Avalanche Courses
Play It Safe and Enjoy the Backcountry—Learn to Avoid Avalanches
Every year, avalanches are one of the leading causes of death among backcountry enthusiasts. Colorado consistently leads the nation in avalanche fatalities. If you plan on spending time in high, snowy country, be prepared.
- The Colorado Mountain School is Colorado’s largest climbing guide service and avalanche educator.
- Our instructors are trained by the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE) to teach Level 1 and 2 avalanche courses.
- Our guides and avalanche instructors each spend more than 300 days a year in the field—they understand snow from an academic and practical perspective.
Our avalanche program director, Bart Paull, has guided more than 3,000 days in diverse mountain terrain around the world and is an AMGA Certified Rock, Alpine and Ski Mountaineering Guide, a UIAGM Licensed Mountain Guide, and an AIARE Certified Avalanche Instructor. Our guides have more AMGA certifications than any other guide service in America. This level of training and certification assures you the highest level of safety and instruction.
Our Avalanche Education Courses…
Please Note:
Below is a list of all our avalanche focused courses. These preset date courses are offered at a discounted price. If you can’t take the course when it is offered, we can cover any of the material in any one of the courses on different days as a custom outing. Please click here for our custom guiding rates.
AVALANCHE COURSES
Free Avalanche Clinics
In this free clinic our expert guides give an introduction to how avalanches happen, what they look like, and how to avoid them. Our guides are American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE) trained to teach avalanche courses, and they also spend some 300 days a year in the field-they know snow from an academic and practical perspective, and they share their knowledge with you.
CMS Avalanche Awareness
This two-day course is an absolute must for snowshoers, backcountry skiers, snowboarders, snowmobilers, climbers, mountaineers … virtually anyone venturing into the backcountry. If you can’t take a Friday off from work, or want to refresh your skills, then this is the course for you.
Avalanche Skills Ski Tour
A full day in the mountains devoted to developing your knowledge base as a leader by practicing group management techniques and snowpack and terrain evaluation. This is a great refresher if you haven’t practiced your avalanche skills in a while, and we always get some great skiing in as well.
AIARE Level One
Learn how to travel in and around avalanche terrain. Gain insight into decision-making strategies, develop crucial planning and travel techniques, comprehensive rescue skills, and learn about the human factors involved in avalanches.
AIARE Level Two
This four-day course, held up in Rocky Mountain National Park, emphasizes field observations, documentation and the science of snow. You’ll learn advanced snow stability analysis, avalanche forecasting and how to observe and record weather, snowpack, and avalanche activity.
AIARE Level Three
The Level 3 course is an advanced certification course for experienced and professional avalanche practitioners, professional guides, patrollers and advanced recreational backcountry travelers.
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