Avalanche Training Today: The Professional/ Recreational Split
Anyone interested in exploring the backcountry should seek out formal avalanche training. Whether you are skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, or simply hiking around some of your favorite trails it is important to have an understanding about avalanche safety, awareness, and emergency strategies.
When it comes to avalanche training, the number of options and course types can be overwhelming. This guide will explain the different paths of recreational and professional avalanche training courses to help you safely recreate in the backcountry this winter.
REC or PRO?
The REC track—short for recreation—is the starting point for recreationalist and professionals alike. Working professionals like ski patrollers or outdoor educators may be interested in continuing their education with PRO (professional) courses after completing REC courses.
Level 1 and Avalanche Rescue
Level 1 Avalanche Training
The Level 1 course, also known as Avy 1, is the starting point for recreationalists and aspiring professionals. The Avy 1 and Avalanche Rescue courses are the minimum training recommendation for anyone traveling in the backcountry. A Level 1 course is generally a 3-day course with a field component, where students begin to learn about avalanches and snowpack. You’ll study the basics about types of avalanches, and learn to identify hazardous terrain and avalanche conditions.
Most importantly, the Avy 1 course teaches students how to make educated decisions and have meaningful discussions about tour plans, risks, and mitigation. This course offers many opportunities to develop decision making skills in the backcountry and the field component allows students to make real world applications to class topics.
Avalanche Rescue
The Avalanche Rescue course focuses on companion rescue and what to do if someone in your group gets caught in an avalanche.This is a 1- day course with a focus on how to properly use avalanche rescue equipment effectively and make educated decisions in the case of emergency.
There is the opportunity for a lot of hands on practice with companion rescue, avalanche beacon use, and other professional tips. The companion rescue course is a great class to retake every couple years to hone your skills and learn about changes within the industry.
Both Avy 1 and Avalanche Rescue courses have no prerequisites. Students are able to take one or the other in any order, but be aware that any higher level avalanche courses requires both the Level 1 and Avalanche Rescue.
Level 2 Avalanche Training
The Level 2 Avalanche course, also known as Avy 2, allows backcountry users to continue to build off of topics introduced during the level I and rescue courses. This is a great course for the more experienced recreationalist looking to get more tools for their backcountry tool kit.
This course expands on topics about decision making, risk and terrain management, and group travel. Avy 2 courses tend to be particularly fun because most of the participants are excited to dive further into topics and really work on developing their skills.
PRO 1
The professional level 1 course is now the baseline for avalanche professionals. The primary focus of the PRO 1 course is on safe travel, snow and weather observations, and time spent in snow pits. PRO 1 runs for 5 days with a 2 days of assessments. The structure of this course shifts away from the recreational perspective and focuses on professional level risk management, observations, and rescue skills. This is a course designed for aspiring forecasters, ski patrollers, and mountain guides.
PRO 2
The American Avalanche Association describes Professional Avalanche Training 2 (PRO 2) as designed for developing avalanche professionals with several seasons of applied professional experience as well as seasoned professionals who are looking to develop skills applicable to leadership roles within their operation.
The PRO 2 is for experienced workers who desire to continue to develop their forecasting, risk management, and leadership skills. Workers will analyze information from various sources and make operational decisions on multiple spatial and temporal scales.
This course contains a much heavier workload than previous courses and is targeted to those already well into their career as forecasters and snow safety professionals.
Free Avalanche Education Resources
There are many free resources for the aspiring avalanche safety student. These are not substitutes for professional training but it is a great place to start.
The Know Before You Go program is a resource offered by the Utah Avalanche Center and the Colorado Avalanche Information Center/ Friends of CAIC. This is a great introduction to avalanche safety and an alternative to attending a live session.
Avalanche.org provides avalanche forecasts from all across the country, but it has free tutorials and a useful course finding tab.
Many nonprofits and organizations, like Friends of the CAIC, Colorado Mountain School, REI and Ski-Doo, also offer free avalanche awareness seminars.
Most Importantly, remember to check local avalanche forecasts for the area you plan to recreate in. Most of these forecast centers also have climate specific educational resources.
When considering avalanche training courses you will often see American Avalanche Association (A3) and AIARE (American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education). The American Avalanche Association is responsible for setting curriculum guidelines and AIARE uses those guidelines to develop courses and instructors. People often believe that AIARE is the only course provider but there are other providers that follow the A3 guidelines as well. Colorado Mountain College is an AIARE and A3 certified professional course provider!
Recreational and Professional Avalanche Training at Colorado Mountain College
Recreational Training
Colorado Mountain College offers both the recreational and professional tracks for avalanche training. Recreational backcountry users can begin their avalanche education with Level 1 Avalanche Training (OUT-168), Avalanche Rescue (OUT-268), and progress to Level 2 Avalanche Training (OUT-269).
Avalanche Science: Professional Avalanche Courses at Colorado Mountain College
Colorado Mountain College Leadville also offers professional level avalanche training and continued education for current or aspiring avalanche industry professionals. The Avalanche Science program is a two-year certification designed by industry experts from the Colorado Avalanche information Center, Colorado Mountain College, and U.S. Forest Service. Program graduates earn a Snow, Weather & Avalanche Field Technician certificate as well as an American Avalanche Association PRO certification.
Ali Henry graduates with a bachelor’s from CMC Breckenridge
Ali Henry was working in a Breckenridge restaurant when she decided that she needed to shift her focus.
“One day the cook asked me, ‘If you care so much about animals and nature, why do you still eat them and why don’t you do something to help Earth?’” Henry said. “That evening I went home and educated myself. I went vegan overnight and enrolled at CMC the next day. I then learned about sustainability studies and my entire life fell into the perfect pathway for this degree.”
Henry said that her time at Colorado Mountain College Breckenridge expanded her mind in new ways.
“I learned about environmentalists who have changed the world,” said the graduate, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in sustainability studies in May 2020. “I learned about biomimicry, conservation, endangered species, TerraCycling and so much more that I will use throughout my life.”
The knowledge she gained also prepared her to create the “Not-so-Silent Auction: Australian Wildlife Relief” this past February at CMC Breckenridge. Along with fellow CMC students, the fundraiser generated nearly $5,000 for wildlife injured by Australia’s devastating wildfires.
Now that her bachelor’s program at Colorado Mountain College is complete, Henry wants others to know what a special and unique experience CMC offers.
“I want people to know that there is no other place on Earth like CMC,” she said. “If you have an opportunity to attend classes or get a degree at CMC, take it. We are so blessed to have a college throughout the Rocky Mountains with people who care about your well-being and have such incredible energy. It’s made me a better and much more educated human being.”
Kate Brocato worked with the Bear Park Permaculture Garden, here, and beekeeping club at CMC Steamboat.
Kate Brocato was studying environmental science and had attended two large universities. Then, quite by surprise, she discovered Colorado Mountain College Steamboat Springs – and its sustainability studies program.
“The degree isn’t available at many other colleges,” Brocato said. “It covers the many facets of sustainability, from natural sciences to business and ethics.”
In addition, she appreciated the Steamboat campus’s approachable professors and small class sizes – different from what she had experienced before.
Brocato graduated in May with a Bachelor of Arts in sustainability studies. In many ways, she had been aspiring to earn the degree her whole life.
“Even at a young age I recognized the harmful effects that human action could have on many of the places that I loved so dearly,” she said.
And when Brocato was 12, her dad and stepmom started a community garden – which still exists. She grew up appreciating fresh vegetables and local food.
“It was one of the primary drivers behind why I have leaned towards food systems work during my college career,” she said.
Many ways to grow
Brocato took part in multiple opportunities for learning and growth.
“Working with the Bear Park Permaculture Garden and as vice president of the beekeeping club has given me a trajectory for my future career path,” she said.
She said that sustainability professor Tina Evans taught her valuable lessons about permaculture – and more. “I learned leadership and team management skills under Tina,” Brocato said.
Brocato feels that Colorado Mountain College has prepared her well for entering the workforce and being a sustainability leader and communicator.
“The close-knit community of CMC and the friends that I have made along the way will be something that sticks with me for a lifetime,” she said.
Dr. Nathan Stewart, 2019 Sustainable Educator of the Year
Yampa Valley Sustainability Council Honors CMC Sustainability Studies Associate Professor and Program Chair
Students in the Bachelor of Arts in Sustainability Studies program step toward their careers with internships and work-study jobs thanks to Dr. Nathan Stewart and his colleagues at CMC.
The Yampa Valley Sustainability Council recognized Stewart's contributions and those of five other award recipients.
In addition to teaching and chairing the Sustainability Studies program, Stewart is Program Director for the Rocky Mountain Land Management Internship Program. This innovative, two-year paid internship places CMC students with the U.S. Forest Service. Working collaboratively as land managers, natural resource specialists and mountain sports rangers, the interns have an inside track to possible full-time employment with the Forest Service.
Stewart also helped create local work study opportunities including:
Yampa Valley Sustainability Council's ReTree and Waste Diversion programs
Youth education with Friends of the Yampa
Monitoring air particulate matter and VCAPS planning for Routt County Department of Environmental Health
CMC photography student accepted into prestigious workshop
Laurel Smith of Carbondale recently returned from Jeffersonville, New York, where she attended the international Eddie Adams Workshop, an intense, four-day gathering of top photography professionals. Admission to the workshop is extremely competitive and limited to 100 (50 students and 50 emerging photographers), who attend tuition-free.
Smith is two classes away from graduating from Colorado Mountain College’s professional photography program at the Isaacson School of Communication, Arts and Media. She said she wants to work as a photojournalist and is most interested in documenting social justice issues. She is the fourth student from CMC’s professional photography program to gain admission to the prestigious workshop since students began applying in 2016.
Eddie Adams was a photojournalist whose most well-known, Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph was the execution of a Viet Cong lieutenant on a Saigon street in 1968. One of the most published photographers in the U.S., Adams enjoyed a career that spanned journalism, corporate, editorial, fashion, entertainment and advertising photography, as well as covering 13 wars.
He started the workshop in 1988, to provide professional opportunities to photojournalism students based on their skills – and not on their ability to pay tuition. Adams died in 2004 at age 71.
Final group presentations can be seen at Eddie Adams Workshop 2019 – including Team Orange’s “Costume,” presented by Smith’s team. Her photo essay is called “Sophie,” and starts 5:28 into the group presentation.
