4 DAY BACKCOUNTRY AVALANCHE SKILLS COURSE (ASC2)
Comprehensive backcountry avalanche skills course, includes NZ Mountain Safety Council avalanche qualification.
The 4 day Backcountry Avalanche Course also known as Avalanche Skills Course 2 (ASC2) is a comprehensive backcountry avalanche skills course. The 4 day Backcountry Avalanche Course is for recreational backcountry skiers and snow boarders. This course is the next step course is you have previously participated on an Avalanche Awareness Course or the Backcountry Travel Course.
As part of the course you will receive the New Zealand Mountain Safety Council MSC Backcountry Avalanche Certificate and Avalanche Transceiver Certificate of Competency.
Each day on the course we head into the mountains on a backcountry tour. Queenstown Mountain Guides philosophy is learning skills while moving through the backcountry and we will aim to cover as much terrain as possible as possible so participants can see how the skills they are learning are applied to mountain terrain. Participants will have the opportunity to practice skills for themselves while under the careful supervision of the guide.
The focus of this course is to teach participants avalanche skills & backcountry travel techniques – proper use of backcountry equipment, navigation & route planning, group management, route setting, assessing mountain terrain for safest routes of ascent & descent, & identifying mountain & snowpack areas of concern.
Participants on this course should be able to ski/ride off piste in a variety of conditions. Backcountry travel equipment is required for this course (touring skis or split board). See the equipment list for more details and where to rent gear if needed.
AVALANCHE SKILLS
- Introduction to the avalanche phenomenon – snowpack layering, triggers, avalanche types, avalanche sizes.
- Avalanche terrain – slope angles, aspects, altitude/elevation, trigger points, terrain traps, avalanche terrain exposure scale
- Conditions – Identifying signs of snow instability
- Decision making
- Safe travel techniques
- Route finding in avalanche terrain
- Rescue – Avalanche Transceivers, probing, shovelling technique
- Using maps to identify avalanche terrain
- Extended column test
- Compression test & deep tap test
- Quick “on the move” tests
SKI TOURING & SPLIT BOARDING SKILLS
- Proper use of backcountry equipment
- Route planning
- Navigation
- Assessing mountain terrain for safest route of ascent & descent
- Identifying mountain and snowpack areas of concern
- Efficient route setting in avalanche terrain
- Group management ascending and descending
LOCATION
Queenstown backcountry skiing areas – Remarkables, Cardrona, Pisa Range.
MEETING POINT & TIME
The Queenstown Mountain Guides office is located at Unit 403, 875 Frankton Rd in Queenstown. Please meet at our office at 8.00am on the first morning of the course.
ITINERARY
4 DAY BACKCOUNTRY AVALANCHE COURSE
GROUP COURSE DATES
- 20th – 23rd July 2024
This trip is available as a pre-organised group trip as well as for private bookings.
BOOK A GROUP TRIP
INCLUSIONS
TRIP NOTES
Experience required
This course is for skiers and snow boarders. Participants need the ability to ski/ride off piste in a variety of conditions.
Before the course commences we ask that you complete the online theory course. Please see the link below.
What to bring
- Food and snacks and enough water for each day. The amount of water you will require will depend on your personal hydration habits. As a guideline we recommend a minimum of 1 litre of water.
- A pack large enough to carry avalanche equipment as well as your spare clothing, food, and water.
- Warm clothing, windproof jacket and pants, warm gloves, sunglasses or goggles, and sunscreen.
- Ski touring equipment, split boarding set up, or board and snow shoes. See below for equipment hire.
- We highly recommend ski touring or split boarding crampons for ski touring in New Zealand. These are especially useful if you are a split boarder.
Clothing & equipment
Skiing & climbing in the New Zealand mountains requires that you have high quality equipment and clothing due to the extremes of weather we experience. Please ensure you look carefully at our equipment checklist.
It is important that you keep as close as possible to the equipment checklist. The focus is on ensuring that you have the equipment you need, but also on keeping your pack as light as possible.
Ski touring equipment and split boards can be hired from Small Planet Outdoors, 17 Shotover St, Queenstown. For snowboarders Queenstown Mountain Guides rents snow shoes for $20 per day that can be used as an alternative to a split board setup.
Guide to participant ratios
The maximum guide to participant ratio on our 4 day Backcountry Avalanche Course is 4 participants to 1 guide.
