Tahoe Avy Courses

[teledad]

There's also a one day Avalanche Rescue class now. Probably good to take as a refresher, particularly if (like me) you don't practice as much as you should.

[LightRanger]

meter-man: If you pull out a magnifying glass and start lecturing me about snowflake decomposition, I'm not skiing with you.

meter-man is not schralph.

[Shred Baron]

Good idear! The TMS course I'm looking at is Jan 6-8, but it's $499. The LTCC course is supposed to be ~$100...



Empty threat! You don't ski with me anyway haha.

Seriously though, I wanted to brush up on the latest in avy ed, but taking Avy 1 for a third time, in addition to my annual re-read of Staying Alive in Avy Terrain, seemed a little redundant.

I did my avy 1 for a second time last year (with alpenglow exp.). The format is changing all together. Avy 1 and 2 are both separating into recreation and Pro, and companion recur is being totally taken separated into its own course. I hadn't done my avy 1 in 10 years, and I'm borderline weather I should have just taken the level 2.


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[The Dad]

Doesn't look like any NSP courses in the Far West Division have been listed yet. But I'm certain there will be.

Also... http://www.avalancheschool.org/

[~mikey b]

Donner Summit Avalanche Seminars

[adrenalated]

No input on Tahoe area classes specifically, but there's some confusion here regarding the new AIARE curriculum so I wanted to clarify...

The course progression for AIARE is now:

AIARE 1 (24hr) -> Avalanche Rescue (8hr) -> AIARE 2 (24hr)

OR

AIARE 1 (24hr) -> Avalanche Rescue (8hr) -> Pro 1 (40hr) -> Pro 2 (48hr)

Pro 1 and Pro 2 are pass/fail courses with an exam designed for people working professionally in the avalanche industry (patrollers, guides, forecasters, etc.). The old AIARE 2 was basically an entry level professional class; the new one is redesigned to place greater focus on making good decisions as an avid recreational backcountry user.

[SDW]

No input on Tahoe area classes specifically, but there's some confusion here regarding the new AIARE curriculum so I wanted to clarify...

The course progression for AIARE is now:

AIARE 1 (24hr) -> Avalanche Rescue (8hr) -> AIARE 2 (24hr)

OR

AIARE 1 (24hr) -> Avalanche Rescue (8hr) -> Pro 1 (40hr) -> Pro 2 (48hr)

Pro 1 and Pro 2 are pass/fail courses with an exam designed for people working professionally in the avalanche industry (patrollers, guides, forecasters, etc.). The old AIARE 2 was basically an entry level professional class; the new one is redesigned to place greater focus on making good decisions as an avid recreational backcountry user.

Not just AIARE - any avalanche course provider following the guidelines of the AAA.

[meter-man]

No input on Tahoe area classes specifically, but there's some confusion here regarding the new AIARE curriculum so I wanted to clarify...

The course progression for AIARE is now:

AIARE 1 (24hr) -> Avalanche Rescue (8hr) -> AIARE 2 (24hr)

OR

AIARE 1 (24hr) -> Avalanche Rescue (8hr) -> Pro 1 (40hr) -> Pro 2 (48hr)

Pro 1 and Pro 2 are pass/fail courses with an exam designed for people working professionally in the avalanche industry (patrollers, guides, forecasters, etc.). The old AIARE 2 was basically an entry level professional class; the new one is redesigned to place greater focus on making good decisions as an avid recreational backcountry user.

AIARE 2 sounds much better now than the old approach. Thanks for clarifying.

[TahoeJ]

Got this email today...

Summer is drawing to a close and as we look forward to this winter we wanted to send a note to all of our friends that joined us last winter for an AIARE 1 Avalanche Course. We want to let you know that for the upcoming season we will also be offering AIARE 2 Avalanche Courses and 1-day AIARE Avalanche Rescue Courses, use these links to check out the upcoming calendar. New for this year, AIARE has created a recreational path and a professional path. At Alpenglow we are offering the "recreational" AIARE 2. This course is perfect for the backcountry enthusiast who has already taken the AIARE 1 as well as the pre-requisite AIARE Avalanche Rescue 1-day course. We appreciate your business and look forward to getting out there with you again!

The future holds more options for adventurers and adventurous families here at Alpenglow Expeditions. With a growing list of high quality adventures here in Lake Tahoe and a fantastic international adventure travel menu, there's no reason you shouldn't be planning your next memorable experience. Let us know how we can help and if you have any questions about our winter programs.

Cheers to all of you, thank you for being a part of our growing family, and we hope to see you this winter!

Cheers,
Alpenglow Expeditions

https://alpenglowexpeditions.com/exp...lanche-course/
https://alpenglowexpeditions.com/exp...lanche-rescue/

[teledad]

Aside from content, separating out rescue training into a separate 1-day class and making AIARE 2 a 3-day certainly makes it nicer for us weekend warriors. Can do it across a 3-day weekend (always nice to avoid the resorts on holidays) or with only 1 vacation day.

Anyone know where Alpenglow does their courses? Can't figure it out from the website. Looks like a lot of ex-ASI guides.

[LightRanger]

Anyone know where Alpenglow does their courses? Can't figure it out from the website. Looks like a lot of ex-ASI guides.

Special permission from Squallywood to run stuff on Tram Ridge and Nat Geo Bowl. And I think Negro Canyon too--based on Ballinger's SAC reports from there. J did his L1 with them.

[TahoeJ]

Courses are held in one of the Squaw event rooms on the east side of the village. I had a mixed experience with their avy 1 - the actual course was great but they didn't do a good job of weeding people out in advance who weren't ready and it kind of screwed up the field time. Like, if you can only ski groomers at the resort you are not ready for the backcountry.

[Robojerry]

^^ With ya that this gets frustrating, but seems to be a complaint with Avy 1 in general.

I did mine through ASI a few years back and saw similar issues. Lucked into a strong group on the final day so ended up having a fine experience but others got stuck w snowshoers that couldn't link turns.

Though, given that 95% of the course was just learning to avoid exposing oneself to avalanches, one could argue it applies to a much broader group than just backcountry skiers.

[The Dad]

^^ One of the nice things about the NSP courses. Doing away with the profit motive is not without its downsides, but in this instance, it tends to result in less desire to promote the courses, which means that those who show up are typically more motivated.

[The Dad]

This may have been posted elsewhere on the site, but just in case...



https://register.asapconnected.com/C...CourseId=62363
https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.or...anche-workshop
https://www.facebook.com/californiaavalancheworkshop/

[Robojerry]

^^ One of the nice things about the NSP courses. Doing away with the profit motive is not without its downsides, but in this instance, it tends to result in less desire to promote the courses, which means that those who show up are typically more motivated.

Are these open to the public or restricted to NSP members? Already had AIARE level 1 when I joined NSP so no experience with their course, but it sounded pretty similar/almost identical from a couple friends that took it through NSP last winter.

Another good reason to join NSP if you're committed to skiing squaw/alpine but have begun losing faith in humanity the past couple of seasons. Not exactly a small time commitment though

[The Dad]

Are these open to the public or restricted to NSP members?

Depends. Some may be restricted to a given patrol unit, even. But Associate membership may also be an option.

Already had AIARE level 1 when I joined NSP so no experience with their course, but it sounded pretty similar/almost identical from a couple friends that took it through NSP last winter.

As I understand it, the AAA model is the standard for both.

[The Dad]

Tahoe-area NSP course signup is online here: https://goo.gl/forms/KxF2qPjZpL4E2zvA3

These are open to the public. Course descriptions here: http://farwest.org/styled/MemberProg...Avalanche.html. I understand that public pricing is $185 for Level 1, $235 for Level 2, including course materials.

[meter-man]

Depends. Some may be restricted to a given patrol unit, even. But Associate membership may also be an option.

As I understand it, the AAA model is the standard for both.

Tahoe-area NSP course signup is online here: https://goo.gl/forms/KxF2qPjZpL4E2zvA3

These are open to the public. Course descriptions here: http://farwest.org/styled/MemberProg...Avalanche.html. I understand that public pricing is $185 for Level 1, $235 for Level 2, including course materials.

Hmm - I'm confused. Do you know if the curriculum will be changing for this year? Definitely interested in such an affordable Level 2, but this sounds pretty different from the new AIARE Avy 2 curriculum:
Level 2 Avalanche for Rescue Personnel (L2ARP)
"This is an enhanced Level 2 course especially designed for organized avalanche rescue personnel and snow recreationists seeking to improve their overall avalanche and leadership skills. Subject matter develops advanced avalanche hazard evaluation skills for a given time and place, and basic hazard forecasting skills projected over a longer time span and larger territory. It introduces risk management strategies, leadership principles for safe travel to an avalanche incident site, conducting immediate search and extended operations; incident alerting and rescue planning, incident and rescue documentation and reporting. It is a prerequisite for entry into NSP avalanche instructor development."

AIARE Avy 2:
"Course Description

The AIARE 2 is a three-day/24-hour course that provides backcountry travelers an opportunity to advance their decision making skills in more complicated situations such as being a leader within a small travel group, traveling in more complicated terrain, and/or developing a travel plan where online resources are scarce.

The AIARE 2 builds on the introductory avalanche hazard management model introduced in the AIARE 1 and adds to it the evaluation of critical hazard assessment factors. Students will describe and discuss weather, snowpack and avalanche processes, and identify how these processes relate to observations and travel within avalanche terrain."

[~mikey b]

NSP rolls with AAA standard. Not the same as AIARE standard. Guaranteed that class will be good.