chris Posted March 15, 2004 Share Posted March 15, 2004 I just returned home from Bishop, California, where I completed an AIARE Level III course through the Sierra Mountain Center. It rocked. The course lasted four days: Day One (Thursday): Morning - light review and introduction, Afternoon - in the field, digging Full Pits Day Two (Friday): Morning - discussing tests and documentation strategies, Afternoon - ski tour, test pits, and turns on Table Mountain! Day Three (Saturday): Day - ski tour up Point Bardini, discussing travelling tests and determining the appropriate tests to perform, get some excellent turns down, and practice multiple burials (based on the AMGA ski mountaineers exam). Evening: review test pit documentation, plan following day's tour. Day Four (Sunday): Full day tour up to Mt. Morrison - Little Morrison Peak (M & M) Col. Originally planned to summit Mini-Moe, but were forced by warming snow conditions to return via our ascent route from the top of the Col. Wrapped up in the parking lot by preparing a Avalanche Hazard Forcast for the Eastern Sierra for the next three days. This course was awesome, and it was very much focused on applied avie science. It was also my first experience with the AIARE curriculum - before this, I've taken two Level I's and two more Level II's, from three different companies. For the uninitiated, the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education is a non-profit working toward establishing a national curriculum and materials for Avalanche Forecast and rescue training. According to their own research, the AIARE curriculum is used in about half of the avalanch training courses offered today. The Level III is focused for professional avalanche forcasters, ski patrollers, and guides. In our course, we had two forcasters, three patrollers, and two guides. A real strong group. The Sierra Mountain Center is a small company operating much like Pro Guides or the North Cascades Mountain Guides. Howie Schwartz was our lead instructor, and SP Parker assisted. Beers for them. Afterwards, I stuck around for three days and did three more tours with some friends from Mammoth. I came home with a new tan and a wealth of knowledge. Check these websites out: The Sierra Mountain Center at www.sierramountaincenter.com The American Institute for Avalanche Research and Training at www.avtraining.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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