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North Lake Tahoe AIARE 2

aiare course in lake tahoe taught by Tahoe avalanche instructors

North Lake Tahoe AIARE 2

$695 Midweek
Per Person
$745Weekends
Per Person
Intermediate 3 Days / 24 Hours Lake Tahoe, CA
Historically, the AIARE 2 has been the entry-level professional course for ski guides, patrollers, and forecasters. Recently, the course has been redesigned for advanced recreational students who are looking to advance their decision-making skills in more complex avalanche terrain and situations. This is an intermediate-level backcountry course: please see the preparation section before reserving. This course takes place in North Lake Tahoe. It is also available in South Lake Tahoe, see here for details.
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aiare course in lake tahoe taught by Tahoe avalanche instructors

This AIARE 2 course, located in North Lake Tahoe, is a three day course that provides skiers and riders an opportunity to advance their decision making skills in more complicated situations such as being a leader within a small travel group, traveling in more complex terrain, and touring in an area without an avalanche forecasting center.

Building on the AIARE Framework introduced in Level 1, the AIARE 2 course takes the Framework and teaches you to apply it to complex situations by assessing and evaluating critical hazard factors. Our Tahoe AIARE 2 students will discuss weather, snowpack, and avalanche processes, and identify how these processes relate to observations and travel within avalanche terrain.

Prerequisites

Students must have taken an AIARE 1 course as well as the AIARE Rescue course to qualify for this course. BC 1.0 + 5-10 days of touring experience OR 10+ days of individual touring experience is also required.

Technical

Must be an advanced-intermediate skier/rider that is competent on and off-piste in a variety of conditions. This is comparable to confidence on all blue and most black diamond runs at the resort (including ungroomed terrain).

Fitness

Excellent physical fitness is required. Skiers must be able to hike for many hours at a time while carrying a small pack.
Field Day 1
Review & Practice

8:00am: Gear up and meet at the office or the trailhead, hand out AIARE field books
8:00am – 8:30am: Morning hazard assessment meeting / trailhead transceiver function check
8:30am – 11:30am: Companion rescue review and practice (Single and Multiple Burial)
11:30am – 12:00pm: Transition to instructor-led tour to gather snow observations
12:00pm – 3:30pm: Instructor demo; review of seasonal snowpack; craftsmanship, relevancy, and verification of snow observations; snowpack tests in the field.
3:30pm – 4:00pm: Debrief field observations and return to trailhead. Post observations to the local avalanche center.

Field Day 2
Making Quality Observations

8:00am: Meet at trailhead
8:00am – 8:15am: Instructor/student-led morning hazard discussion (avalanches, snowpack, weather)
8:15am – 8:30am: Student-led trailhead transceiver function check
9:00am – 2:00pm: Instructor/student-led tour: track setting, terrain identification, snow profile (site selection; layer ID; hardness scale; grain ID; tests); snowpack structure; interpreting weather data, snow surface conditions, and snow profiles: metamorphism, sintering and bonding, persistent weak layers / facets, nsf, ncf, surface hoar
2:00pm – 2:30pm: Debrief observations in the field
2:30pm – 3:30pm: Return to trailhead
3:30pm – 4:00pm: Summarize conditions and post to the local avalanche center. Tour Planning homework.

Field Day 3
Applying Observations to Field Decisions

8:00am – 8:15am: Student-led morning hazard discussion (avalanches, snowpack, weather).
Review tour plan options from night before
8:15am – 8:30am: Student-led trailhead transceiver function check
9:00am – 2:00pm: Student-led tour: verify stability forecast; group management / terrain selection / travel techniques
2:00pm – 2:30pm: Debrief observations in the field
2:30pm – 3:30pm: Return to trailhead
3:30pm – 4:00pm: Summarize conditions and post to the local avalanche center. Course conclusion, collect rental gear, and next steps.

Our Tahoe AIARE 2 Instructors & Guides.

North Lake Tahoe AIARE 2 Course Questions

The answers to our most commonly asked questions about taking AIARE 2 in North Lake Tahoe.
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