Avalanche Awareness for Skiers

This course is aimed to give a solid foundation in avalanche awareness whilst enjoying some excellent off piste skiing and ski touring. The course is very practical and spends much of its time in the mountains, but it is also supported with classroom lectures and written material.
We find a balance between the practical experience of dealing with avalanche terrain and studying snow science at a theoretical/technical level, to achieve a deeper understanding of the risks of avalanche.

The course is based at the Hotel le Grand Chalet in Leysin. The Leysin area has a lot to offer in terms of off-piste skiing and ski touring, providing opportunities to study slopes of different snow types, aspects and altitudes. Leysin also has a transceiver training centre (built by Mammut) which is a great resource to use.

Typical Itinerary

day 1 (Sunday evening) Course convenes at the Grand Chalet hotel with welcome by ISM guides at 6.45pm and course briefing followed by evening meal.

day 2 The first activity day is focused on giving a good foundation for the course to build on. The morning is classroom-based, covering the basic mechanics of the avalanche phenomenon. The afternoon will be spent off-piste skiing so that we can start to analyse and recognise these dangers in the mountain environment. The day includes a session on avalanche rescue protocol and use of transceivers at the Avalanche Transceiver Training Centre.

day 3 It is crucial to understand the structure of the snow pack so that we can make realistic judgements about the avalanche dangers. In the morning we focus on this by documenting the history of snow pack and weather conditions. Standardised systems of documentation allow us to build on our own experience and also interpret data presented by the avalanche professionals. The afternoon is spent digging a snow pit and analysing the snow pack. This is then documented back in the classroom and used along with the weather forecast to predict the avalanche danger for the next day.

day 4 Today we apply the skills covered so far to assess the terrain with regard to avalanche danger. As a general rule we assess and document the conditions (weather, snow fall, temperature) each day to give comparisons and help with our judgement of the avalanche risk. We then make a ski tour to find an interesting place to make another snow pit analysis. The afternoon will be spent skiing whilst assessing the potential dangerous of various slopes. Analysis from our readings will be done in the evening and an avalanche forecast prepared for the next day. We also start to discuss how we can use group management skills to increase our safety margins.

day 5 Route choice and group management in avalanche terrain. Understanding the snow pack and avalanche danger is very important but we also need to know how to manage the safety of the group whilst skiing in the mountains. We spend the day ski touring, taking turns in 'leading' the group so that you can develop your group management skills. There will be an evening presentation in 'The Psychology of Risk Management'.

day 6 Further work on route choice and group management in the field is done. We also provide advanced training in avalanche rescue using different realistic scenarios to challenge your rescue skills.

day 7 (Saturday) Breakfast is included at the hotel before departure.

Specialised Equipment needed for this course
Crystal Screen*
Loop magnifying glass* (for examining snow crystals)
Thermometer*
Folding ruler 2m*
Inclinometer*
Field book*
Avalanche field book (for documenting the snow pack)*
Compass
Pencil (HB)
This equipment can be bought at http://brooks-range.com/

Reference book: The Avalanche David McClung (Author), Peter Schaerer (Author) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Avalanche-Handbook-David-McClung/dp/0898868092/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308237485&sr=1-1

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