BACKCOUNTRY SKIING COURSES
Avalanche Safety and Ski Touring Instruction in Utah's Wasatch Range
Comprehensive Guide to Avalanche Safety
(Level I+ Equivalent)
This course is a practical application based, somewhat mold-breaking alternative to a traditional classroom-heavy Level I avalanche course. It is designed specifically for recreational skiers of all levels interested in developing and refining avalanche awareness, snow assessment and backcountry planning and travel skills.
This course includes:
- 7 Hours of Mountain Sense video curriculum (Lifetime Access)
- 2 Eight hour field day sessions
- 4:1 Low ratio field instruction
- Course and field session run by AMGA Certified Ski Guide
This course will benefit people who:
-Have never taken a formal avalanche education course
-Have taken a formal avalanche course, and desire to learn updated practical systems to refine their "game"
-Desire practical concise instruction from experienced backcountry skiing professionals
-Want to learn at their own pace, and review the content, forever
During this course, you learn how to:
-Accurately interpret and implement daily avalanche forecasts
-Identify and safely move through dangerous backcountry terrain
-Communicate more effectively with your partners
-Learn how to execute an avalanche rescue
-Create and execute a rewarding backcountry tour
-Understand how to assess conditions in the field including with the use of snow pit stability tests
-Glean from the school of hard knocks, several professional skiers share their "near miss" stories
Available: 1/4-1/6, 1/13-1/15, 2/1-2/3, 2/8-2/10, 3/8-3/10
Trip Duration: 2 Eight Hr Field Days, 2hr Zoom, 7 hrs Online Learning
Field Group Ratio: 4:1
Prerequisites:
Advanced ski or snowboarding ability
Ability to skin a minimum of 1500' at a moderate pace per day
Rates: $550pp
Backcountry Skiing 101
In this single field day basic backcountry skiing instructional clinic we teach you the basics to get you started moving about the mountains. We will try to get some good turns in too!
Topics Include:
-How to use skins and alpine touring equipment/split-board to go up and down the mountain efficiently
-How to use basic avalanche safety equipment
-How to interpret an avalanche forecast
-How to recognize avalanche terrain
-How to plan a basic trip
-How to choosing appropriate equipment
-How to deal with an emergency
-Constructing an emergency shelter
Prerequisite:
Advanced ski or snowboarding ability
Moderate to good fitness
Course includes Zoom based evening session the day prior to the posted field day date
Available: 1/02/21, 1/09/21, 1/16/21, 1/30/21, 2/13/21, 2/17/21
Trip Duration: 6-8hrs
Minimum Group Size: 1
Student/Instructor Ratio: 4:1
Rates:
$175pp
Backcountry Skiing 202
In this single day advanced backcountry skiing course we take on the refined techniques that make ski touring enjoyable, efficient and safe on bigger and more complex objectives. This is a limited ratio course (3:1) to help facilitate travel and maintain a realistic nature of the touring party size.
Topics Include:
-Skinning in advanced terrain
-Efficient track setting
-Backcountry preparedness
-Evolving your avalanche forecast based on observed conditions
-Planning challenging yet realistic objectives based on conditions
-Improvised rescue and evacuation
Prerequisites:
Advanced ski or snowboarding ability
Ability to skin a minimum of 3000' at a moderate pace
Avalanche I certification
Course includes Zoom based evening session the day prior to the posted field day date
Available: 1/24/21, 2/07/21, 2/28/21, 3/07/21
Trip Duration: 9+hrs
Minimum Group Size: 1
Student/Instructor Ratio: 3:1
Rates:
$200pp
Avalanche L1 Skills Refresher
An early season must do! Polish up on essential skills to help keep you and your partners safe while traveling in avalanche terrain. This one-day field and touring-based course focuses on strategies to help prime your brain for the coming season. We will review and apply skills students learned or missed in their Level 1 course and put the wheels in motion while on a ski tour.
All Backcountry Pros instructors work as professional ski guides and consequently we focus heavily on 'real world application.'
Topics Include:
-Companion rescue review
-Early season stability forecasting
-Snow pit review and application
-Selecting appropriate terrain for the conditions
-Review of avalanche terrain
-Review of safe travel techniques
-Group management
Prerequisites:
Advanced ski or snowboarding ability
Ability to skin a minimum of 1500' at a moderate pace
Avalanche I certification
Course includes Zoom based evening session the day prior to the posted field day date
Available: 12/06/20, 12/13/20, 01/03/21, 01/10/21, 01/17/21, 01/31/21
Trip Duration: 9+hrs
Minimum Group Size: 1
Student/Instructor Ratio: 4:1
This course is also available on a private basis at Private Day Guiding rates.
Rates:
$150pp
Backcountry Skiing Mentorship
Learning the ways of the mountains takes a lot of time and getting out with a professional in a mentorship role can help you learn more efficiently, reducing the overall learning curve. Our working guides can help foster the growth of both the hard physical skills of touring as well as soft skills like decision making and forecasting. The ability to get direct feedback in an environment that can otherwise be fairly nebulous to interpret is invaluable to the learning process. As backcountry travelers, we don't alway know whether our process' and decisions were sound or smart at the end of the day but we can help keep you honest and increase your odds of success moving forward.
Mentorship Options:
-Planning and forecasting
-Hazard interpretation in the field
-Setting and executing realistic objectives
-Terrain management on uphill
-Terrain management on downhill
-Group management
-Skinning technique
-Time management
-Nutrition
-Steep skiing technique
-Powder skiing technique
-Technical ski mountaineering techniques
-Self rescue
-Improvised evacuation
-Training
-Setting appropriate goals
Please contact us for a custom program! We will put you in the hot seat!
Available: April - November
Trip Duration: 3 days
Group Size: 1-4
Rates:
Private Group Size
1 2 3 4
$1,181 $721pp $590pp $525pp
Ski Mountaineering Course
Advanced skiers need a specific skillset to keep them safe and moving in steep and technical terrain and this backcountry skiing based course focuses on just that. This course operates from an overnight basecamp in the Wasatch alpine and is truly a fun time!
Topics Include:
-Ascending in complex terrain
-Belayed skiing
-Use of rope for belay and rappel in the alpine setting
-Crampon and ice axe use and self arrest
-Downhill movement in and management of steep terrain
-Introduction to glacier travel and crevasse rescue
-Winter camping
-Gear considerations
-Planning appropriate objectives
Prerequisites:
High Advanced to Expert ski or snowboarding ability
Ability to skin a minimum of 3000'/day at a moderate pace
Avalanche I certification minimum
Available: 4/10/20-4/12/20
Trip Duration: 3 days
Minimum Group Size: 1
Student/Instructor Ratio: 2:1
Rates:
$1000pp