Avalanche Skills Training 2
Join Mark Klassen, one of Canada’s most experienced instructors, to learn about avalanche safety. Our courses use the Avalanche Canada curriculum and are based in Banff, Lake Louise, and Rogers Pass in the Canadian Rockies and Selkirk Mountains. These programmes are designed for ski tourers, splitboarders and ice climbers.
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Avalanche Skills Training 2
The AST 2 is an advanced course that is an excellent resource for more experienced skiers, snowboarders and climbers. It is the recreational user’s equivalent to the Canadian Avalanche Association Level 1 professional level programme. See available dates here.
In the past 30 years I have gained a broad range of experience in the avalanche industry, including work as an avalanche forecaster, heli-ski and ski touring guide, and as an avalanche educator. I have been teaching avalanche courses at the recreational and professional level since 1994.
Track setting practice
I focus on students creating a decision-making framework for themselves that is based on correctly interpreting avalanche bulletins, understanding weather, making fact-based weather and snow observations while in the field, and working together as a team. Finally, we learn about risk - how to determine what risk you are exposing yourself to, whether that risk falls within levels acceptable to you, and how to reduce risk through the terrain you select for your routes both on ascent and descent.
If you are a strong intermediate backcountry skier or split-boarder, have at least 2 seasons of backcountry experience where you have traveled in avalanche terrain, and read the avalanche bulletin regularly, then this is the course for you!
The AST 2 starts with a classroom day in Banff where we will review the basics and introduce some advanced concepts in weather, snowpack, terrain, and decision making.
Sampling the goods!
On day 2 we will begin by having a pre-trip meeting to review weather and conditions, then go on a field trip in the Rockies (usually on the Icefields Parkway north of Lake Louise).
The rest of the course is based in Golden, BC. On days 3 and 4 we will go on ski tours, with a variety of options available to us in Rogers Pass. Every morning we will review the weather and conditions before deciding on a trip objective. Emphasis in the field will be placed on using appropriate weather and snowpack observations, and how to use terrain to manage your risk.
The price includes the classroom session and field instruction, as well as the Decision Making in Avalanche Terrain Field Book.
Pre-requisites
This course is for experienced ski tourers who have the following pre-requisites:
Have attended an AST 1 course, or have self-directed education equivalent attained through reading textbooks and practical experience.
Are practiced with ski touring or split-boarding equipment. No snowshoes.
Have practiced avalanche self-rescue.
Have regularly followed the avalanche bulletins for at least two seasons.
Have participated in at least 20 full-day tours over at least two winters.
Unsure if you have the required experience? Email me and ask!
“Thank you, it was a winter highlight. I have found myself thinking about the course content daily, regularly following weather models have become part of my routine. The tools the course provided have proven exceptionally useful. I feel much better prepared for terrain evaluation and risk assessment and am therefore feeling far more comfortable travelling in the back-country than I ever have.”
ast 2 dates, locations, and pricing
We do not have any AST 2 courses scheduled for this season. Contact me if you have a group and would like to organize a private course.
Dates: No courses scheduled at this time
Location: Banff
Price: $725 plus 5% tax
Price includes 1 day classroom instruction, 3 days in the field, and Decision Making in Avalanche Terrain Field Book
Courses based on Avalanche Canada curriculum