Tour Leadership and Avalanche Hazard Level II
February 14-17, 2008--Sawtooth Valley/Stanley Basin
Course Overview:
This intensive four-day course integrates the thorough curriculum of a field-based
avalanche school with a solid introduction to guiding and leading ski tours in
mountainous terrain with avalanche hazard. The course will be based from SMG
headquarters in Lower Stanley which provides a central location for a variety
of tours and access to lecture facilities. The Tour Leadership and Avalanche
Hazard Level II course is excellent continuing education for those who have taken a
Level I training. The course format is based on an early morning lecture and
group discussion followed by all day in the field , a break for dinner, and an evening lecture.
Itinerary/Topics:
Day 1: 8:00AM Meeting Lower Stanley, SMG Headquarters; Introduction: Course Goals. Overview of Mtn. Snowpack and Weather events of the season in the Sawtooths. Skill Review: transceivers use/ types, search patterns avalanche rescue response;
Stability Tests active vs. snowpit; roadside tour to examine snowpack at different elevations, different slope aspects, localities. Recording from the Day in the Field Notebook. Evening presentations: Lab Weather Skills related to Avalanche Forecasting ; Daily Avalanche Forecasting – Perspective from the Sawtooth Avalanche Center.
Day 2: 8:00AM Morning Weather- Avalanche Forecast—Indirect Data Collecting; Field Sessions: Half-day Workshop: Quantifiable tests and Record keeping in the Snowpit: Standards for snowpit techniques; Observations and trends leading to Stability Scores; Half-day Assessing Snowpack stability vs. Terrain Analysis: snow distribution, loading, trigger points/ tender areas; Decision-making and Risk Assessment; Managing your ski group; Conducting the day-end meeting—Review of the day in the Field.
Evening presentation: Ski Guiding: Aspects of Tour Leadership. Avalanche Hazard vs. Tour objectives; Obs. Redflags: Common Mistakes leading to Avalanche Incidents; Heuristics—The Human Factor. Tour Planning for Day 3 Tour.
Day 3: Alpine start 7:00AM: Morning Weather / Avalanche Forecast for alpine tour northern Sawtooths (McGowan Peak); Tour Plan and implementation participants: Route selection, track settting, group handling through day, snow stability evaluation while on tour. End of day Field Review. Evening presentations: Snow Climates: considerations for tours in various locations (local, regional, international); Ski Guiding in Greenland, the Himalaya, Alaska.
Day 4: Start TBA; Tour Leadership Skill Review Workshops: Avalanche Rescue; Route Planning and working Terrain with your Group: Snowpack Stability Tests/Evaluation; Snow Science: Improving your technical understanding of Snow. Constructive evaluation of participants/ feedback from instructors (optional). Course End
Course Fees: $475.00--includes instruction, lodging, and course materials. Participants will receive a course completion card for
Level II Avalanche Field Training
Instructors: The Level II course will be headed up by Kirk Bachman who has worked as an avalanche
instructor and ski and mountain guide in the Sawtooths and Tetons since the seventies.
Kirk is a professional member of the Amercian Avalanche Association and is certified
as a Ski Mountaineering and Alpine Guide by the American Mountain Guides Association.
Steve Conger joins Kirk for this course. He began his ski touring in
the Sawtooths during the early 1970s. Steve is a long-time avalanche
professional and educator. He is currently in the Avalanche Research
Group at the University of British Columbia pursuing a graduate degree
on key snowpack observations and avalanche forecasting. He is the
former lead forecaster for the Utah Department of Transportation--Little
and Big Cottonwood Canyons and served the American Avalanche Association
as Publication Committee chair for 10 years, 7 of which as Editor of the
Avalanche Review. Steve is an American Avalanche Association
Professional Member and Canadian Avalanche Association Affiliate Member.
Guest Lecturers: We will have various guest instructors join our staff for some of the lecture sessions.
Lectures will include forecasters from the Sawtooth Avalanche Center, and mountaineering and heli-ski guides.
These people are avalanche professionals who work on a daily basis with forecasting and hazard evaluation and
have many years of knowledge and experience to share with the course participants.
Contact Sawtooth Mountain Guides
P.O. Box 18
Stanley, Idaho 83278 USA
Ph (208)774-3324
Fax (208) 774-3729
e-mail:
getaway@sawtoothguides.com
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