Avalanche Training Level II (Feb. 12-15, 2020)

9300 North Snow Bowl Road,Flagstaff AZ 86001

12 February, 2021

Description

This course will build upon skills and theory covered in the Level 1 Avalanche Course, which students are required to have completed. The level 2 avalanche course is designed to provide experienced winter backcountry recreationists, search and rescue personnel and winter recreation managers with the advanced skills in understanding conditions responsible for snow avalanches and the ability to avoid avalanche hazards. The thirty two hour curriculum will build upon skills and theory covered in the Level 1 Avalanche Course which students are required to have completed prior to taking this class. Students are also expected to have gained some personal experience (at least one season) since completing level 1 curriculum. The course will start with a discussion of answers to a pre-test as a means of reviewing weather, terrain and snowpack as contributory factors. Participants will also be engaged in a discussion of scenarios they have encountered through their own backcountry experiences as a means of analyzing decision making practices, risk tolerance and human factors. An emphases of instruction will be the accurate documentation of observations, test results and snowpack analysis, strictly adhering to Snow, Weather and Avalanche Observations Guidelines for the United State (SWAG) standards and nomenclature. The field portions of the course will entail real life decision making in avalanche terrain. Participants must be prepared for the seriousness of the terrain navigated, in term of skill, physical fitness, environmental conditions and personal equipment used. In this way, the level two course format provides a bridge between recreational and professional training in snow dynamics. Participants can arrange for academic credit (1 semester hour upper division) for this course through Prescott College at an additional cost and added scholastic requiems.