AST 2 Next Steps

Now that you have completed your AST 2 course it’s time to think about how to put your new skills to use. Here is some advice on what you need to do to keep learning about being safe in avalanche terrain.

Learning resources

Use the following resources to help you learn more about avalanches and local tours:

  • Textbook: Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain by Bruce Tremper

  • Explore the Learn and Resources tabs on the avalanche.ca website and the menu items on the Mountain Weather Forecast on the same website

  • Use the National Park Mountain Safety website for ATES ratings and more.

  • The Ski Touring in Rogers Pass page on the Glacier National Park website has information specific to touring there, including a Terrain Atlas with photos of the touring areas.

  • Guidebooks: Alpine Ski Tours in the Canadian Rockies by Chic Scott and Mark Klassen (hard to find at the moment!); Confessions of a Ski Bum guidebook series; Rogers Pass guidebooks.

  • Maps: Wapta Icefields and Bow Summit by Mark Klassen, TJ Neault, and Chic Scott is a touring-specific map. Maps for other areas available at local outdoor shops.

  • Manufacturer’s websites should have downloads available for your transceiver manual.

  • The Rescue at Cherry Bowl story at avalanche.ca is well worth having a look at.

Safety Equipment

Here is a list of the safety equipment you should consider carrying:

  • Shovel: consider one that can be switched to “hoe” mode

  • Probe: minimum 3m length

  • Transceiver: I recommend one that has a “persistent” marking function and auto-revert to send mode. “Backup” mode (Black Diamond/Pieps) / “Rescue Send” mode (Mammut Barryvox) is also helpful.

  • Garmin InReach emergency satellite messenger. Less expensive options are available, for example at MEC.

  • Headlamp.

  • Ruler.

  • Thermometer.

  • Snow saw and ECT cord.

  • Repair kit.

  • First aid kit.

  • Heat blanket.

  • Air mattress.

  • Emergency shelter/toboggan.

Practice your Skills

It’s extremely important to continue to do additional self-directed training:

  • Practice your avalanche rescue skills

    • Read the manual for your transceiver and learn how all its functions work.

    • Practice with your transceiver and be able to find two burials in 4 minutes or less, in an area 100 m x 100 m, starting with your transceiver in its harness with your outer clothing zipped up.

    • Practice getting your probe out of the pack and assembled with your pack back on in 15 seconds.

    • Practice systematic probing technique. Have someone bury a backpack as deeply as possible and get them to mark a spot to begin probing 1 to 3 m away from where the pack is buried.

    • Practice getting your shovel out of your pack and assembled with your pack back on in 15 seconds.

    • Practice conveyer belt shovelling with at least 2 other people in a hardened snowback. Dig a hole 1.5 m deep x 2 m wide.

    • Put all this training together in a scenario with 2 transceivers buried in packs as deeply as possible in a 100 m x 100 m area. Start with working in a group of 2-4 others but also work your way towards doing it all yourself. Try to find both and uncover at least one within 10 minutes.

  • Practice your downhill riding skills. This is a fun one. Make sure you are comfortable in different snow conditions and terrain like you would find in the backcountry. Being a competent rider means you are safer in the backcountry because you have less chance of triggering an avalanche if you don’t fall while riding, a better chance of escaping an avalanche if you trigger one, and are able to respond more quickly to help a friend caught in an avalanche.

  • Practice your uphill touring skills. Get familiar with putting skins on and taking them off and practice doing that as quickly as possible so you can respond to an avalanche incident fast. Be able to transition in under 2 minutes. Get fit for walking uphill so you can respond quickly if necessary. Good places to do this safely are the ski outs at Sunshine or Lake Louise.

continue record keeping using your field book

It’s important to use your field book every time you go out to support your decision making. The field book creates a framework for making safe decisions. Use it in the morning to create a plan and continue to use it in the field to record your observations. Let it help direct your communications between members of your group.

Use the Avaluator

Although we may not use the Avaluator a lot on the course it should continue to be an important tool for you. The Slope Evaluator is especially helpful to ensure you consider all the important criteria required for a safe decision in the field. This card should also help direct your communications between members of your group.

Find a mentor

Gaining experience is an important next step but doing so safely can be tricky. It is important that you find someone to learn from in the field. Hopefully this person will have more training and experience than you do. Ski patrollers, guides, or guides in training with professional level training would be best. Or someone who has been traveling in the mountains a lot even if they don’t have a higher level of training.

find a group

It is also important that you find a group with a similar attitude and risk tolerance as you. Don’t go skiing with just anyone. Make sure they are compatible with your approach.

tours

Once you get these skills dialled get out on some tours.

Consider tours in Class 2 (Challenging) Terrain before getting into Class 3 (Complex) Terrain.

  • Your first tours in higher risk terrain should be with people more experienced than you, who you know and trust. Not some random person you met in the bar who said they had lots of experience!

  • Not all Class 2 Terrain is the same. Some trips are more straightforward than others. Some good Class 2 Terrain to start on would be:

    • Healey Pass from Sunshine parking lot

    • Crowfoot Trees

    • The lower west facing slopes on Observation Peak

    • The lower trees and runouts in the West Nile area

    • OXO Peak (also known as Puzzle Peak)

    • Wolverine Valley/Wolverine Bowl

  • Some advanced Class 3 tours to start on could be:

    • Chickadee Valley

    • Emerald Slide Path

    • Pulpit 1

    • Bow Hut approach

    • Little Crowfoot Peak (you need glacier experience)

    • Peyto Hut approach (you need glacier experience)

  • For poor conditions you should consider Class 1 (Simple) tours:

    • Sunshine Meadows behind the top of Standish Lift.

    • The firebreak near the summit of Vermilion Pass (Highway 93 S), on the south side of the highway.

    • The firebreak above the Great Divide Trail. Start at the Lake O’Hara parking lot and head east on the trail.

    • The “Simple” lines at Bow Summit as described in the guidebooks (not all skiing around Bow Summit is Simple Terrain).

    • Boulder/Deception Passes.

Further related training

The following are courses you should consider taking to help you learn about some other aspects of backcountry travel. BanffLife/MountainLife offers these types of courses.

  • First aid

  • Navigation

  • Weather

  • Advanced Companion Avalanche Rescue

  • Crevasse Rescue

  • Glacier Travel

Other advanced avalanche training

After the AST 2 there are no more formal recreational avalanche training programmes. The Canadian Avalanche Association offers professional level courses but these are not recommended unless the student wants to work in the industry (EG ski patrol). A more effective way for recreationalists to learn more is to organize a group and hire a guide to put together a training programme that includes touring in more challenging terrain and conditions.

FOLLOW: