Nested at the heart of the Rocky Mountain National Park, the town of Estes Park is one of the most popular locations in Colorado for folks looking to try out some legendary slopes. However, the slyest backcountry skiers never go there in the summer months. They wait for the winter, when they get to have the range’s deep, steep and untracked lines all to themselves. Seasoned and confident couloir hunters head to Dragon Tail to face its pucker-worthy steepness, while those looking for a more tranquil run choose the Hidden Valley, an abandoned ski park with mellow skinning and safe conditions. Estes Park’s abundance of complex terrain and its generally excellent snowfall conditions make it the perfect place to continue your avalanche safety education and up your backcountry game with an AIARE Level 2 avalanche safety course.
Upgrade your skills in over 265,000 acres of scenic skiable backcountry
Rise above Hidden Valley’s treeline for advanced backcountry education
Experience a usually crowded destination in the quieter winter months
Whether you’re a skier, rider, or winter alpinist who regularly travels in avalanche terrain, this three-day avalanche safety course is just what you need. The course is designed to help experienced backcountry adventurers gain the skills necessary to make decisions in complicated situations, such as leading a small travel group, traveling in challenging avalanche terrain or developing a travel plan without adequate resources. The course is also ideal for backcountry recreationalists or professionals looking to gain some experience before taking a Pro 1 course.
Join a zoom call with your guide. After a quick welcome, introduction, and L1 review, learn about mountain weather, the formation of new snow, layered snowpack, and trip planning using local avalanche bulletins. You will also have a beacon function, range check, and snow profile demo, as well as a PM meeting demo.
Learn about interpreting weather data, snow surface conditions, and snow profiles. Your guide will teach you about risk management for small groups, avalanche release, and snowpits. After a departure check, take part in a field session and learn about snow profiles and tests.
The entirety of day 3 will be spent on a ski tour in the field. After a beacon range check, learn about group management, communication, and human factors. Your guides will also explain terrain selection, travel techniques, gathering field obs, analyzing snow instability, and avalanche hazard. The final debrief will include an instability factor analysis and a review of field obs and human factors, as well as an examination of the times you were most at risk.
57hours is committed to providing safe outdoor adventure experiences. We require all guides using our platform to have a COVID-19 safety plan and to make the details of that plan accessible to travelers. In most cases, group sizes will be reduced, guides will avoid overcrowded locations, and other safety measures will be met depending on the location and activity.
We also expect clients to respect local regulations and take measures to protect themselves, their guides, and the communities they’re traveling to. For more information on COVID-19 measures in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, please refer to the state of Colorado’s official COVID-19 update website.
Please contact us if you have any questions or require further information. We are happy to provide you with the most up-to-date information!
What you get in this adventure:
What’s not included:
In order to get the most of this adventure, you need to have a moderate level of fitness. You will be on your feet for a full day. You will need to manage controlled descents in variable conditions. All participants should feel comfortable on challenging blue or black level resort runs and be able to carry a loaded daypack while skinning up variable degrees of terrain.
Prerequisites:
Participants must have the ability to travel in avalanche terrain. An AIARE 1 Course (strongly recommended) or equivalent Level 1 training is required. A winter of practical experience after the Level 1 course is highly recommended before taking the AIARE 2 course. AIARE or AAA-approved one-day Avalanche Rescue Course.
For technical backcountry ski touring gear, you will need to bring:
For personal items, we recommend bringing:
All mandatory gear can be rented if you don’t have your own. You can rent:
Ski rental locations are in Estes Park and should be picked up the night prior to your outing. If you need to rent gear, let us know and we can help make arrangements.
Group sizes and prices:
Ski touring in Rocky Mountain National Park can be arranged for larger groups. Contact us to make arrangements.
Min. age requirements:
To get to Estes Park in the Rocky Mountains, most people fly into Denver International Airport. Estes Park is 2 hours away from the airport, and you can rent a car, take a taxi or ride a shuttle there.
Once you and your guide agree on the details of your itinerary, your guide will suggest the best place to meet, whether that’s at the guide shop at Estes Park or a predetermined location. From there, you’ll head to your tour. The guide will choose the appropriate terrain dependent on conditions and the ski ability of the group.
Once the trip is confirmed by the guide, the cancellation policy stated below applies.
