KPAC Avalanche Level 2 Course – 4 day format
Co-sponsored by:
KACHINA PEAKS AVALANCHE CENTER, INC.
PRESCOTT COLLEGE – LLC (LIFELONG LEARNING CENTER)
Course Information and Logistics
KPAC Education Director: David Lovejoy
[email protected],
928-830-5577
Course Description:
The level 2 avalanche course is designed to provide experienced winter backcountry recreationists,
search and rescue personnel and winter recreation managers with the advanced skills in understanding
conditions responsible for snow avalanches and the ability to avoid avalanche hazards. The thirty two
hour curriculum will build upon skills and theory covered in the Level 1 Avalanche Course which
students are required to have completed prior to taking this class. Students are also expected to have
gained some personal experience (at least one season) since completing level 1 curriculum. The course
will start with a discussion of answers to a pre-test as a means of reviewing weather, terrain and
snowpack as contributory factors. Participants will also be engaged in a discussion of scenarios they
have encountered through their own backcountry experiences and a means of analyzing decision
making practices, risk tolerance and human factors. An emphases of instruction will be accurate
documentation of observations, test results and snowpack analysis, strictly adhering to Snow, Weather
and Avalanche Observations Guideline for the United State (SWAG) standards and nomenclature. The
field portions of the course will entail real life decision making in avalanche terrain. Participant must be
prepared for the seriousness of the terrain travel through, in term of skill, physical fitness,
environmental conditions and equipment used. In this way, the level two course format provides a
bridge between recreational and professional training in snow dynamics. Participants can arrange for
academic credit (1 semester hour upper division) for this course through Prescott College at an
additional cost and added scholastic requiems.
Appropriate student background:
Students must be experienced backcountry skiers or snowboarders (intermediate – expert). Search and
Rescue personnel using snowshoes (only) may be accommodated at the lead instructor’s discretion,
usually depending on a threshold number of participants using this travel means. Generally snowshoe
only travel is discouraged. Participants must provide their own backcountry safety equipment and
winter essentials carried in a suitable pack. Equipment should include personal first aid kit,
ski/snowboard repair items, extra clothing, emergency food/water, storm survival items and a means of
attaching skis or snowboard to the pack. Snow travel equipment must be in good working condition.
Skiers and split boarders must have full width skins, and ski poles. Approach snow shoes used by
snowboarders must have claws and these individuals are also advised to carry collapsible ski poles. All
participants will be required to furnish their own transceivers, probes and shovels. Activities take place
at high elevations so participants need to be in good physical condition and accustomed to mountainous
terrain. A medical form and skills assessment sheet will be completed and reviewed prior to acceptance
in the courses. Participant will be required to sign a “Participant Agreement Form” acknowledging the
potential risks involved in such training. The instructional staff use discretion in accepting students into
this class based on all the factor listed above.
Instructor to student ratio: 1 to 5 with a maximum of 10 participants and at least two instructors. Travel
group size will be limited to 7 individuals; experience teaching assistants may accompany as volunteers
to assist with instruction and risk management.
Required textbooks:
Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain – Bruce Tremper (available locally and at Amazon.com)
Snow, Weather and Avalanches: Observational Guideline for US (SWAG) – American Avalanche
Association ($22 sold to participant a the beginning of the course)
Snow Observations Field Notebook – Ian McCammon ($26 sold at the beginning of the course)
Additional recommended resources: The Avalanche Handbook by McClung (available at Amazon.com)
Learning objectives:
The successful students will demonstrate abilities to:
1. Plan group travel using maps, other resources and navigation tools, and systematically manage
hazards in avalanche terrain both while ascending and descending.
2. Observe and record field observations using terminology and symbols/nomenclature adopted in
SWAG;
3. Perform and document test+ snow pit profiles using both computer based (SnowPilot or smart
phone apps such as Any Lab ) and hand drawn method;
4. Understand and interpret information available on the Internet, in particular weather images
and forecast models;
5. Forecast instability and danger rating based on snowpack conditions, weather data and
predicted trends;
6. Communicate effectively and take appropriate actions regarding human factors in decision
making;
7. Efficient ally and effectively perform mock multiple-burial companion recoveries within
established time parameters.
8. Demonstrate the ability to develop a lesson plan and deliver an element of foundation
instruction in avalanche education;
9. Students seeking academic credit will research a specific topic (to be negotiated with the
instructors) and write a short research paper summarizing findings.
Itinerary and progression (subject to alteration depending on conditions:
Day one – Meet at 8:00 am at Agassiz Lodge
8am-9:30 — Review of level 1 skills, pre-test review, and individual scenarios discussion.
10am-4pm—Shakedown tour with field observations and test pits (Alison Clay, Snowslide Canyon or
Southside TBA).
4pm-5pm— Documenting observations and pit profiles.
5pm-6pm— Multiple burial recovery strategies: Target and Micro Strip methods, strategic shoveling.
Day two - Meet at 8:00 am at Agassiz Lodge
8:30am— Ride lifts with patrol
9am- noon—Multiple burial recovery scenarios in small groups, probing, strategic shoveling and
individual test pit data recording.
12-1pm— Lunch at Agassiz Lodge
1pm-8pm—Advanced topic presentations at Ft Valley Lodge
 Meteorological fundamentals
 Avalanche problems and appropriate specific travel strategies
 Advance weak layer discussions (near-surface faceting, persistent weak layers, deep slab
instability, spatial variability, unique attributes of the radiation snow climate)
 Slab characteristics and failure mechanics: strength verses shear failure model verses the mixed
mode anti-crack theory; slab stiffness with relationship to temperature and trigger sensitivity.
 Dinner Break (one hour)
 Wet avalanches – what we know and what we don’t know
 Monitoring weather (both locally and regionally) and guidelines for alerts
Day three – Meet at 8:00 am at Agassiz Lodge or TBA
All day tours in small groups (7 maximum) - Inner Basin or TBA. Focus will be group communications,
route finding, travel protocols, now-casting and decision-making. Student pairs will be assigned
appropriate leadership responsibilities
Evening session in NAU Kline Library conference room, reading and interpreting internet forecast
models and images
Day four – 8:00 meeting place TBA
8am-3pm— Tour the Inner Basin or TBA with small groups (7 maximum). Objectives will be similar to
those cover on day three.
3pm – 5 pm— Meet at Agassiz Lodge. Final Theme: Putting it all together into a coherent forecast, or
summary of stability using avalanche problems as a conceptual format. We will also discuss legal issues,
and the pros/cons of graphic images such as Danger Roses in public information outreach and other hot
button topics.
5pm-6 pm— Course debrief and advice on continuing education.
Please fill out the PARTICIPANT INFORMATON FORM below, rename and email to:
[email protected] . On subject line write: Level I Avalanche
Course.
, or hard copies can be mailed to David Lovejoy, Avalanche Courses, Prescott
College, 220 Grove Ave. Prescott, AZ 86301.
Questions and concerns – contact: David Lovejoy by email (above) or phone 928830-5577, and please leave a message if necessary.
PARTICIPANT INFORMATION FORM (Please submit at least one week in advance of
the start of your course by copying this section (below the dotted line) – then: paste the fill
out form either as an email message, or save as a new Word doc. and emailing it to the
above address as an attachment)
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Address:
Cell Phone:
Email:
Emergency Contact phone # and relationship to you:
Allergies, medications, or medical conditions we should be informed of:
Please underline one of each below:
Skiing/Boarding/Snow shoe
Beginner/ Intermediate /Advanced
Mode of uphill travel: free-heel skis/ alpine touring skis/ snowboard/ split-board/ snowshoes
Mode of downhill travel: free-heel skis/ alpine touring skis/ snowboard/ split-board/ snowshoes
Any previous avalanche training (none is required):
Backcountry experience and or affiliations (i.e. search and rescue, ski patrol, etc):
Approximate number of above tree line winter tours in the last 2-3 years, including ski area accessed
out of bounds skiing (side-country):
We are looking forward to meeting and working with you