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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.

    Climbers of Col­or has part­nered with Moun­tain Mad­ness and AIARE to offer AIARE I Cours­es! These cours­es are for BIPOC par­tic­i­pants only and will be taught by two BIPOC instruc­tors. For infor­ma­tion please con­tact climbersofcolor@​gmail.​com. Dates can be found in the dates and prices section.

    Hut-based course option:

    If you are look­ing for a hut-based course, look no fur­ther. Moun­tain Mad­ness has part­nered with Alpine Lakes High Camp for a two-night, three-day course in the win­ter wilds of the Cas­cades- see dates and prices sec­tion. Check out the video below and you may just want to add a few days of cat ski­ing to the adventure!

    Price

    • Mount Rainier w/​Online Lectures

      $550 – 2 evening lectures + 2 full field days

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

    • Stevens Pass w/​Online Lectures

      $550 – 2 evening lectures + 2 full field days

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

    • Sno­qualmie Pass w/​Online Letures

      $550 – 2 evening lectures + 2 full field days

    • Alpine Lakes High Camp Hut Based Course (Must Have Hut Reservations)

      $550 – 24 hours of Instruction

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

    • Wom­en’s Sno­qualmie Pass w/​Online Lectures

      $550 – 2 evening lectures + 2 full field days

    Dates

    • 3 Day immer­sion course

    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

    • Mount Rainier w/​Online Lectures

      $550

      2 evening lectures + 2 full field days

      Book Course
    • Stevens Pass w/​Online Lectures

      $550

      2 evening lectures + 2 full field days

      Book Course
    • Sno­qualmie Pass w/​Online Letures

      $550

      2 evening lectures + 2 full field days

      Book Course
    • Alpine Lakes High Camp Hut Based Course (Must Have Hut Reservations)

      $550

      24 hours of Instruction

      Book Course
    • Wom­en’s Sno­qualmie Pass w/​Online Lectures

      $550

      2 evening lectures + 2 full field days

      Book Course

    Student to Instructor Ratio

    10:2

    Difficulty

    Advanced Beginner

    Continuing Education

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