Phone: 403 678 4164 - 1 866 678 4164
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Dates and Prices

Price

$895 CDN includes instruction, books and use of safety and snow study equipment. GST is extra.

Trip Cancellation Insurance is available through the Simpson Group.

Is it for you?

Participants should be advanced/intermediate skiers and should have had some backcountry skiing experience before the course. In the Yamnuska context, a minimum would be prior participation on our Intro to Backcountry Skiing, Wapta Traverse, or Intro to Ski Mountaineering trips.

'Advanced intermediate' means that you are comfortable making parallel turns on most terrain at a ski hill and that you have enough ski skills to deal safely with all but the most extreme terrain found at a ski hill (that is to say you can stop, turn around, then traverse out of areas you can't handle). This should not be your first backcountry skiiing trip.

You also need to be in good aerobic shape, as you will have to 'skin' up everything you ski down. You will be skiing with a daypack containing your lunch, water, avalanche gear, and spare clothing. We also offer this program based out of our office in Canmore, Alberta. See details.

This program is limited to participants 19 years and older unless accompanied by a parent or legal guardian and in which case approval must be given by Yamnuska Mountain Adventures.

Previous avalanche training is not required, however to receive your AST 2 certificate you must have taken an AST 1 with Yamnuska or another provider in the past.

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Home >> Avalanche Courses >> Avalanche Skills Training 2 - Rogers Pass

Avalanche Skills Training 2 - Rogers Pass

In this course we take our regular AST 2 program to one of the backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering capitals of North America - Roger's Pass. You will end the course with the AST 2 curriculum while experiencing this amazing backcountry area.  While the focus is on avalanche training, you will no doubt be thrilled with the skiing this area affords.

Serious backcountry skiers and riders who expect to be skiing Rogers Pass in the future will find this course offers the best of both worlds - indepth knowledge of 'the pass' from one of our knowledgeable guides along with your AST 2 training.

The Rogers Pass AST 2 will help you build a solid knowledge base to safely expand your backcountry horizons. It will be a valuable investment in your mountain safety in addition to exposing you to some magical terrain.

This is a hands-on program featuring extensive practical field experience augmented with one day of classroom theory. The curriculum is designed to give a solid grounding in the essentials and is based on the requirements set out by the Canadian Avalanche Center (CAC). Your instructors are guides seasoned in touring, heliskiing and forecasting. This program is suitable for those who have taken the AST 1 program in the past and who are advanced/intermediate backcountry skiers looking to expand their skills.

Course Agenda

  • Day 1: Meet in the lobby of Ramada Inn in Golden, BC at 9:30am MST for introductions, a review of course goals and itinerary. This day will be spent in the classroom where we will discuss advanced avalanche theory and forecasting. We rent space at the Ramada for the classroom day.
  • Day 2 - 4: Each day there will be a field trip to a ski area in Rogers Pass. Destinations will be decided based on weather and snow conditions.

Curriculum

Considerable flexibility is built into the course delivery. Snow and weather conditions may dictate the order of presentation to some degree. Key topics will be constantly revisited during the program.

Topics Include:

  • Avalanche phenomena and theory
  • Avalanche terrain recognition
  • Avalanche transceiver use
  • Avalanche emergency response
  • Proper back country travel preparation
  • Safe decision making
  • Route finding in avalanche terrain
  • Safe 'test' skiing
  • Snow metamorphism
  • Snow stability analysis
  • Snow profiles, 'Rutsch blocks'
  • 'Shovel' tests and additional field tests
  • Use of avalanche 'danger scale' and other information gathered by professionals
  • Weather, terrain and the snow pack
  • Weather, snow pack and avalanche activity observations
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