AIARE Avalanche Rescue Course in Lake Tahoe

Student Learning Outcomes

At the end of the Avalanche Rescue course, students should be able to:

Describe what to do in the event of an avalanche incident.
Identify and be able to use gear necessary for avalanche rescue.
Set up a realistic scenario in order to practice an avalanche rescue response.
Improve response skills and times during and after the course with feedback from instructors and peers.
Develop a plan for continued practice.

Students will learn how to set up a quick, efficient rescue scenario to maintain skills after the course.

Students who have previously taken an AIARE 1 or an Avalanche Rescue Course will find value in having a professional mountain guide and AIARE instructor help them set up a realistic scenario, practice skills in a realistic setting, receive feedback from an instructor, keep up with current best practices, and have an opportunity to practice advanced rescue skills.

Who Should Take This Avalanche Rescue Course

Skiers and riders joining this course must be advanced-intermediate skiers or riders who have taken our Backcountry 1.0 course or have had 5-10 days in the backcountry. Skiers and riders must be competent on and off-piste in a variety of conditions. This is comparable to skiing confidently on all blue runs and most black runs in the resort (including ungroomed terrain). Skiers or riders 12-16 years old can join us with a parent. 16 years and over are able to join without accompaniment.

Avalanche Rescue Topics Covered:

Personal protective and avalanche rescue equipment.

Identify and familiarize students with the proper use of winter personal protective gear, avalanche rescue tools, and self-evacuation equipment.
Demonstrate and practice routines to check gear function.

Demonstrate avalanche rescue.

Introduce Avalanche Rescue Quick Reference tool and apply it to a scenario.
Breakdown and practice individuals skills of avalanche rescue: assessing the scene and taking leadership, using a transceiver, using a probe, and shoveling.

Single burial scenarios.

Learn to set up effective scenarios for practice.
Integrate individual skills into a rescue scenario.

Patient considerations and evacuation.

Identify potential patient care considerations resulting from avalanche burial or involvement.
Name equipment for self-evacuation and communication to outside resources.
Describe considerations when interfacing with Search and Rescue and Emergency Medical Services.

Scenario practice and feedback.

Integrate skills and receive feedback on rescue response from a professional.

Advanced topics – Covered depending on student need and interest.

Employ probing on a line with a partner to reduce search times and need for bracketing.
Apply foundational skills to multiple victim scenarios without close proximity burials.
Recognize challenges associated with deep burials.
Employ repeatable method (Micro-strip or 3-circle) for locating close-proximity multiple burials.

THE ALPENGLOW DIFFERENCE

As a Tahoe guiding company with countless expeditions to high-altitude peaks around the world over the last 15 years, we bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to our beloved home mountain. Our teaching and guiding philosophy has been honed from the flanks of the Himalayan giants to the technical peaks of Peru, and we are beyond excited to be able to bring our program to this fantastic mountain. In addition to our international expedition roots, we are accredited by the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA), being one of the very few guide services in the region to hold such a high standard. Each of our guides is trained by the AMGA in the terrain in which they operate, and the program is supervised by internationally licensed IFMGA mountain guides. This high standard, along with our many years of experience, translates to a fantastic mountain adventure!

Alpenglow Expeditions operates under special use permit with the Tahoe, Eldorado, Inyo, Humboldt-Toiyable and Shasta-Trinity National Forests. This institution is an equal opportunity provider.