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.
 
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.
 
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

Our high­ly expe­ri­enced instruc­tors have been trained by the Cana­di­an Avalanche Asso­ci­a­tion (CAA), the Amer­i­can Moun­tain Guides Asso­ci­a­tion (AMGA), and the Amer­i­can Insti­tute for Avalanche Research and Edu­ca­tion (AIARE). They are the best, most­ high­ly trained instruc­tors!

Select your date and location (Snoqualmie Pass, Stevens Pass, or Mt Rainier) from the options below.