Avalanche Level 2 Hut Trip

Avalanche Level 2 Course curriculum brought to you by:

Take your avalanche education to the next level with our one-of-a-kind hut trips! Our Avalanche Level 2 Hut Trip runs at various huts throughout Colorado. We’ll head into the hut, settle into basecamp, and spend three nights and three days covering AAI’s Avalanche Level 2 curriculum and exploring backcountry terrain.

Our team is made of experienced AAI Qualified instructors and professional mountain guides with decades of experience in avalanche terrain. This experience comes from the Alps to Alaska to right here in the Front Range of Colorado. Colorado is one of the country’s premier backcountry skiing and splitboarding destinations. This Avalanche Level 2 Hut Trip course combines classroom and field instruction.

Colorado Mountain School Adopts American Avalanche Institute Curriculum in Place of AIARE Course Curriculum

For 50 years, the American Avalanche Institute has provided one the most successful professional and recreational avalanche training programs. At the recreational and professional levels, their courses and curricula are fully approved by the American Avalanche Association (A3). AAI’s guides, avalanche professionals, and educators create the best recreational and professional avalanche courses in the world. Read more about the switch from AIARE to AAI curriculum.

Your course will take place in the mountains, digging in the snow and moving through the terrain. You should be prepared, mentally and physically, to stay immersed in the backcountry for up to eight hours. You will be assigned to a small pod consisting of one AAI Qualified Instructor and a maximum of six students to simultaneously allow intimate instruction and the ability to spread out.  Here’s a preview itinerary of what your course could look like:

Optional Refresher -AAI Avalanche Level 1 Refresher

The AAI Avalanche Level 1 Refresher is a self-paced online learning module designed to provide a solid refresher before the season and/or your course.

.Self-Paced AAI e-Learning: 

The AAI Avalanche Level 2 Prep course is an optional self-paced online learning module that will give you a head start on both classroom and field topics

Day 1

• Meet and Greet – Trailhead TBD or designated location
  • Waivers (Grand Hut, Colorado Mountain School)
  • Equipment rentals
  • Gear checks (boots, puffy, food, avalanche equipment)
  • Introduction to the AAI Backcountry Checklist
• Beacon Check & travel to Hut
• Hut Orientation
• Course Introduction
  • Colorado Mountain School (who we are and what we do)
  • AAI (who they are and what they do)
• Course overview (daily schedule, course goals)
  • Course logistics
  • Student manual, field book, pencil
  • Risk management (explain waiver, specific hazards; mitigation
    strategies – everyone is a risk manager)
• Companion Rescue Review – single & multiple burial scenarios
  • Advanced search strategy and beacon functions
  • Micro-strip vs. 3 circle method
  • Group rescue response
  • Triage, Evac
• Instructor led ski tour to gather observations ( Avy, Wx, Snpx )
  • Instructor demo; Review of Seasonal Snowpack; Craftsmanship, Relevancy, and Verification of Snow Observations; Snowpack Tests in the Field.
• Return to Hut and Debrief tour and share Obs
• Dinner Planning
• Tour plan for Day 2 – goals and objectives 

Day 2

• Breakfast
• Review of Previous Day – Q&A

• Student-led morning hazard discussion and tour plan (avalanches, snowpack, weather)
• Student-led tour: Terrain identification and information gathering: stability tests and test pits; snowpack structure; interpreting weather data, snow surface conditions
• In-situ discussions of how specific weak layers and avalanche conditions have formed
• Post-Trip Debrief and sharing of field observations
• Dinner Prep
• Using existing snowpack, new observations and weather forecast to develop tomorrows avalanche forecast
• Tour plan for Day 3 – goals and objectives 

Day 3

• Breakfast
  • Pack personal gear; stash in building
  • Hut Clean-up
• Review of Previous Day – Q&A
• Student-led morning hazard discussion and tour plan (avalanches, snowpack, weather)
• Student-led trailhead transceiver function check
• Student-led tour: verify/challenge morning forecast; group management / terrain selection / travel techniques – up and down group management
• Return to hut
• Post-Trip Debrief and share field observations
• Next steps: where to go from here?
• Getting out there – what can you do on your own? What do you need a
  more skilled partner for? What skills should a mentor have?
• Transition (Hut to Trailhead)
• Course Close

Optional Learning Resources – All Season Long

• Virtual mentorship sessions
• Students-only webinars
• Tech tip video library
• Community facebook forum: find partners, discuss coursework & more

Each Avalanche Level 2 Hut trip offered has a separate meeting location in the nearest town prior to heading to the trailhead.

Two nights of lodging is included.

We believe that avalanche training is best taught by combining theoretical concepts and experiential learning. Some topics are best learned in a comfortable classroom setting and others in the mountains, moving through terrain and digging into the snow. You’ll have both.

The majority of your course will take place in the mountains where we will learn in an open-air environment. You should be prepared, mentally and physically, to stay immersed in the backcountry for up to 6 hours. You will be assigned to a small pod consisting of one AAI Qualified Instructor and a maximum of six students to allow intimate instruction and physical distancing.

The nature of this pandemic requires us to be flexible and adaptable in how we deliver a quality training experience. Rest assured, from the moment you enroll all the way up to your course field days and beyond, our instructors will be a part of your learning progression and will provide you with the tools and resources you need to best prepare for your avalanche training course. If you’d like to learn more about what we are doing to manage COVID-19 risk for our students and guides, please view our FAQ page.

AAI Pro 1 or Avalanche Level 2?

We get this question often. The Pro 1 is a professional, entry-level course that focuses on teaching skills to facilitate sharing and using information while working within an operation (e.g. ski resort, guide service, CDOT, etc.). The Pro 1 is less valuable if you are not working in an operation where you will use these skills.

Recreational travelers conduct a similar risk management process, but do it without the broad network of information and personnel support an operation provides. There is greater uncertainty and they (generally) have fewer days using a risk management process. Because of this, they operate with greater uncertainty. Enter Avalanche Level 2.