IMO, if you have any training at all and are already going out into the bc regularly and feel like you know a lot, then Avi I may bore you or enlighten you. if your "training" has come mostly from friends, then it's probably a good refresher coarse to take from professionals. however, you may already know most of the stuff. ??? but also learn a few things too. CAN Avi I is nothing to mess around with. it's a lot more intense than American Avi I, from what i've heard. there's only a couple of times to get Avi I around here too, but there are some more
Basic Avi workshops that cover almost everything similar to an Avi I. topics covered:
Note: This course is based on many of the concepts developed by Fesler and Fredston as presented in the book Snow Sense.
I. Types of Avalanches
II. Terms Associated with Avalanches
III. Terrain: Is the terrain capable of producing an avalanche?
a. Slope angle
b. Slope size
c. Slope shape
d. Vegetation
e. Slope aspect with respect to:
i. Sun
ii. Wind
f. Elevation
g. Using terrain for safe travel
I. Avalanche Physics 101
a. Balancing act between stress and strength
II. Weather ? Is the weather affecting the snow stability?
a. Precipitation
i. Amount
ii. Density
iii. Rate
iv. Type
b. Wind
i. Direction
ii. Velocity
iii. Duration
c. Temperature
III. Snowpack ? Could the snow slide?
a. Snowpack layers
i. Slab
ii. Weak layer
iii. Bed surface
b. How layers form
i. Slabs (wind, bonding, changing crystal types during storms)
ii. Weak layers
1. Depth hoar (thin snowpack and/or cold temperatures)
2. Surface hoar (cool, clear nights and calm winds)
3. Changes in crystal types during storms
c. Relationship between layers
d. Variations in the snowpack on a given slope
Decision-Making and Human Factors
I. Are you willing to make a prudent assessment of the avalanche danger?
II. Assessing the avalanche danger (gathering information and using it wisely!)
a. Subjective (What they say)
b. Objective (What you observe)
i. Recent avalanche activity
ii. Cracking and/or collapsing of the snowpack
iii. Stability tests
c. Assessment (What do you think?)
d. Plan (What are you going to do?)
III. The Ritual (Things to consider before playing on a given slope)
a. SOAP
b. Equipment
i. Avalanche transceiver (457 kHz)
ii. Shovel
iii. Probe poles
c. Avalanche eyeballs
d. Partner
e. Always think ?What if??
f. Only expose one person at a time!
Avalanche Rescue
I. What to do if you are caught in an avalanche
a. Fight!
b. Try to get off the slab
c. Swim, try to clear an air pocket, RELAX!
II. What to do if your partner is caught
a. Yell!
b. Last seen point, available resources, initial search
c. Transceiver search
d. Probing
this is all covered in the classroom. there's a field day included in this workshop where groups are formed and go hike around, talk about topics learned in class, dig many different pits, analyse the snowpack, and do a few beacon searches.
then there's also an Advanced workshop that gets into the science end of things plus some other factors to be aware of. they also have a field day session included where groups play out avalanche accident scenarios. some are dead against any sort of scenario because it doesn't even come close to the real situation if it were to ever occur. well, no sh*t, but it's still good practice and you almost always end up finding out different things that you could improve on for next time. just plain old beacon search practice is pretty useless, but still not totally useless. any practice can help, i think.
Option_ride,
i couldn't find jack squat on any avi edu in NM. looks like this is your best/closest bet right now:
http://www.silvertonavalancheschool.com/