Avalanche Terrain Avoidance

*** TO REGISTER FOR THIS COURSE, YOU MUST FIRST COMPLETE THE REGISTRATION QUESTIONNAIRE AND SUBMIT IT TO THE COURSE DIRECTOR.  YOU CAN ACCESS THE QUESTIONNAIRE AND SUBMITTAL INFORMATION BY CLICKING THE BLUE 'APPLY' BUTTON ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THIS PAGE.  THANK YOU. ***

This is the 2024 NoCo ATA Classroom Session on the evening of Tuesday, December 10.  This Session is a pre-requisite for optional free NoCo ATA Field trips, which participants may sign up for separately, and where the concepts presented in the Classroom Session will be further reviewed. 

The Classroom fee will be waived for active Northern Colorado Trip Leaders.

The Classroom Session will include a slideshow presentation, group discussions, and a route planning exercise.  Specific topics will include:

• Overview of avalanche occurrence with a focus on Colorado

• Causes, types & characteristics of avalanches

• Nature of the risks

• Factors affecting avalanche risk (slope, terrain, temperature, wind, cornices, tree density, human factors)

• Recognizing and avoiding potential avalanche terrain (route selection and slope angle measurements)

• Internet resources for planning such as the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) website and ratings, snowfall data, NWS forecasts, and Caltopo as a mapping & general terrain evaluation tool.

This course will not include training for travel within avalanche terrain or search and rescue techniques covered in more comprehensive courses (e.g., AIARE 1).