AIARE Level 1 Avalanche Course Jan 9-11, 2026 Hut Based La Grande

$800.00

What: New for this winter the WAC is teaming up with local outfitter Eagle Cap Mountain Guides to offer a hut-based AIARE Level 1 Course.  Participants will meet Friday at 8 am, and head into the Buck Creek Yurt after a quick breakfast and intro in town.  This course is a hybrid design with pre-course online learning that should take on average 8 hours to complete.  Students will also be required to participate in a 2-hour Zoom session approximately 1 week before the start of the two field sessions.  Pre-course online learning materials will be sent out a month before the course starts.

Where: The Wallowa Avalanche Center is offering the AIARE 1, on January 9-11, and will take place at the Buck Creek Yurt operated by Eagle Cap Mountain Guides.

Price Includes:

All Meals, Including Breakfast, Lunch, Hot Appetizers, Dinner
AIARE Certified Course Leader and Instructors
24-hour course with a 5:1 maximum ratio
AIARE field book
AIARE certificate of completion

Participants Must Have:

Digital avalanche transceiver, avalanche shovel, avalanche probe (Transceiver should be less than 7 years old)
Backpack (airbag pack optional)
Backcountry skis or splitboard, boots, poles, skins.

If you would refer to pay with a check, please email rex@wallowaavalanchecenter.org to be added to the course roster and mail a check to: WAC PO Box 324 Joseph, OR 97846.

For more information contact victor@wallowaavalanchecenter.org

Cancellation: We recommend you purchase trip insurance in the event you have to cancel your course.  If you need to cancel within 30 days of the start of the course you will not receive a refund.  Cancellations more than 30 days of the start of the course will receive a refund minus $50. 

3 in stock

Category:

Description

We are offering a 3-day hut-based AIARE Level 1 Course at the Buck Creek Hut operated by Eagle Cap Mountain Guides.

Who Should Take This Course:

The AIARE 1 is a three-day / 24-hour introduction to avalanche hazard management.

Students can expect to develop a good grounding in how to prepare for and carry out a backcountry trip, to understand basic decision-making while in the field, and to learn rescue techniques required to find and dig up a buried person (if an avalanche occurs and someone in the party is caught).

Who Should Take this Course

The AIARE 1 is for ANYONE, regardless of method of travel, who wants to recreate in or near avalanche terrain. Participants may have attended some awareness classes or workshops or completed the Avalanche Rescue course, but none are a prerequisite for this course.

Aspiring professionals will need to take the AIARE 1 and Avalanche Rescue as a prerequisite for the Pro 1 course.

Student Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the AIARE 1 course, the student should be able to:

  • Develop a plan for travel in avalanche terrain.
  • Demonstrate the ability to identify avalanche terrain.
  • Effectively use The AIARE Risk Management Framework to make terrain choices in a group setting.
  • Demonstrate effective companion rescue.

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