AST-1 AVALANCHE TRAINING COURSE
This weekend we took the AST-1 Avalanche Training course from Canada West Mountain School. It was a humbling experience. There are times when I think I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. This weekend was not one of those times. I was cold, tired, exhausted, and definitely not in good enough shape for the course. Somehow, I managed to complete both days and get the piece of paper that said I did it… but I wasn’t proud of how I performed. Anyway, I had a great time, met some great people and learned a heck of a lot. And had some nice powder lines 
Check out this HD video I put together of the full 2-day experience on Seymour and Whistler Blackcomb. I think it’ll give you a good idea of how fun the course was and all the different activities that we did… including snowboarding Again, above is a link to the HD Quality Video on Vimeo. If you’d like to download the full movie, you can find it here by right-clicking and save-as to download. Song is “The Adventure” by Angels & Airwaves.
The first day was up at Mount Seymour. We were given an assortment of equipment such as shovels, avalanche transceivers, probes, and snowshoes.
It was a gorgeous morning… freezing cold but we really lucked out with the early morning sun.
There were 8 of us in the group (only 5 pictured here)… a mix of snowboarders and skiers. A really nice group… everyone was really kind and patient.
My backpack was freaking heavy! I took all my camera equipment, plus the shovels/snowshoes/probe, plus a litre of water and with my board on it… wow! Too heavy for me. Allan took all the food and drinks so his was even heavier.
I was super stoked to get going, even though I didn’t really know what to expect!
My new friends on the mountain… also super stoked!
The snowshoes were easy enough to use but it was reaaaally tiring hiking with them for hours. I wasn’t in good enough shape and I was huffing and puffing up those hills.
We learned a lot about snow… from how terrain, wind, precipitation, and solar energy all affect the way the snow accumulates and behaves.
Lots of hiking. The skiers were much faster than us snowboarders! I loved Andrea and Michael’s boards!
We learned to interpret avalanche bulletins and signs, and find the optimal conditions for us to go out on backcountry trips.
We spent a lot of time working with transceivers… doing individual and group rescues with the beacons. We also spent time looking at different snow formations and terrain features, talking about avalanche safety and awareness.
The backcountry at Seymour was beautiful! Despite it being -19 degrees Celsius + wind it was incredible. Fresh snow, sun, and clear skies!
The Whiskey Jacks came out to join us, hopping on our heads, equipment, and various other things they could dig their claws into 
One Whiskey Jack in flight while his friend looks on.
Whiskey Jack on the top of a ski. (The orange tab is part of the skins used for climbing)
Day 2 we went to Whistler Blackcomb. We ended up taking the Jersey Cream chair up to Blackcomb and snowshoeing the rest of the way.
Blackcomb backcountry was really neat. We spent an hour or so digging profile pits, analyzing the layers and doing various stability tests.
I was really thankful for our guide, Bruce, from Canada West Mountain school who was extremely patient with me. Despite slowing down the group, I had a really amazing time and learned a ton. I’m really excited to get my own gear and head out into the backcountry! I hope you enjoyed the photos and the video and it gave you a good idea about what it would be like to take your own AST-1 Avalanche Training course
Now, we just have to recover. Both of us got a bad chill and cold from the weekend but Allan is really, really sick. Sucks.. so much snow and no snowboarding in the near future 
That’s okay though… Christmas is approaching!
Tags: Angels & Airwaves, AST-1, Avalanche training, backcountry, Blackcomb, Canada West Mountain School, course, Mount Seymour, probe, profile pits, shovel, snow, Snowboarding, snowshoes, The Adventure, transceiver, Whiskey Jack, Whistler
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December 22nd, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Almost looked like you were there to take pics rather than learning about avalanche.
From what I heard the top of Seymour the snow is pretty wind packed, you basically would only see ice. Not the type of terrain you’d want to ski/board down.
My instructor for my ASTI course was Bruce too, maybe we had the same instructor. How cool is that?
December 23rd, 2008 at 1:00 am
Those are some curious snow shoes you had on there Allie – I’m more used to the kind that Allan was sporting… Are they new tech or something, as they’re quite small-profile from what I’d expect.
Carrying your own water for backpacking is probably one of the heaviest things I can think of… I had to carry 2.5 litres when I was hiking through Manning Park, plus the campsite/food (60lbs all told), but I didn’t have to slog through snow though.
Does AST teach you search and rescue or were those only profile pits/probes?
December 23rd, 2008 at 8:39 am
Looks like a really useful days training, fun too.
December 23rd, 2008 at 8:44 am
Please excuse the rookie attempt to include an avatar above! I should have read the simple instructions.
Cheers
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:55 am
Great pics as always, sounds like it was a fun but challenging trip. Imagine being the guide and having to do it all the time?! Yikes..
December 23rd, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Awesome video Allie! They look great in HD. Good song too.
December 23rd, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Looks like you had a good course! We didn’t do as much snow pit stuff as you by the looks of it. Nice video! Can’t have been much fun lugging all that camera gear!
December 23rd, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Wow that looks great! How much does the course cost?
December 23rd, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Tawcan, hehe no I actually was learning a lot. It definitely looks like a lot of photos and videos but I really didn’t have much for 2 days of 8 hour sessions! Yeah it was pretty wind packed. We didn’t go all the way to the top… soooo cool if Bruce was our instructor! I bet it was the same guy. He’s been teaching for a long time. Did you ever find out if you friends went on the course on the same weekend?
Mike, yeah I think these ones are pretty “nice” ones.. you can get them from MEC. I found them to be really nice and light and effective. But I haven’t tried other ones… and yes, my backpack was so heavy. Water is heavy and so is camera equipment
Yep, we did group rescues and individual rescues with the beacons but I didn’t get any photos/videos of that since it was really involved and I didn’t have time to capture any footage. Plus that part is probably the most important part so I wanted to make sure I was paying attention.
Adam, hehe no worries, a lot of people do that but it looks like you’ve got your Gravatar now, woohoo! Nice one. And yep, the training was definitely useful.
Dan, thanks! Yeah I couldn’t imagine being the guide and doing that every weekend. Holy cow! I’d be exhausted. I guess you’d get used to it.
Shawn, thank ya!!!! I love Angels and Airwaves. I’m loving cutting together the HD videos so far. It’s just a little time consuming.
David, yeah it was great! Where did you do your course? And yep, the camera equipment was SUPER heavy. My back was done by the end of the weekend.
Karl, cheers! The course cost $225+GST Canadian from Canada West Mountain school. If you click the link at the top of the post it takes you directly to more info about the course.. tells you the exact costs, requirements, etc. Let me know if you go!
December 23rd, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Wicked video,Allie! Warren Miller inspired much??
December 23rd, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Nice! I just watched both your videos Allie, very fresh. Very Edgy. All your stuff look so pro-quality! What did you do your edits with? Merry X Mas!
December 24th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Dope video Allie and as always wicked photos
I was gonna take the course last year but work got in the way. This year same deal, how is the snow in Vancouver. I’m in NYC on business right now 
missing Vancouver. NYC is nice to visit but man the people are rude lol. Anyways, Merry Christmas Allie! Thanks for the support 
December 25th, 2008 at 7:21 am
I miss snowshoeing, with our weather we’ve been having I wish I owned a pair lol. Those are some great photos and wow on the video. I wish I could snowboard but I can’t with my knee
December 27th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
My friends went on their field trips the week before you. They ended up spending 2 days in Whistler b/c there wasn’t enough snow up in Seymour.
December 27th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Emily, thanks! What do you mean Warren Miller inspired? The music or the cuts or?
BBS Jared, thank you sir! I use Adobe Premiere Pro… and of course the footage is from my D90. Merry Christmas to the boys!
Urban Dweller, thanks so much UD. You should try and take it in the New Year! It is TOTALLY worth it. You’d love it. Although you’d probably charm all the ladies on the course. Snow in Vancouver is incredible this year. I had an EPIC day on Hemlock on Christmas Day… posting about it soon. Glad to hear you’re having fun in the Big Apple! I love New York on so many levels… Merry Christmas!
Kimm, sorry to hear about the knee and snowboarding, but yes, snowshoeing is always so fun! You can rent them for fairly cheap! Thanks for the kind comments.
Tawcan, ahhh darn, I just missed them I guess! Yes I’m glad we didn’t have to spend two days in Whistler. Would have been a lot more expensive and it was nice to get experience on both mountains. If they went last week, then that means I was in the classroom session with them….. (we went to the classroom session one week earlier).. what were their names?
January 6th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
[...] glad I took my AST-1 Avalanche Training course recently. This early season has had particularly unstable snowpack conditions leading to a bout of [...]
March 31st, 2009 at 3:30 pm
You sure had a great time
Congrats on the pictures, they are marvelous!