American vs Canadian Avi 1 Course

[Best Mexican Skier from Da South]

Any insight on the differences and extrapolated effectiveness of Avi 1 Courses between the 2?

American here.

[BCMtnHound]

I assume you mean the Avalanche Skills Training 1 (AST1 - Canada, intended for recreationalists); Avalanche Operations Lv1 and up are for aspiring avy professionals.

Just took an AST1 refresher this past weekend. All but one in the group were just brushing up on skills, and a local guide we all know held the course. There are also separate courses targeting backcountry skiers, and for snowmobilers available through Avy Canada. With our guy knowing the individuals in the group, we did very little on the snow science stuff, but we did dig a pit to see the local layers. Big emphasis on describing terrain features, release/risk considerations, and the latest tools for forecasting hazard and weather. Lots of time practicing companion rescue. 2 days - .5 day inside, the rest outside. AST2 involves getting out for 4 full days and spending most of the time route planning and working on decision making skills in the field.

Never taken a recreational avy course in the US.

[skifishbum]

any class can be better or worse for you or me
and you could gleem more or less from either
never took avvy 1
they let me clep 2
and a semester long snow science class
helped me with more technical stuff
sooner or later shits gonna hit the fan
may not even be an avvy
abc matters and companion self rescue and comfort
never took a rec canada class
would sure like too

[XXX-er]

buddy the instructor would say " eh " alot eh

[ex-powderbroker]

the difference is about 30%

[Bunion 2020]

I cannot comment specifically on the AST level courses but in general and in my opinion I think that the CAA offers a pretty damn good curriculum.

[BCMtnHound]

Might not mean much, but the Canadian Avalanche Association is different from Avalanche Canada now. CAA is for the avy professionals, including the operations level training. AvCan is for the forecasting bulletins, delivers the AST training, and conducts the public outreach programs. Both are excellent organizations, and are based in Revelstoke.

[Best Mexican Skier from Da South]

I’m asking, bc I wanna get a rec level one. Lots of people in the US get the AIARE from US programs. But if I were to get the Canadian AST, would that be a positive for backcountry decisions as two “schools” of thought would be analyzing terrain? Or would it just fuck up the partner dynamic? Or is it pretty much the same?

I dare to also question if one is superior to the other in efficacy at the recreational level.

[Bunion 2020]

When it comes to BC travel and safety there is really not that much new under the sun.

Thankfully the divergence between Pro and Rec is mainly that there is less focus on nerding out in a snow pit while attempting to identify tiny little snow grains and more focus on terrain selection and decision making.

Either a good quality AAA recognized provider such as AAI or AIARE or a good quality Canadian course will cover the bases.

I would choose a course based on where you will be skiing BC the most and what the climate regime is.

[bodywhomper]

isn't a contrary argument to that is that in some locations, such as tahoe, the description of travel and decisionmaking can mainly delve into theory because stability and avalanche problems are often not existent?

[Bunion 2020]

I suppose.

But outside of morbid curiosity if I mainly skied a Maritime snow pack then taking a single course in a Continental regime could lead to very conservative decisions. NTTAWWT.

[bodywhomper]

That makes sense to me.

Experience from friends taking courses in Tahoe area in the past often report back about bomber snowpacks and not having opportunities to see or experience any sort of instabilities in the field. So when there are actual instabilities in the maritime snowpack, it’s back to book/internet learning or learning from others they may be touring with and who may have useful experience/information.