Online Education Resources
We are all passionate about skiing and snowboarding, especially the sensation of floating down a powder-covered mountainside. But when you leave groomed slopes to drop your skis into the powder, hike into the backcountry or go out a backcountry gate, you are entering a world where education, equipment and proper decision-making can literally make the difference between life and death.
There are a wealth of educational tools for skiers and snowboarders through a variety of providers. Education ranges from simple but informative online programs like Know Before You Go.
Members of U.S. Ski & Snowboard can take advantage of the organization’s online learning systems, with completion of online courses required for all members 18 and older, as well as for coaches as a part of Level 100 certification.
Your personal safety, and that of others in the backcountry with you, is contingent on your avalanche safety education, your equipment and your decision-making.
Be safe!
Know Before You Go is a free avalanche awareness program. Not much science, no warnings to stay out of the mountains, no formulas to memorize. In 1 hour, you will see the destructive power of avalanches, understand when and why they happen, and how you can have fun in the mountains and avoid avalanches.
Avalanche.org offers tutorials to get you started or refresh your knowledge on what an avalanche is and how to stay safe in avalanche terrain. You can also find resources for finding a course and finding your local forcasting centers.
Avy Savvy is designed to be a precursor to the Avalanche Canada Training program. Those of you who have taken an Avalanche Skills Training (AST) course will find this tutorial a useful refresher.
Learn the basic functions of an avalanche transceiver as well as precautions that skiers and snowboarders should take when travelling in backcountry terrain. Check out BCA’s blog and Beacon Traing Videos!
U.S. Ski & Snowboard, in concert with BRASS Avalanche and the Utah Avalanche Center, has developed an online learning system to provide its members with basic introductory information on avalanche safety. A basic course is required for all members 18 and older. A more detailed curriculum is required for coaches as a part of Level 100 certification.