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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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What you get in this adventure:
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- 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:
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- 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
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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:
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- 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:
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- 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
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All mandatory gear can be rented if you don’t have your own. You can rent:
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- 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. -
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Group sizes and pricing:
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- 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:
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- 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.
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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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We highly recommend that you cover all your bases with insurance. To make your booking and traveling experience as carefree as possible, you’ll be offered to simply insure your trip with Redpoint at checkout.
Redpoint—the official 57hours insurance partner—tailors protection packages for adventure travel, offering a comprehensive travel program, even in remote locations! Trip cancellation, natural disasters, pandemic coverage, medical evacuation, primary medical expenses—regardless of the travel interruption that may happen, Redpoint will have you covered.
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