AIARE Level II is for experienced backcountry travelers looking to expand their decision-making skills needed to lead a small group. – skiers, snowshoers, climbers, or snowmobilers.

• Fitness, clothing, and equipment to ski or hike up to 8 miles round trip with a 10-pound pack. If skiing or riding, you should be advanced enough to ski ungroomed terrain at major northeast ski resorts.
• An AIARE Level I Course (strongly recommended) or equivalent Level I training.
• A winter of practical experience after the AIARE Level I course is highly recommended.

This course will utilize terrain in/around Gaspésie National Park

Acadia Mountain Guides is the longest standing avalanche education provider on the East Coast. Our team is led by IMFGA guide Jon Tierney who has been teaching avalanche courses since 1986. Many well known New England avalanche educators first started with an AMG course. See instructor bios below.

Participants receive a 20% discount on any avalanche related purchases made between registration and seven days after the course (15% thereafter for lifetime). Avalanche gear will be available for purchase at the course as well. (online at AlpenglowGear.com) 

Ski Clothing; (your normal backcountry skiing kit w/ added insulation for standing around and learning)

• Softshell jacket
• Softshell pants
• 1 mid-weight layer (regulator fleece)
• 1 light top or similar base layer
• Baselayers
• 2 pairs of ski socks
• Heavy gloves
• light gloves (softshell, wind stopper, or wool)
• Ski hat/helmet
• Down coat/puffy/insulation layer
• Goggles
• Sunglasses
• Balaclava 

Lunch Food, Snacks, and Drinks (as desired);

• Cliff bars/energy bars/energy gels
• Jerky
• Mixed nuts
• Chocolate
• Hot chocolate/tea/coffee/etc.

In the field

• Touring skis, poles, boots, split board, or snowshoes.
• Probe, transceiver, shovel
• Ski or Split-board skins
• Ski pack (30 L or bigger)
• Thermos
• Compass with baseplate
• Sunscreen/lip balm

Observation Equipment:

May also be purchased or rented from Alpenglow Adventure Sports at a 20% discount. Basic observation kit rental is included in tuition cost (cards, screen, thermometer, ruler, loupe)

• Field notebook – Specialized avalanche record book
• Pencil
• Snow saw or folding pruning saw (approx. 40 cm blade).
• Snow thermometer (graduated in degrees Celsius). Digital is more accurate but uses a battery.
• Crystal screen
• Snow pit cards
• Magnifying Loupe
• Folding ruler (graduated in centimeters required. 2-meter length recommended)
• Compass with an inclinometer (or bring separate inclinometer),
• Altimeter (recommended)
• Pocketknife

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

• Differentiate where specific avalanche hazards exist within the landscape and identify avalanche terrain where consequences may be more severe.
• Use and interpret weather, snow, and avalanche observations to locate appropriate terrain before entering and in the field.
• Demonstrate leadership skills within a small team that includes facilitating small group discussions, promoting appropriate terrain selection, and utilizing simple risk management strategies.
• Implement a basic forecasting framework that can be used in conjunction with and in the absence of local supporting avalanche information.

The following is a summary of the topics presented. The classroom presentations are mostly instructor-led presentations, and discussion is then reinforced by various videos and case studies – many of actual incidents.

• The Changing Mountain Snowpack
  • AIARE 1 Review
  • Mountain Weather
  • The Layered Mountain Snowpack
  • Trip Planning Review
  • Snow profiles in the Field
• Making Quality Observations
  • Avalanche Formation and Release
  • Interpreting Weather Data, Snow Surface Conditions, and Snow Profiles
  • Craftsmanship, Relevancy, and Verification of Snow Observations
  • Risk Management in Small Groups
  • Snowpack Test in the Field
• Applying Observations to Field Decisions
  • Traveling in the Field as a Small Team
  • Field Risk Management and During Action Review
  • Communicating Observations to our group, other travelers, and local experts

Each day we will choose appropriate ski objectives based on weather, snow and avalanche conditions, and personal interest.

• Day 1 – Travel Day (8:00 AM ~  4 – 5:00 PM): Rendevous at Acadia Mountain Guides office in Bangor, ME Introductions, complete registration paperwork. Carpooling opportunities (highly encouraged). Equipment Check. Travel to Gaspésie National Park (Approx 7hr travel time). Dinner will be served at the huts upon arrival.
  
• Day 2: Wake up, breakfast served. Review of AIARE Level I, introduction to mountain weather, review trip planning process, execute a short tour to introduce terrain and snow profiles to students. Return to the hut. Avalanche formation and releases. Dinner served, social time.
• Day 3: Wake up, breakfast served. Review of AIARE Avalanche Rescue, interpreting weather data, snow surface conditions, and snow profiles. Relevancy and verification of snow observations. Risk management in small groups. Execute snowpack test in the field. Return to the hut. Tour planning/Digital Mapping. Dinner served, work in small groups to build tour plans to be used over the remainder of the course.
• Day 4: Wake up, breakfast served. Execute a small group tour plan, practice proper travel techniques, make decisions as a small team, learn how to manage risk in the field. Return to the hut and end the day with a debrief.
• Day 5: Group Choice
• Day 6: Group Choice
• Day 7 – Travel Day (8:00 AM ~  4 – 5:00 PM): Wake up, breakfast served. Pack personal items, assist instructors/guides with hut clean up, and pack up. Begin travels back to Acadia Mountain Guides office or appropriate individual locations.

*Daily ski objectives are not stated to ensure the integrity of the learning experience and decision-making process, some of the commonly saught and skied objectives are listed below for you to explore.

Champs de Mars, The Hogs Back, Mont Lyall

**SEE SUGGESTED TEXT TO GAIN MORE INFORMATION ON THE REGION**

Lodging: Acadia Mountain Guides has been traveling to the Chic-Chocs for a few years now and we have found an incredible teaching environment at the Mont-Albert huts. Right in the heart of Gaspésie National Park, these wood-stove heated huts sleep 8 comfortably with ample room for drying equipment, cooking, eating, and a pleasant classroom. 

Huts are equipped with;

• Electricity
• Wood Stove
• 4 Bunk Beds (8 beds total) 

No one starts the day expecting to get hurt in the backcountry. However, despite all we know and all we do, accidents can still happen. At AMG, we take your medical care seriously. Like many guide services, our leaders are trained as Wilderness First Responders; many are WEMTs. Additionally, all our regular employees participate in periodic medical skills review with our owner Jon who is a flight paramedic and lead instructor in wilderness medicine. Additionally, on courses traveling to remote areas such as Katahdin, Chic-Chocs, or Mount Washington, you can expect our guides to have pain and sedation medications available if needed.

As we look forward to traveling to the Chic-Chocs we must keep in mind that travel has only recently begun between the borders of the US & Canada. 

All students will be required to have a vaccination as be able to provide that proof of vaccination upon registration as well as when entering Canada to access the Gaspesie National Park.

For more information and to read the requirements put forth by the Canadian government you can visit the link here; Canadian Covid Travel Requirements

AIARE courses are recognized across the country and are consistent with the international standards and recording methods. AIARE instructors participate in annual training and network continuously with each other to learn about the latest information in avalanche science. Courses flow sequentially regardless of where you take your class. AIARE courses teach you a way of thinking about snow travel rather than a protocol-based approach to learning. Save lives through education.

Please complete the following as pre-course work and be prepared to discuss in class.

On line learning:  Regardless of whether you are taking our Online Session or  not, The AIARE online learning component is great for getting a basic understanding of avalanche terrain, avalanche problems, and how to recognize suspect areas.  We strongly suggest looking at this in advance. Plan about 2 – 3 hours to work on the online content ahead of the class.

Download and begin reviewing The AIARE 1 Student Manual

Case Studies:

• If you are a skier/boarder, please read the Tunnel Creek Avalanche case study.
• If you are a climber or hiker, please look over the local case study from Tuckerman Ravine.
• Be prepared to chat the case studies:  What went wrong, could you see yourself making similar decisions, what may have changed the outcome?

Tour Planning:

• Tour planning is how you prepare to go into the backcountry.
• A tour plan is generated by using the avalanche bulletin, combined with maps (both hard copy and electronic versions) and a weather forecast to understand how the weather will influence your plan.
• It is easy to create reliable computer/phone-based tour plans to bring to the backcountry. You should always have a hard map and compass.
• Your tour plan should give you an idea of the vertical gain, the distance, compass bearings, run options, areas to be careful of. Attached is a sample tour plan template.
• Electronic tour planning is great, but you need to understand some basics as well. We will review tour planning basics in class but keep in mind it is not a navigation class. Please bring a compass, ideally with a base plate.
• We will be doing some sample tour planning during the course. It is helpful if you are able to bring a laptop computer.
• We suggest downloading the following programs and apps which are useful for digital mapping:

To your laptop: Caltopo
To your smartphone: the mapping apps Avensa, Caltopo, Gaia, and Windy for weather.

         Tour planning resources:

• https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=38.8,-98.4&z=5&b=mbt
• https://www.google.com/earth/
• https://www.gaiagps.com/
• https://www.stockalpine.com/posts/google-earth-gaia-gps.html
• http://www.mountainschoolnews.com/2010/04/route-planning-how-to.html

We seek to find the best snow and learning conditions possible for each course and to provide different venues for each field day. If we travel to the west side of Mount Washington a nominal parking fee may be charged at the Cog Railway base station parking area. Occasionally we utilize lift access at Wildcat to access terrain and this may require purchasing a single ride lift pass.

Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain, 3rd Edition. Bruce Tremper

• This edition features a wholly new chapter in which Bruce pulls all the pieces together to create an organized, step-by-step system for making decisions off, and on, the mountain.

Avalanche Essentials: A Step-by-Step System for Safety & Survival, Bruce Tremper

• This is the companion to Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain the bestselling avalanche text in the U.S – with easy-to-understand safety tips and checklists to help anyone stay safer in avalanche terrain. It is a small, take-along resource to reference in the field and assist decision-making. Winter athletes don’t necessarily want to be snow scientists but playing in avalanche country does require basic knowledge of the risks in order to stay safe.

Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman

• This book explores the ways we think and make decisions under pressure, we find it valuable as we are exploring the idea of leading a group or being an active part of the decision-making in the backcountry.

Snow, Weather, and Avalanches: Observational Guidelines for Avalanche Programs. (SWAG)

Chic-Chocs Backcountry Touring Guidebook

• The most comprenhensive guidebook to skiing in the Chic-Choc region, owned and used by all of our guide. Incredibly useful for beginning to understand the terrain you will be learning/travelling in.

*Purchase at ALPENGLOWGEAR.COM see course confirmation for Acadia Mountain Guides client discount code