Overview

Baker Mountain Guides AIARE Level 2 Avalanche Course is designed to improve student’s evaluation of critical avalanche hazard assessment factors. Our 3-day curriculum focuses on advanced observational techniques and prepares students to lead backcountry tours in more complicated terrain and snow conditions.

Baker Mountain Guides has customized the AIARE curriculum to provide practical field skills for the Pacific Northwest. Our instructors are passionate backcountry skiers and snowboarders who believe that avalanche education saves lives. These values are reflected in the quality of our AIARE Level 2 Avalanche Course.


Itinerary

Baker Mountain Guides offers scheduled AIARE Level 2
Avalanche Courses with both online and in-person classroom
sessions. Field sessions are in the Mount Baker Backcountry.


  • Pre-Req: AIARE Avalanche Rescue Course

    AIARE requires an approved avalanche rescue course prior to taking the AIARE Level 2. Students can expect to learn fundamental avalanche rescue skills for both single and multiple burials. Instructors will facilitate realistic practice scenarios and provide mentorship and feedback.


  • Day 1: Classroom Fundamentals

    The course will begin with 8 hours of lecture. Classroom sessions may be online or in-person. Online lectures are split into two sessions from 6:00 PM to 9:30 PM. Topics include weather, snowpack metamorphism, avalanche formation and release, and advanced observational techniques.


  • Day 2: Field Observations

    Your instructor will facilitate a trip planning exercise, and we’ll head into the field. Throughout our tour, we’ll focus on observational techniques with an emphasis on craftsmanship, relevancy, and verification. Our findings will inform our hazard assessment for the following day.


  • Day 3: Backcountry Tour

    Students will utilize their new knowledge to assess the avalanche hazard and plan a tour. In the field, we’ll focus on gathering quality observations, tracking spatial variability of the avalanche problems, managing risk as a team, and making great turns.


Interested in this course?

Northwest Avalanche School

The Northwest Avalanche School is the natural evolution of Baker Mountain Guides' avalanche education program and reflects our commitment to developing the best avalanche instructors, and therefore the best avalanche instruction in the Pacific Northwest. Baker Mountain Guides' AIARE Level 2 Avalanche Course is now branded as a Northwest Avalanche School program.

OUR STORY


Program Information

  • Season
  • January


  • Duration
  • 3 Days / 24 Hours


  • Locations
  • Mount Baker Backcountry


  • Max Ratio
  • 6 Students to 1 Instructor


  • Equipment

  • Schedule
  • 2023 - 2024 Winter Season


    Online Classroom Courses


    *Please select 1st field day when booking online

    • Evening Class: Jan 17 & 18 - Field: Jan 20 – 21 (FULL)

    Complete your pre-requisites


    Pair your AIARE Level 2 with an:

     

    AIARE Avalanche Rescue Course


  • Cost
  • $575 / Person

     

    Cost Includes

    • AIARE Level 2 Student Manual
    • AIARE Field Book
    • Backcountry Ski Map