Course Descriptions
For specific DATES AND LOCATIONS please CLICK HERE to be redirected.
Zac’s Tracs and the Canadian Avalanche Centre
This season’s schedule include the following programs. Click on each program for more details.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
3 hr Avy Awareness Seminars hosted by the Canadian Avalanche Centre
3 hr Introductory Rescue Workshops
3 hr Advanced Rescue Workshops
8.5 hr Zac’s custom AST 1.5 Classroom Session
30hr AST Level 2 Class & Field *participants must have recently completed the AST1 and be competent in its theory.
Professional level Avalanche Training with the Canadian Avalanche Association
40 hr Wilderness First Aid Course – Snowmobile Specific
Alberta Snowmobile Association’s SledSmart Program
We are looking into the opportunity of delivering the AST 1 classroom session through Video Conferencing technology. This would give us the ability to deliver these materials in a cost effect method to smaller groups. Check your community to see if a VC facility is available and the logistics to receive this type of program.
More tools for the tool box!
This article is a work in progress.
Avy training is not a rubber stamp. Just because you sat through an avalanche class you are not permanently surrounded by a magic bubble that keeps you safe. It is up to you to maintain and upgrade your training in order to truly make a difference.
Just like anything if you don’t use it you will lose it!
We are working diligently to create new programs to support our community with fun and content rich training options that range from online reports and training videos to specialized field courses. Programs range from a few minutes to a few days.
Scan the list below and see what interests you! If you think of a topic that we haven’t yet covered, please CLICK HERE to send us your ideas. We are always open to suggestions!
Quick Links:
- Snowpack / Weather: WHEN to travel
- Terrain: WHERE to travel
- Human Factors / Travel Habits: HOW to travel
- Group Management: WHO to travel with
- Rescue Equipment: WHAT to carry, HOW to use it
- Rescue Group Management
- Advanced Rescue Skills
All of these topics above are covered in the Core classes. Click on each of the Core classes below to learn more:
-
____________________________________________________
Snowpack / Weather
- Persistent Weak Layers – CAA Forecasting Department Paper
- More Content Coming Soon!
to top
Terrain
Human Factors / Travel Habits
Rescue Equipment
Rescue Group Management
Suggested Topics for Future Programs
Thank you for taking the time to offer your feedback!
Community Partners
Interested in becoming a partner to support Avalanche Safety Programs in your community?
Marketing partnerships lead to more profitable results for all involved.
Cooperative partnerships led to:
- improved opportunity to reach a wider geographic area
- reach snowmobilers of all makes and models
- enhanced corporate image
- overall improvement of the public image of our sport
We hope you see this partnership as an opportunity to market your business services and corporate goodwill resulting in new and improved customer relationships!
AST 1.5 - Snowmobile Specific Advanced Theory
Don’t have the time or funds to make it to the mountains for the full AST Level 2 avalanche course?
Check out this NEW option for graduates of the AST Level 1 Class and Field session. This 8.5 hr program will focus on the following:
Avy Bulletins, Solving the Puzzle
Avalanche Bulletins are a big piece of the puzzle. Draw the value out of each and every detail. Learn how to interpret and apply this info to the terrain you are choosing!
Go Big and Go Home – Terrain, terrain, terrain
Looking for opportunities to improve the Risk/Benefit ratio while you are sledding? Your sled is a tool in the backcountry…learn how to use it! We travel through a ton of terrain in a day, why not gather reliable observations and make informed choices at the same time?
Rescue, Taking your Skills to the Next Level
Build on your skills from the AST1 Field sessions and whip your group’s rescue reactions into shape. We’ll build your quick thinking responses and teamwork skills for improved success.
Zac’s AST 1.5 Field Session – apply the theory in hands on practical exercises in at least 2 different riding areas. Rather than observing your instructor’s assessments of snowpack, weather and terrain YOU create the assessments and make decisions to select terrain and routes suitable for the conditions.
Risk = Probability * Consequence * Exposure
Rescue skills will be honed through multiple scenarios and a stronger emphasis on teamwork and the fundamental search techniques than in the AST1. Prepare to be challenged!
Calgary, AB – Nov 12, 2011 9:00am – 5:00pm
Meeting Location – Blackfoot Inn – Macleod Room
5940 Blackfoot Trail SE
Calgary, AB – T2H 2B5
CLICK HERE for a Google Map
Saskatoon, SK – Dec 5, 2011 9:00am – 5:00pm
Meeting Location – Heritage Inn
102 Cardinal Crescent, S7L 6H6, Saskatoon, SK (near Airport Way)
Hotel Phone: (306) 665-8121
CLICK HERE for a Google Map
Edmonton, AB – Dec 12, 2011 9:00am – 5:00pm
Chateau Louis Hotel and Conference Center
11727 Kingsway Ave NW, Edmonton, AB T5G 3A1
Phone: 780.452.7770 Fax: 780.454.3436
CLICK HERE for a Google Map
Calgary, AB – Jan 16-17, 2012 6:00pm – 10:30pm
Meeting Location – Blackfoot Inn – Macleod Room
5940 Blackfoot Trail SE
Calgary, AB – T2H 2B5
CLICK HERE for a Google Map
Edmonton, AB – Jan 29, 2012 9:00am – 5:00pm
Chateau Louis Hotel and Conference Center
11727 Kingsway Ave NW, Edmonton, AB T5G 3A1
Phone: 780.452.7770 Fax: 780.454.3436
CLICK HERE for a Google Map
_________________________________________________
Read comments from Dan Fouts, one of our Fort McMurray students, October 2010.
Good Day Lori,
I took the AST 1 and AST 1.5 because my brother, an experienced avalanche trained sledder whom I sled with, indicated he would not allow me to go with him anymore unless I had the training.
As he so often lamented, it wasn’t me he was worried about, it was my ability to help him if he was caught in an avalanche. I have to admit, like many sledders who haven’t had avalanche training, the thought of taking the time to do the training was akin to watching paint dry and what could the training provide that I didn’t already know – I thought I knew how to properly use my beacon and already am first aid trained.
Admittedly, my motivation for taking the course was to appease my brother so I could continue to ride with him.
WOW,WAS I WRONG ABOUT AVALANCHE TRAINING!!! I now understand why my brother was so insistent. I am embarrassed to admit I didn’t even know how to use my beacon properly; particularly in terms of locating a buried avalanche victim(s).
These courses provided me with an incredible amount of good information from identifying and understanding weather and snow conditions to the basic avalanche gear as well as how to use it properly. I now have a whole new appreciation for avalanche training and sledding in the back country.
This training has positively changed my approach to the sport from planning the trip to the gear I use and where and when I sled. Having taken these courses, I, as with my brother, will be more discriminating on whom I sled with and I will have the same ultimatum respecting avalanche training. I am going to plan a trip around the “on hill training” this sledding season and will take these courses again as a refresher next year.
Your approach to instructing the course as well as the information covered was excellent and I wouldn’t change a thing. The trip planning template is excellent and I will use it as a reminder for planning each trip.
Lori, these classes have clearly opened my mind respecting avalanche training and I am now an advocate and will be an ambassador for avalanche training to our sport. I look forward to being in your classes again in the future.
Warmest Regards, Dan Fouts, Fort McMurray
AST 1 - Certificate Course
Avalanche Skills Training – Level 1 (AST 1)
The AST 1 course follows a curriculum developed by the Canadian Avalanche Association. Instructional materials & lesson plans are developed by the CAA.
Click here to go the www.avalanche.ca for more information.
Follow this link for an explanation of the typical AST1 Course Schedule
The AST1 (16hr) class is recommended as the MINIMUM that any backcountry recreationalist should have.
The course demands a minimum of 16 hours. The AST is an excellent introduction to avalanche terrain recognition skills, snowpack theory, rescue skills and overall risk management. The classroom component includes lecture, powerpoint, videos, displays, demonstrations, and group exercises.
Because the class structure is highly interactive the participants gather more value out of the class sessions than on-line programs and books. The course structure invites serious participation by the students. Maximum learning results from listening to the experiences of other participants, their interpretations of the material, and group discussions that result from questions posed by your peers.
Participation is the key to learning in our classes.
There are no mistakes…only learning opportunities!
Classroom Exercises
- require 8 hours and can be completed over a full day or two 4-hour evening sessions.
What you can expect to learn
- 4 persistent weak layers and what you can do to avoid them
- why all hoars are bad, even the pretty ones ;-)
- why your long time local knowledge of a riding area isn’t always enough to keep you safe
- your snowmobile can be a tool or it can be a weapon. Learn to use its power to your advantage
- key webpages that should be accessed before each riding day
- FREE sources to gather and build your avy knowledge and experience
- why the blueprint changes season to season, even from day to day. What is this year’s blueprint?
- why rocks and trees are like icebergs
- eight killer terrain features
- the 5 most important questions to ask when organizing a rescue
- how to properly use an avalanche probe (no, I will not be quoting Cartman from Southpark but what I show you will probably surprise you)
- who in your riding group is an asset and who is a liability
- key benefits and limitations of beacons, probes, shovels, and airbags. Features you should look for in your friend’s gear. (Afterall, the gear that your friends carry is to SAVE YOUR LIFE. Make sure it is the best stuff!)
- and of course, how to use that beacon hanging around your neck.
Following the classroom, students provide their own snowmobile to participate in eight hours of hands-on field exercises.
This is very important. Proper terrain travel habits are the key to managing the risks in avalanche areas. Habits are hard to break but by actually practicing the appropriate travel techniques (rather than just attending a lecture on them) the odds are better that safer riding styles will be adopted.
All beacons have unique features and limitations. Learn the tips and tricks related to your unit. You aren’t just trying to locate a target, you are trying to save someone’s life. Minutes and even seconds count. Why not be prepared. ‘If only I had…’ That would be a terrible feeling to live with….
Field Exercises include:
•Single and multiple beacon searches using analog and digital technology
•SOS, Ortovox, Tracker, Pieps, Voile, and Barryvox/Mammut avalanche gear and SEAR snow study equipment are available for student use and demo. Test and compare before you buy.
•Act as a searcher and a witness during 2 or more timed mock rescues
•Practice rescues using life size dummies and probe targets
•Learn how to keep your group safe while trail riding or hill climbing
•Dig a pit to see weak & strong layers, snow crystals and slab formation – skills necessary to understand Public Avalanche Bulletins that are available at www.avalanche.ca or 1-800-667-1105
(Maximum student to instructor ratio for field exercises is 8:1)
(A Release of Liability must be signed before participating in any program.)
The classroom session must be completed first in order to be prepared for the field session. The classroom covers more of the info related to ‘how not to get caught’.
In the field session we practice what we learned in the classroom and then work on the rescue skills, which are no longer about safety, but how to reduce the loss of an accident. The ‘doing’ in the field session is what cements all the info together.
Participating in the rescue scenarios with your riding group gives your partners a taste of their level of competence and teamwork.
We encourage refreshers of the field session every 2 years. There are always new skills to learn and each time your group participates they will gather new tools to draw from should you ever be faced with a real rescue situation.
Discounts are available for the field refreshers.
CLICK HERE for an explanation of the discounts.
PLEASE NOTE the AST Level 1 replaces the Introductory Recreational Avalanche Course (IRAC). This change was made by the Canadian Avalanche Centre in 2006.
Follow this link for an explanation of the typical AST1 Course Schedule
What do you need to bring on the field day?
Typical AST 1 Course Schedule
The typical AST 1 class schedule runs a full day of classroom exercises. Registration at 8:30am, class start at 9:00am, half hour lunch and finished by 6:00pm.
Mountain field exercises begin at 8:30am sharp. Participants must meet at the staging area with sleds full of fuel & oil, lunch packed, ready to ride. This is a hands-on work day in a mountain location on snowmobiles.
Follow this link for an alternative schedule for the AST1
Alternative Schedule for the AST Level 1
For a larger group, 24-64 people, the classroom work may be split over 2 or 3 evenings. This alternative is very economical for the participants as it allows the classroom exercises to be completed in the group’s hometown, often organized during the pre-season. The field exercises are scheduled in the mountains at a later date and the participants can then choose from a variety of dates and locations.
There are a couple of options for this year’s AST Level 1 (RAC):
Option 1: 2 Day Mountain Programs – participants will travel to the
mountains and complete the full 16+ hrs at once. These programs are
scheduled in various mountain communities from December – March.
Option 2: 16+ hour Split Programs – participants have many pre-season options within Alberta and Saskatchewan to attend the classroom work over 1 day or 2 evenings. The field exercises are then completed in the mountains at a later date. Organize a multi-day sled tour and then book one day to spend with us. A safety course…a pretty good excuse for a trip to the mountains. Even your boss or spouse will have to agree!
Rescue Workshops
You have got the gear…. Learn how to use it!
Tools are only as good as the operator…
Could you locate someone? …quickly?!
Could your friends find you? …in time?!
If you should ever find yourself in the situation to need it, the beacon search should be second nature, freeing your mind up for more complicated rescue needs. Learn how beacons operate and methods to use when searching for multiple signals.
Digital or analog….what is the best?
Single search, multiple search…learn tips to improve speed and quality.
Avalanche probes and shovels look pretty simple, but there are still important techniques to get the best performance out of the gear without destroying it. Avalanche snow can be brutal.
Finally, put this all together in a group scenario to discover 5 key questions that must be asked before any avy rescue.
Avalanche rescue is not a skill that you want to learn as you go. Training can give you the tools to save a life!
We encourage everyone to attend these workshops. These sessions offer a great head start whether you plan to learn at your own pace through practice and research or whether you intend to advance your skills with an AST 1 Mountain Field session.
This 3 hour presentation will cover all makes and models of beacons commonly available in Western Canada.
This will be an indoor / outdoor presentation. Please bring your personal beacon, probe, shovel and backpack if you already own these items, however it is not necessary. Demo units will be available. Please dress for the weather as we may take the opportunity to go outdoors for part of the program. Demo units will be available.
It is recommended that you label all personal gear with your name to prevent loss.
In this exercise each participant has a set of colored disks. With each step the searcher drops a colored disk on the floor as they follow the flux line into the transmitter in the middle of the circle.
Try to follow the trail on the floor created by each color as they converge on the transmitter at the center of the gymnasium.
To view available courses and to register CLICK HERE.
Hands on Rescue Field Training - 4 hrs
This outdoor session is a modified AST1 field session. Hands on activities will be conducted in pairs and group situations to introduce search techniques and tips when working with beacons, probes, and shovels. Mock rescue scenarios will be conducted to highlight effective group management during high pressure situations.
Please bring your personal beacon if you already own one, however it is not necessary. Demo units will be available.
It is recommended that you label all personal gear with your name to prevent loss.
Avalanche Bulletins, public and professional level avalanche training programs, the free on-line avalanche class, Trip Talk and weather links.
