Date: Jan 18, 2024
Time: 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Category: Education
Avalanche Safety
Following up from Doug’s webinar for trip leaders, there will be evening classroom sessions for the AST 1 course for sections Jan 15 and 18. Your section members can still attend. Doug is currently working on the course curriculum that was presented at the webinar. I will be sending this out to sections once complete.
Here are the zoom links for the sessions (members should attend both sessions):
Session 1: Jan 15, 6:30 MST
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 810 1541 0364
Passcode: 399163
Session 2: Jan 18 6:30 MST
The Alpine Club of Canada is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 862 8473 7714
Passcode: 676533
If you are unsure what all this is, please a timeline description of this effort below:
Winter 2023: Some sections who have a hard time getting AST certified instructors asked that the national office support them to help train leaders. Both Avalanche Canada and the ACC have commented on the difficulty of providing avalanche safety courses beyond the boundaries of western Canada. There is no near-term solution coming from AvCan, but perhaps we can offer a “Triple AST” (Almost An AST course).
Spring 2023: The office responded by hiring avalanche expert and ski guide Doug Latimer to put together a course that defines what trip leaders need to present in the field. Then the trip leaders can teach the field day of this course. This is not a replacement for an AST nor is it a recognized AvCan course. It’s a chance to share avalanche skills and best practices.
November 14th 2023: Online webinar for trip leaders on how to deliver the field portion of the course.
January 15 and 18 2024: Doug presents the online portion of the course open to all section members.
Post January 18: Trip leaders from local sections take members out for the field portion of the course. Each section arranges their own dates for the field component of the course. Again, this is not a recognized AvCan course, but aims to help share knowledge and allow sections to practice avalanche skills.