What you get in this adventure: An experienced, certified guide with extensive knowledge of the area An introductory classroom session Three days (a total of 24 hours) in the field The opportunity to ski or ride out with your instructor at the end of the day What’s not included: Technical backcountry ski touring equipment (can be rented from your guide) Accommodation (available at your guide’s Bunkhouse for a discounted price of $20 per night) Food and snacks Transportation to Glen, NH

What equipment do I need to bring?

For technical backcountry ski touring gear, you will need to bring: Alpine touring skis, telemark skis, or splitboard with skins (can be rented) Touring boots and poles (can be rented) Avalanche safety equipment (can be rented): Digital, 3-antenna avalanche transceiver or beacon Lightweight snow shovel Avalanche probe For personal items, we recommend bringing: Helmet Sunglasses or ski goggles Gloves and hat Wind and waterproof shell jacket with hood (Gore-Tex recommended) Ski pants (Gore-Tex recommended) Down jacket or vest Synthetic or wool base layers, underwear and socks One triple-action locking carabiner or two conventional locking carabiners Repair kit and Leatherman for your equipment (can be shared between several people) Water bottle and 1L of water Thermos with a warm beverage — optional Food you can eat on-the-go First-aid kit Sunscreen Daypack large enough to carry all items listed (around a 30-40L backpack) Camera — optional

Guided AIARE Level 2 Course in New Hampshire

Top three reasons to upgrade your skills in New Hampshire

Relax and ride some of the finest dry powder in your off-time
The choice of routes in New Hampshire is abundant
Learn to read the snowpack, interpret weather reports and lead a small team in a crisis situation

From mellow beginner-friendly rides to steep and challenging chutes, backcountry skiing in New Hampshire is full of variety. Its often underrated but nonetheless stunning backcountry is a world-class destination — everyone will find a slope they’ll love. However, there’s a degree of risk to braving New Hampshire’s scenic slopes. Avalanches come fast and without warning, and even if you have your avalanche safety fundamentals down, It never hurts to know more about keeping safe in life-or-death situations. This is why you should take the AIARE Avalanche Safety Level 2 course to up your safety game. Refresh old knowledge and master advanced techniques and use this winter to become a safer and more self-assured backcountry adventurer!

Season February	Nearest city Portland, ME, is just 2 hours away from Glen, NH
Duration 3 days	Skill level Intermediate to advanced

Book this adventure

Push your avalanche safety knowledge to the next level with this Level 2 course in New Hampshire. This course builds upon the introductory AIARE Level 1 course, giving you an opportunity to advance your decision-making ability in more complicated situations. Your certified instructor will make sure you master skills such as being a leader within a small travel group, traveling in more complicated terrain, and developing a travel plan where online resources are scarce.

Learning outcomes

This course was designed to build upon the introductory avalanche hazard management model introduced in the AIARE 1 course, adding to it the evaluation of critical hazard assessment factors. Among other things, you will learn about:

the changing mountain snowpack
layers of the snowpack
mountain weather
observation skills
interpretation of weather data, snow surface conditions, and snow profiles
how to apply observations to field decisions
how to properly communicate said observations.

Itinerary

Review your AIARE 1 skills, and learn about mountain weather and the layered mountain snowpack. Following a trip planning review, head to the field to learn about snow profiles.

Your instructor will teach you about avalanche formation and release, interpreting weather data, snow surface conditions, and snow profiles. Learn about craftsmanship, relevancy, and verification of snow observation and risk management in small groups. In the field, partake in a snowpack test.

Travel as a small team in the field. Learn about field risk management and during-action review, as well as communicating your observations to your group, other travelers, and local experts.

By the end of this course, you should be able to differentiate where specific avalanche hazards exist within the landscape and identify avalanche terrain with more severe consequences. You will demonstrate leadership skills that include facilitating small group discussion, promoting appropriate terrain selection, and utilizing simple risk management strategies, as well as implement a basic forecasting framework that can be used in conjunction with and in the absence of local supporting avalanche information.

Meet your guide

Northeast Mountaineering

AMGA Certified Guides

Northeast Mountaineering is a small group of highly trained and experienced guides with years of experience on rock, ice, and snow, from New England to Alaska to Yosemite, and Ecuador to Nepal. Despite their own personal ascents, they thrive on teaching their skills to others. Their programs are built on education, mentoring, and investing time and energy in the development of each skier and climber. At NEM you will get a relaxed and fun environment where you can reach your full potential.

Reviews (2)

Norris J. about Northeast Mountaineering

As a previous guide myself, I can tell you that these folks at NE Mountaineering have their instruction and teaching dialed. On day one we arrived at a fabulous classroom and the table was set(literally) for success. Every day we got a chance to not only learn in the classroom but take that outside the classroom to practice in real-time. Day 3 really put the icing on the cake for me when we were taken to a secret spot in the whites where we as guides lead a trip up and put all the information we learned that last couple of days together. Corey and Dave are superstars and wells of knowledge. I really enjoyed the small group learning and very interactive approach. They came prepared jazzed up and ready to send it every day. I will 110%be coming back for another Avalanche Rescue and Aiare 2 course.

Abigail M. about Northeast Mountaineering

I am so happy that I found this place. They are professionals, friendly and responsible. Best experience!

Things to know

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 New Hampshire, please refer to New Hampshire’s COVID-19 guidelines for out-of-state visitors.

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:

- An experienced, certified guide with extensive knowledge of the area
- An introductory classroom session
- Three days (a total of 24 hours) in the field
- The opportunity to ski or ride out with your instructor at the end of the day

What’s not included:

- Technical backcountry ski touring equipment (can be rented from your guide)
- Accommodation (available at your guide’s Bunkhouse for a discounted price of $20 per night)
- Food and snacks
- Transportation to Glen, NH

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.

For technical backcountry ski touring gear, you will need to bring:

- Alpine touring skis, telemark skis, or splitboard with skins (can be rented)
- Touring boots and poles (can be rented)
- Avalanche safety equipment (can be rented):
  - Digital, 3-antenna avalanche transceiver or beacon
  - Lightweight snow shovel
  - Avalanche probe

For personal items, we recommend bringing:

- Helmet
- Sunglasses or ski goggles
- Gloves and hat
- Wind and waterproof shell jacket with hood (Gore-Tex recommended)
- Ski pants (Gore-Tex recommended)
- Down jacket or vest
- Synthetic or wool base layers, underwear and socks
- One triple-action locking carabiner or two conventional locking carabiners
- Repair kit and Leatherman for your equipment (can be shared between several people)
- Water bottle and 1L of water
- Thermos with a warm beverage — optional
- Food you can eat on-the-go
- First-aid kit
- Sunscreen
- Daypack large enough to carry all items listed (around a 30-40L backpack)
- Camera — optional

All mandatory gear can be rented if you don’t have your own. You can rent:

- You can rent the beacon, shovel, and probe from your guide for a fee of $50
- Alpine touring or telemark skis, touring boots, and poles can be rented from your guide
- Splitboards can be rented from your guide

If you choose to rent from your guide, you will receive an exclusive discount of 50% on your beacon, probe, and shovel and an additional 20% discount on all rental equipment and clothing.
Ski rental locations are in Glen, NH, 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 pricing:

- This course is not private. The usual guest-to-guide ratio is 6:1.
- Cost is per person and it doesn’t decrease as the group grows.

AIARE courses in New Hampshire can be arranged for larger groups. Contact us to make arrangements.

Min. age requirements:

- If you are older than 18, you’re good to go.
- Minors may be permitted to join the course on a case-by-case basis.

If your group has skiers under the age of 18, contact us prior to booking to make arrangements.

To get to Glen, NH, the starting point for the course, most people fly into Portland International Jetport. From there, you can rent a car and take a 2-hour drive to Glen, or take a bus to Naples American Legion and take a taxi, which will take you around 2h15min total.

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’s Bunkhouse in Glen, NH, or a predetermined location. The guide will choose the appropriate terrain dependent on conditions and the ability of the group.

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