AVALANCHE SKILLS TRAINING

Alpine Access Australia is an accredited Avalanche Canada AST Provider and we run AST1 courses in NSW and Victoria. Avalanche Canada sets the global standard for providing avalanche awareness programs. Participants acquire new skills and knowledge to help them keep safe in the backcountry. Yes avalanches do happen in Australia, and AST1 is also essential if you and your friends venture into the side or backcountry when skiing or snowboarding overseas. We believe learning should be stimulating and fun – our courses have an inclusive, communal vibe where you’ll be given the best chance of success in your future backcountry touring adventures.

STUDENT TO INSTRUCTOR RATIO STRICTLY 8:1 AS REQUIRED BY AVALANCHE CANADA

AST1 NSW click here

That’s a wrap for 2024! AST1 Course dates for 2025 will be released in March.

To book, click the green buttons NSW / VIC.

AST1 VIC click here

AST 1

AST1 is a two day course – 1 day in the classroom, and 1 day out in the backcountry.
What you will learn in an AST 1 course:

  • avalanche formation and release
  • identify avalanche terrain
  • the basics of trip planning
  • optimal use of tools and resources like the avalanche forecasts to mitigate your avalanche risk
  • use appropriate travel techniques in avalanche terrain
  • companion rescue using beacon, shovel, probe.

We also incorporate into the field day of our course an emphasis on backcountry touring technique, safe touring in the Australian backcountry and touring etiquette.

The participants on our courses are always a diverse group with one main thing in common, a passion for the mountains and a desire to learn the skills and knowledge to be safe in the backcountry. This makes for a fun, stimulating & challenging two days.

AST 2

Avalanche Canada’s AST 2 course is probably the best recreational course you will ever get to do! 4 days with an Avalanche Canada “Professional Member Level 2” Instructor.

In other alpine areas of the world this course comes into its own and we recommend doing your AST 2 as part of an overseas trip to Japan or North America where you will gain all the skills and experience in varied terrain and snowpack that this course is supposed to offer. If you would like information on AST2 course providers overseas please feel free to get in touch.

Avalanche Canada AST2:

An AST 2 course comprises a minimum of 9.5 hours of classroom instruction with a minimum of three days in the field. Participants should have completed AST1, have a minimum of 20 days of touring experience and moderate fitness (can tour uphill 1000m in a day). Curriculum includes:

  • Progressive planning and travel techniques required to travel safely through various types of terrain
  • Key techniques for using the danger rating on a local scale
  • Key techniques for applying the Avalanche Terrain Exposure Scale (ATES) technical model to develop personal, local terrain ratings.
  • How to proficiently carry out a companion rescue.
Tom Walmsley

Did my AST1 with Dave and Pieta last season. Luck really wasn’t on our side with the weather over the weekend but with Dave and Pietas experience they still managed to find us some protected pockets of fresh snow. We learnt so much from them about navigating the backcountry safely, I can’t speak highly enough about their skills, passion and expertise. Anyone thinking of spending time in the BC should get in touch with alpine access.

Silvie Drechsel
Just completed the two day AST1 course with Dave from Alpine Access Australia and was blown away with how it was delivered. The course was mainly theory on the first day and practical the second. Our group ranged in age broadly from 14yrs to early twenties and late 50’s and we all rated this course between 9.5-10 out of 10. I cannot recommend this course enough – it opened my eyes to the dangers in relation to backcountry. Dave also provided an insight into snow science as well as tips when out touring. The education, advice and the delivery was 10/10. Recommend.
Casey Dyke

My son and I did our AST1 with Dave and Pieta in 2020. For many years we’d blasted through Japans’ sidecountry with some risk awareness, but not enough. The skills, experience, stories and passion AAA bring is awesome ; the 2 days we did with them a gateway to becoming hooked on the human powered up. I’ve subsequently geeked out on the science and the gear and were it not for COVID I’d have done the advanced training they offer too (indeed I am signed up for this coming winter). Where I was a bit meh about the Australian winter, I now wait with anticipation to get out from the trailheads. I look forward to learning more from the team at AAA and applying that in the northern hemisphere once COVID finally sets us free.

Paul Pearce

I completed an Avalanche Skills Training level 1 course in 2013, organised by Dave and Pieta Herring, who I have skied with for twenty years. While I had been a backcountry skier for a few of these years, this course really improved my knowledge of the snow and the conditions that help make skiing safer.
Dave is a keen believer in snow safety and the avalanche safety courses are an integral part of his approach to introducing people to the pleasures and challenges of backcountry skiing. Having skied and trekked all over the main range, Dave knows most of the ‘nooks and crannies’ up there and as a guide or skiing companion I reckon he is second to none.

Graham Jones

Highly recommended! Like many of us, I had spent years traipsing around in the side and backcountry, both here in Australia and overseas, with little real understanding of the dynamics of snowpack and the terrain on which it sits.
After completing the two day AST level 1, I really saw the mountain in front of me through new eyes. Now my approach is more ordered, less hasty, and more analytical. Introducing better awareness and communication within the tour group has definitely made me feel able to plan a safe trip out into the backcountry, and a safe trip back down at the end of the day.
I would recommend doing the AST1 course with your touring partners, so that next time you hit the skin track, you are all seeing the mountain through those new eyes! So do yourself a favour, and book an AST1 course now!