How To Choose An Avalanche Course
If you're new to backcountry skiing, splitboarding, ice climbing, or mountaineering, avalanche education should be one of your first priorities. But choosing an avalanche course can be surprisingly complicated with so many options and providers on the market.
After only a quick Google search for avalanche education you'll find a variety of curriculum providers, including AIARE, American Avalanche Institute, American Avalanche Association, among others. Layer that with mountain guide services and outdoor education programs each offering their own avalanche course through one of these programs, including Avalanche Rescue courses, Recreational Level 1 and Level 2 programs, Professional avalanche training, Know Before You Go avalanche awareness classes.
So how do you decide which avalanche course is right for you?
The answer isn't as simple as finding the cheapest or closest course. A quality avalanche course should give you a practical framework for recognizing avalanche hazards, evaluating terrain and snowpack, planning trips, communicating with your partners, and making informed decisions in the mountains. Most courses by reputable providers will have a similar curriculum but provide dramatically different educational experiences depending on the instructor's avalanche experience, teaching ability, professional qualifications, knowledge of the local mountains, and ability to connect the curriculum to real-world situations.
At Skyward Mountaineering, we believe good avalanche education combines a scientifically backed curriculum, such as the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE), with professional instructors who have meaningful field experience forecasting avalanches, are AMGA certified guides, and are passionate instructors with years of teaching experience.
What Should You Look for in an Avalanche Course?
Before comparing companies, start by identifying what you want to learn and how you plan to use that knowledge.
Are you:
A backcountry skier or splitboarder?
An aspiring ski mountaineer?
An ice climber?
A mountaineer or alpinist?
A snowmobiler?
New to avalanche terrain and looking for an introduction?
Refreshing your avalanche education?
Your answer will influence the course you choose. A skier planning a tour through avalanche terrain has different movement and terrain management considerations than an ice climber approaching a frozen waterfall beneath steep snow slopes. The underlying avalanche principles are the same, but the way those principles are applied can be very different. We recommend finding a course taught by an instructor who shares your passion and mode of travel as well as teaching a curriculum designed more specifically for your goals.
What Is The American Avalanche Association?
The American Avalanche Association (A3) is the professional organization for the U.S. avalanche industry. A3 establishes guidelines and minimum proficiencies for avalanche education and professional training. AIARE develops its own curriculum within that broader professional framework. Similarly, there are other avalanche education providers, such as the American Avalanche Institute (AAI) or Silverton Avalanche School that create their own curriculum that meets the A3 standards.
AIARE vs. Other Avalanche Education Programs
AIARE is well known as a leader in the avalanche education world for developing a widely used recreational and professional avalanche education curriculum. Its recreational progression includes Avalanche Awareness, AIARE 1, Avalanche Rescue, AIARE 2, and additional professional level educational opportunities for guides, Search And Rescue teams, and forecasters.
AIARE develops avalanche education curriculum and provides instructor training and educational resources for avalanche education. Rather than being the company that teaches every course directly, AIARE provides a structured framework that certified instructors and course providers use to teach avalanche education courses. Guide services and outdoor education programs go through a process to become authorized AIARE course providers and use their curriculum to deliver courses in their own local mountain environments, adapting field instruction to current conditions, terrain, and the activities of their students while following AIARE's established learning objectives and standards. This means two guide services can both offer an AIARE course while providing different instructional experiences based on the quality of their instructors, group sizes, locations, and teaching expertise.
At Skyward Mountaineering, we use the AIARE curriculum because we value having a structured, nationally recognized framework for avalanche education while still allowing our instructors to bring their professional avalanche forecasting, guide training, experience, and certification, and extensive real-world mountain experience into the teaching process.
When considering an avalanche course, we recommend that you look at:
Does the course follow a nationally recognized and scientifically backed curriculum?
Who actually teaches your course?
What professional qualifications do they have? How much experience do they have in complex avalanche terrain? Do they actively guide in the mountains? How long have they been teaching?
How large is the student-to-instructor ratio?
Where does the field portion of the course take place?
Does the instructor understand the type of skiing or climbing you do?
These questions can reveal differences that aren't obvious when comparing course descriptions.
A good instructor should be able to explain complex concepts clearly, recognize when students are struggling with a concept, answer questions thoughtfully, and connect classroom material to what is happening in the mountains. There is also an enormous difference between knowing avalanche theory and having years of experience applying it in complex mountain environments.
What Makes Skyward Mountaineering's Avalanche Instructors Different?
At Skyward Mountaineering, we believe the quality of avalanche education starts with the quality of the instructors. Our avalanche instructors bring multiple layers of professional mountain experience to the classroom and field.
Skyward's avalanche instructors are certified AIARE instructors, professional avalanche forecasters, AMGA certified guides, and highly experienced, passionate educators. Our instructors don't just teach avalanche concepts. They spend their professional lives working in complex mountain environments, forecasting and evaluating avalanche conditions, guiding climbers and skiers, and teaching technical mountain skills.
Our instructors have completed AIARE's instructor training and maintain the continuing education required to remain current. AIARE's instructor pathway itself requires significant backcountry experience, professional avalanche training, instructor training, and ongoing education. Our instructors have all achieved the highest level of avalanche instructor training.
Professional Avalanche Forecasting Experience
Skyward's instructors also bring professional avalanche forecasting experience to our courses. Professional avalanche forecasting requires looking at a much larger picture than the snow immediately beneath your skis or boots.
Forecasters evaluate weather, snowpack structure, avalanche observations, terrain, recent changes, and regional patterns to develop an understanding of how avalanche hazards are developing and changing. That experience adds important context to an avalanche course. Instead of simply learning how to read an avalanche forecast, students can begin to understand the questions behind the forecast.
AMGA Certified Mountain Guides
Skyward Mountaineering is an AMGA Accredited Business, and the vast majority of our guides are AMGA certified in the disciplines in which they work. Professional mountain guides spend their careers making decisions in complex terrain and managing the risk. The process of AMGA education and certification adds additional levels of experience, training, and credibility to an avalanche instructor.
Passionate, Experienced Educators
Professional qualifications are important, but they aren't the whole story. High quality avalanche instruction also requires a passion for teaching.
Skyward's guide team is built around experienced climbers and skiers who enjoy teaching and sharing their knowledge. Our avalanche instructors embody the qualities that make up an excellent teacher and mentor, creating an environment where students can learn and be vulnerable to openly discuss uncertainty and mistakes.
Why Location Matters
The mountains where you learn can also influence your education. There isn't necessarily one "best" location for avalanche training. Instead, consider whether the terrain you're learning in resembles the terrain you eventually plan to travel through.
Skyward Mountaineering's avalanche courses are based in Silverton and Ouray, Colorado, in the San Juan Mountains, with field education primarily taking place on Red Mountain Pass. The San Juan Mountains provide access to a variety of avalanche terrain and a complex winter snowpack. Located at 11,000 feet, Red Mountain Pass offers exceptional accessibility to high elevation mountains with a wide variety of terrain and dynamic winter conditions. In the 25 mile stretch between Ouray and Silverton, there are 70 named avalanche paths, creating one of the highest concentrations of avalanche terrain in the USA.
Our instructors adapt field sessions to the current snowpack, avalanche conditions, terrain, and the abilities of the group rather than treating the field portion as a fixed itinerary.
Choose a Course Based on What You Do in the Mountains
Not everyone should take the same avalanche course. Your winter sport, experience, and goals should influence your choice. We offer several variations to the AIARE 1 avalanche course to accommodate different user groups. Our standard AIARE 1 course is a hybrid program combining self-paced online learning with in-person classroom learning and field based application. This 3 day course also incorporates the AIARE Avalanche Rescue course into the curriculum, ensuring students receive a comprehensive learning outcome. This course is built around backcountry skiers and splitboarders, though other user groups are welcome to attend as well.
For students with a more limited timeframe, we also offer a 2 day hybrid AIARE 1 course that combines the same online learning with in-person classroom learning and field based application but removes the Avalanche Rescue component. This allows students to complete the course during a weekend and enroll in a separate Avalanche Rescue course at their convenience.
For ice climbers and alpinists, our early season avalanche course is custom built for the needs of mountaineers rather than backcountry skiers. This specialized course is a 3 day program with entirely in-person instruction and application.
Questions About Which Course Is Right For you?
Our admin team are also climbers, skiers, guides, and avalanche instructors. Call us to discuss your goals, experience, and timeframe and we are happy to make honest recommendations about which course is best for you and provide insight into your options for avalanche education.