M.A.S.T. Level 1 Courses
This is a two day on snow avalanche course designed for the motorized user. We offer the course in two forms. M.A.S.T 1 and M.A.S.T 1 plus. Our preferred course is M.A.S.T 1+ as we feel it is a better experience for our clients with more field time that allows us to better teach you how to apply the knowledge, helping you, the student, retain key skills.
M.A.S.T. Courses require a minimum of 5 students for custom bookings and a minimum of 6 students for private classes. If we travel outside of Revelstoke/ Sicamous, BC those minimum student numbers are subject to change.
LEVEL 1: CA$420 + GST / Student
M.A.S.T. Level 1 Course Schedule
Day 1
Class Instruction – 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Bring your coffee and get comfortable as we will be diving right into the course at 8:00 am sharp. The morning instruction will start with introductions, a broad overview of trip planning, avalanche terrain, terrain travel habits, avalanche rescue equipment and avalanche rescue techniques. At 11:30am we will plan on where we are riding for the day and meet in the staging area.
Field Instruction – 12:00 PM to 5:30 PM
With time being limited please show up to the course with your sleds fueled, gear, and food ready to make the move to the field for the afternoon portion of the course. Our afternoon will be taking us out into the mountains and starting with avalanche rescue equipment, then moving to avalanche rescue techniques and planning. You will be getting hands on instruction with your equipment and mock rescues. As we travel through the back country, we stop to point out key things such as avalanche terrain and instruct you on proper traveling habits in avalanche terrain.
Day 2
Class Instruction – 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM
8:00 am sharp, feel free to bring coffee and treats as we have a few hours of learning before we head back out into the field. The morning focus will start with teaching you how to identify avalanche terrain, give you a basic understanding about snowpack, travel in avalanche terrain, how to use the avalanche bulletin system, and cover a case study of past avalanche fatalities.
Field Instruction – 12:00 PM to 5:30 PM
Once again, with time being limited, please show up to the course with your sleds fueled, gear, and food ready to make the move to the field for the afternoon portion of the course. We will meet in the designated staging area, go through the avalanche bulletin, and discuss how to apply it to the afternoon, then head up the mountain using the knowledge taught in the class portion of the course. The focus of the afternoon is to help you learn the basic skills on how to apply the knowledge as we travel through avalanche terrain as a team. Working together we will use the snowpack knowledge taught in class to select a spot to dig in the snowpack to start you on the path of understanding how avalanches are created.