Preparing for Avalanche Skills Training

This post is here to help you get ready for your upcoming avalanche course(s) with Summit Mountain Guides. It also serves as a resources page containing heaps of interesting avalanche related information and links. We hope this blog also serve as a reference for your current and future learning needs. Feel free to comment bellow with your avalanche related questions. Thank-you!

AST 1 Preparation

In this section, you will find the progressive steps including; videos, exercises, quizzes, and articles to complete before your upcoming AST 1. It also serves as a great review section for folks registered for an upcoming Companion Rescue Skills (CRS) course or a Managing Avalanche Terrain (MAT) course.

For more details specific to the course you are signed up for, meeting location, and timing, please refer to your email communication with our office. For program overview, general course itinerary, equipment list, or to register for a course, please your specific course webpage as follow: AST 1, CRS, MAT.

Step 1: Pick up your resource book titled “Avalanche Skills Training Handbook”. It will be made available for pick-up at our home office about 1 weeks prior to the start of your course. The handbook is the official textbook for the AST 1 & 2 trainings, it is free of charge for all AST 1 participants. You can pick up the handbook anytime from our outdoor pick-up wood box located at 1106 Hall Mines road, Nelson BC (right side of entrance door/Hoover street side). The code 0000. Also available is a digital copy of this handbook, let us know if you need this. You will ultimately get the hard-copy of the handbook along with other resources (avaluator, companion rescue card, etc.) on the course.

Step 2: Online learning. To get you ready for your course, we ask that all participants complete the AVY Savvy online avalanche tutorial. This tutorial is available here: https://avysavvy.avalanche.ca/ Please read all 8 parts of the online tutorial viewing all images and videos, it takes at least 2 hours for most people. There is a lot of great information in the tutorial that will help you prepare for the course including interactive route selection exercises. Have fun, it’s super interesting and confidence building!

Step 3: Resource familiarization: See below links and take some time to familiarize yourself with the current avalanche bulletin, the mountain weather forecast, the trip planner, maps, and the ski touring routes for the region where your course will unfold.

• Avalanche bulletin (1st bulletin on Nov 25): https://www.avalanche.ca/
• Mountain Weather Forecast: https://www.avalanche.ca/weather/forecast
• The Trip Planner & Maps: https://www.avalanche.ca/planning/trip-planner
• The Human Factors intro video: https://wildsnow.com/14961/human-factor-avalanche-safety-skiing/
• Ski touring route in the BC Interior: https://www.backcountryskiingcanada.com/TL_Interior_mountains

You can purchase ski touring maps, ski touring guides, rent or buy touring equipment at the following Nelson stores:

ROAM phone 250-354-2056
Valhalla Pure Outfitters phone 250-354-1006
Gericks phone 250-354-4622
Sacred Ride phone 250-354-3831

You can also purchase the ski touring maps and guides online here. Of note, we will have a few SMG swag items available for sale (caps $25, buffs $20, etc.) Saturday morning, bring $$ if you are interested. SMG also rents avalanche safety gear as follow: beacon ($10/day), probe ($10/day), shovel ($10/day) when renting separately or $25/days for all 3.

Step 4: Download the 4 resources below before your course. Print only if necessary.

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AST 2 Preparation

In this section, you will find helpful steps to get you ready for you upcoming AST 2 course. Since the AST curriculum is progressive, it is worth spending some time reviewing the concepts learned in the AST 1 course, particularly if it has been a while since your last course.

Step 1: Get your resource books. The main reference books for your AST 2 course are the Avalanche Skills Training Handbook (provided when you did your AST 1) and the excellent technical book called Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain by Bruce Tremper. The former is $10 plus GST and the later is $30 plus GST, both can be purchased through SMG. Let our office know if you would like to buy a copy.

Step 2: Review of AST 1 material. To get you started, we recommend that you browse through avysavvy again. Here is a link to it here. This may be a simple review for those who recently did their AST 1 however, it could be more lengthy for those of you who haven’t done any avalanche training in a while.

Step 3: Watch and reflect on the Cherry Bowl interactive video presentation here.

Step 4: Resource familiarization: See below links and take some time to familiarize yourself with the current avalanche bulletin, the mountain weather forecast, the trip planner, maps, and the ski touring routes for the region where your course will unfold.

• Avalanche bulletin (1st bulletin on Nov 25): https://www.avalanche.ca/
• Mountain Weather Forecast: https://www.avalanche.ca/weather/forecast
• The Trip Planner & Maps: https://www.avalanche.ca/planning/trip-planner
• The Human Factors intro video: https://wildsnow.com/14961/human-factor-avalanche-safety-skiing/
• Ski touring route in the BC Interior: https://www.backcountryskiingcanada.com/TL_Interior_mountains

You can purchase ski touring maps, ski touring guides, rent or buy touring equipment at the following Nelson stores:

ROAM phone 250-354-2056
Valhalla Pure Outfitters phone 250-354-1006
Gericks phone 250-354-4622
Sacred Ride phone 250-354-3831

You can also purchase the ski touring maps and guides online here. Of note, we will have a few SMG swag items available for sale (caps $25, buffs $20, etc.) Saturday morning, bring $$ if you are interested. SMG also rents avalanche safety gear as follow: beacon ($10/day), probe ($10/day), shovel ($10/day) when renting separately or $25/days for all 3.

Step 5: Download these resources before your course. Print only if necessary. While we do not collect/mark the route plan exercise, we recommend completing it before your AST2 course. We may end up visiting these popular routes on your course.

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