ANALYZING SNOW STABILITY & AVALANCHE HAZARD

For ADVANCED RECREATIONAL STUDENTS WHO HAVE TAKEN AIARE 1 AND AVALANCHE RESCUE

AIARE 2 provides backcountry travelers an opportunity to increase 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. AIARE 2 builds on the introductory avalanche hazard management model introduced in 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.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the AIARE 2 course, the student should be able to:

• Differentiate where specific avalanche hazards exist within the landscape and identify avalanche terrain where consequences may be more severe.

• Use and interpret weather, snow, and avalanche observations to locate appropriate terrain prior to entering and while in the field.

• Demonstrate leadership skills within a small team that include facilitating small group discussion, promoting appropriate terrain selection, and utilizing simple risk management strategies.

• Implement a basic forecasting framework that can be used in conjunction with and in the absences of local supporting avalanche information.

Course Details