One quick resource for locating a course is the list of all providers teaching courses on Mt. Washington.
At the opposite extreme, the National Ski Patrol ("NSP") offers many courses in many different parts of the Northeast. Most of the one-day awareness-level courses are held in the Mid-Atlantic states, far from real avalanche terrain . . . but close to where most people really live. (The one-day course can sometimes be combined with the weekend component of a full Level 1 course, so that the student does not have to commit to three-days straight.)
Each year NSP typically offers three Level 1 courses (in addition to the NSP course that is the subject of this website) that are held on a Friday-Saturday-Sunday schedule: one on Mt. Washington, one in Smuggler's Notch (including the actual geographical feature, not just the resort), and one at Whiteface (offering the only lift-accessed avalanche terrain in the Northeast). The every-other-year NSP Level 2 course is also held in odd years at Whiteface.
The Northeast also has many course providers whose instructors have met the standards for the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education ("AIARE"):
Eastern Mountain Sports ("EMS")
What are the differences between a three-day Level 1 course from NSP vs AIARE? In general, all Level 1 courses from both organizations meet the American Avalanche Association ("AAA") guidelines. More specifically, both of us have taken our formal avalanche training from a mix of NSP and AIARE providers, and have also gone through the instructor training for both NSP and AIARE. Based on this extensive basis for comparison, our definitive conclusion is that . . . it depends. That is, the differences within the courses of each organization are larger than the differences across the two organizations.
Note also that the AAA "strongly recommends" an awareness-level course before taking a Level 1 course. That reflects in part what we are trying to accomplish with this course: ensure that students arrive at the first day of the course with some avalanche awareness, instead of being totally new to the topic.
The approach taken to this issue by the prominent mountain guide Marc Chauvin is to offer mainly two-day awareness-level courses with a curriculum of his own design, drawing on his extensive educational background that includes being one of the key founders of AIARE, serving as an instructor/examiner for the American Mountain Guide Association ("AMGA"), and completing the Canadian Avalanche Association ("CAA") Professional Level 1 and 2 courses. (Avalanche education in Canada follows separate recreational and professional tracks: the CAA Pro Level 1 course is roughly equivalent to a U.S. Level 3 course, and the Pro Level 2 course is far beyond any formal training offered in the U.S. outside of primarily science-based university coursework.)
Four other certified mountain guides in the Northeast also offer awareness-level avalanche training:
Finally, if you don't see a published course date that fits your schedule, just contact a course provider for availability, then see if you can round up a few more interested people to form a course. You'll need only a small number of other people to make it cost-effective.
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