Backcountry Essentials Course

• A minimum of 2 participants needed, maximum of 8 (client to guide ratio max: 4:1)
• Difficulty: No backcountry experience necessary; intermediate to advanced downhill ski ability and good fitness required
• Meeting Time: Generally 8am
• Meeting Location: Big or Little Cottonwood Park and Ride Lot, Alta or Brighton, depending on objective. We may also meet in the Provo area mountains.
• We provide:
  • IFMGA or AMGA certified guides
  • Avalanche beacon, shovel, probe, and pack (if needed)
• What you need: you will be sent an equipment list once booked

Price per person:

• $550
• Minimum of 2 participants required

Max Client to Guide Ratio:

• 4:1
• We can book groups larger than four and will add an additional guide to the group, keeping max client to guide ratio 4:1.

• Getting to know our equipment
• Objectives for safe travel in avalanche terrain (terrain, terrain, terrain!)
• Current hazards (weather and avalanche forecast)
• Group capabilities and limitations
• Group travel procedures
• Beacon rescue
• Maximizing our efficiency on skins
• Kick turning skills and tricks
• Safety concerns whilst ascending a line
• Safety concerns whilst skiing/boarding a line
• Introduction to snow stability assessment techniques
• Picking suitable unguided tours
• Progression of tours to enable goals to be achieved

The difference between one day and two is not twice as much of the same thing. One day gets you moving — skins on, kick turns, a beacon search, a first tour with someone who knows the terrain. Two days gets you to the point where you can do it without us.

Day two is where snow stability, terrain selection, and trip planning stop being demonstrations and start being things you practice. By the end you will have picked a tour, assessed the hazard, travelled it as a group, and debriefed it — which is the actual skill.

If you are deciding between the two, the honest test is what you want by spring. If you want to find out whether touring is for you, take the one-day Introduction to Backcountry Skiing course. If you already know it is and you want to be out on your own safely this season, take this one.

A certified Avalanche Level 1 is two days plus an online module and a remote session, and it assumes you already tour. Plenty of people want to get into the backcountry safely and are not there yet — on experience, on budget, or on time.

This course is built for exactly that gap. You will come out understanding avalanche terrain, how to read the Utah Avalanche Center forecast, how to travel as a group, and how to run a beacon rescue — without needing a prior season of touring to keep up. It is also the best preparation there is for taking Avalanche Level 1 next season, and most of our students do exactly that.

Take the one-day course if you want to find out whether touring is for you. Take this one if you already know and you want to be out on your own safely this season. The second day is where planning and snow assessment become things you practice rather than watch.

No. This course is designed partly for people who are not ready for a certified avalanche course, whether on experience, budget, or time. It is also the best preparation for taking Avalanche Level 1 afterwards, and most of our students go on to do that.

No, and we want to be clear about it. Level 1 is a certified course delivered under American Avalanche Association standards and it comes with a certification. This does not. What it does is teach you the practical skills to tour safely, in a format that assumes you are starting from nothing.

We provide an avalanche beacon, shovel, probe, and pack if you need them. You bring a touring or splitboard setup with skins. If you do not own one, tell us when you book and we will point you toward a rental.

Yes. The curriculum covers splitboard transitions and technique alongside skis, and splitboarders are common on this course.

Good aerobic fitness over two consecutive days. You will be climbing under your own power for several hours each day with a pack. If you can hike uphill for a few hours and do it again the next morning, you are ready.

The course needs a minimum of two participants. If you are on your own, contact us — we can sometimes pair you with another booking, or arrange a private day.

We can do two consecutive days or split the days according to your schedule. Your course, your pace.

Typically December-April.

Avalanche Level 1 is the usual next step, and our Backcountry Ski Mentorship Program runs across a whole season if you want ongoing coaching rather than another course.

Introduction to Backcountry Skiing — before any avalanche course, if you are new to touring. We also have a more in-depth 2-day version of this course called, Backcountry Essentials (this course).

Avalanche Level 1 — terrain, snowpack, and decision-making. Our Level 1 also runs in the Provo area.

Avalanche Rescue  — a full day on rescue alone. No prerequisites, recommended annually, required for Pro 1.

Avalanche Level 2 — the next step in the recreational track.

Backcountry Ski Mentorship — for applying all of it across a season with a guide. Also available as a women’s program.