Backcountry Education

Backcountry Education

Our Backcountry Education camps go beyond skiing. These camps are focused on the skills that will give you another level of self sufficiency while travelling in the backcountry, and are often multi-disciplinary. The camps will open a whole new type of terrain on your map.

Navigation

We want to empower you by giving you the tools, skills and knowledge to know exactly where you are in the backcountry. This one-day navigation course will spend half of the day in the classroom familiarizing you to traditional navigation tools such as map and compass, as well as introduce you to important computer applications such as google earth, FATMAPS, and GAIA.

The second half of the day will be in the field using practical map reading skills, learning to take bearings, and navigating using your surroundings. By the end of this day, you should be able to look on a map and say yes, “I AM HERE”.

You will need to:

  • Bring a compass with mirror (like this one)

  • Download FATMAP and GAIA

  • Bring lots of warm waterproof clothing 

  • Bring a notebook and pencil 

  • Bring something hard to write on 

Dates

November 19, 2023 | $130

Ropes

This two-day course is for expert downhill skiers and riders who want to learn how to safely and efficiently travel on glaciated terrain, whether it be small-scale day trips or multi-day traverses. Your ACMG guide and tail guide will coach you through how and when to rope up on glaciers, procedures for rappelling into steeps, and guide scenarios to practice simple and advanced crevasse rescue techniques. A key component of this course will be terrain assessment, which means developing a deeper understanding of your gear, rescue procedures, and your dynamic surroundings.

DAY 1- Spend the morning deep diving into rope and rescue systems somewhere in town. We will be going over procedures for rappelling into steeps, building anchors and going over guide scenarios for simple and advanced crevasse rescue techniques.

DAY 2- Gear up and go out. We won’t be traveling to a glacier, but we will be putting our new skills into practice out in the field. These skills will include roping up to travel, reading terrain features and practicing building snow anchors.   

You are required to bring your own gear. We want you to be confident and efficient with your own tools. We will provide a list of what to bring so you don’t forget a thing! This camp is open to expert skiers who have at least 15 days of ski touring experience.

Please ensure you are comfortable with touring gear in advance to ensure that we can focus on improving our use of glacier travel equipment.

Expand your opportunity for backcountry travel during this two day course. In preparation, you will receive some reading materials and homework. Arriving prepared will ensure maximum time on snow and provide you with the opportunity to bring forward any questions you may have about the material.

Skill Level

Does this sound like you?

  • Expert skier in all terrain and conditions 

  • Desire to push your backcountry knowledge and experience in glaciated terrain

  • Proficient knowledge and use of backcountry equipment 

  • Strong base fitness level

  • Extensive experience touring and some backcountry trip experience


Dates
March 9-10, 2024 | $495