits from the United States Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management in their respective operating districts.**
AIARE
American Avalanche Association
