Utah Avy 1 Course

Evening Lecture & Logistics Check-In

This 1 hour evening lecture will allow the group to check in on gear and logistics before our first field session on Saturday. As a course pre-requisite, you will have received an online e-learning module that you can complete anytime prior to the course beginning.

This module will include an introduction to the course, outlining the skills and knowledge that will be gained and how this will allow you to travel safely through the backcountry. It will be a theory-based session where the material will cover the Avalanche Hazard Triangle, how to identify the different avalanche types and snowpack, and how to read the Avalanche Danger Scale and the Avalanche Forecast. From there, you'll learn about weather patterns, the terrain types that you come across in the backcountry and tour planning.

This evening lecture is followed by 8 hour days in the field, putting the theory into practice and allowing you to apply these skills in scenarios you could see in the mountains.

Saturday - Field Day

At 7.30am the group will meet at Guardsman Pass, the trailhead that will lead us into Big Cottonwood Canyon. Field topics for the day will include matching the weather forecast to a plan, trailhead checks, rescue scenarios and snow stability tests. During this day there will be little mountain travel, approximately 1 mile in total. The day will end at 4.30pm.

Sunday - Field Day and Lecture

At 7.30am, the group will meet in Big or Little Cottonwood Canyon (exact location to be determined). Today’s field topics will include terrain selection, important on-the-go tests, weather and snowpack observations and group travel techniques. Expect and dress for a solid day of mountain travel. The field section of the day will end at 2.00pm.

On Sunday late afternoon, the guides and students will conclude the course with a 3-hour lecture. This will cover human factors that can impact the safety of backcountry travel, and planning and prepping using checklists and navigation software. There will then be the opportunity to ask the guides any questions that you have, and to discuss the next steps in your winter backcountry education.

The Wasatch Range is sculpted by glaciers, and receives heavy falls of snow in the winter, creating a very dramatic and impressive landscape. Due to its location, the range has low relative humidity during the winter months, giving the snow a dry, powdery texture which most of the local ski resorts call ‘the greatest snow on earth”. For the course we will be passing through Guardsman Pass trailhead, a high mountain pass in the Wasatch Range and into Big Cottonwood Canyon. Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons have some of the easiest to access backcountry skiing in the country, with world-class terrain just minutes from the parking lot. This area is an environment that truly has it all - valleys filled with trees that lead up to impressive peaks and rock formations, and snowy classrooms that are an incredible place for backcountry education!