avalanche vs. backcountry skiing course

???
I'm a long time alpine skier recently bitten by the backcountry bug and am interested in taking either the Avalanche Level 1 or Backcountry skiing/travel type course (similar to one offered by WAC).

Does anyone have any advice as to which type of course would be more valuable for someone at my stage (strong skiing skills but limited backcountry experience)? 

I don't want to discount the importance of avalanche safety but know that some of this is covered in most backcountry classes...along with more diverse skills and trip planning elements. Is this topic covered enough? Would a more general backcountry ski/travel course be too general?

Any thoughts or suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Chris

I've  taken both Gary Brill's and the Mountaineers (Gary Haugen's) avalanche level 1 courses. 

The mountaineers course had three excellent 2 hour lectures and two really well put together field days that included some touring and particularly useful a multiple burial practice scenerio.

The WAC backcounty travel class has one in town lecture -- but the field days are a whole weekend based out of the Guye cabin -- so I think there is plenty of study and lecture time.

In addition the WAC backcountry class covers many of the additional skills you'll want to have: routefinding, skiing on funky snow, winter camping.

www.wacweb.org/Classes/BackcountryClass/default.view

The mountaineers also offer as a compainion to their avalanche level I course what they call their "Ski mountaineering Course"  -- this course covers the above skills, but also includes glacier travel and rescue skills -- So you get to practice prussiking out of a crevasse with your skis.

I took this multi-day intensive course a few years back and highly recommend it. It is on-mountain, four Sundays in a row (lots of time to think, plan and absorb between tours) and looks at all aspects of safe and efficient bc day touring.

There are several other regulars here who have also taken the class and are very pleased with the results.

Pro Guiding defintely jumps right into it, assuming you've got the skiing skills and physical ability to function in the bc. No patty-caking or hand-holding here, so it's best to have a practise day or two with your equipment already under your belt. A list of requisite gear is provided by the instructor/guide or online as I recall. The course(s) seems spendy on paper, but once you get into it and see all that is offered, including four guided tours, and excellent in-field avalanche education etc., it is a great deal.

Thanks for the feedback. I did see the Pro Guiding course the other week but unfortunately have an unavoidable conflict on two of the Sundays.

From the description and agenda, the WAC Backcountry Travel course (www.wacweb.org/Classes/backcountryclass/default.view) looks interesting as does the Mountaineers weekend Rando/Tele course in Mt Baker (www.mountaineers.org/source/aTrips/viewT...ent=13426&source=pop).

Has anyone attended either of these and have any feedback they can share? Are there others in the area that should also be considered?

Thanks!
Chris

I haven't taken any WAC courses, but I did take both the Pro Guiding intro to ski touring and Pro Guiding level 1 avalanche course.

Regardless of anything else, I would encourage you to take an level 1 avalanche course. Intro to ski touring is a great and very useful class, but an avalanche course is a necessity (especially this season).

i've taken both, and found both extremely useful. there will be some overlap btw the wac class and avy 1, but not that much.

gotta say though that after taking gary brill's avy 1 class, i got so spooked, i had to take the avy 2 class at crystal to recover

I would recommend the Mountaineers Backcountry Ski/Snowboard Mountaineering Course. It is a great class and it encompasses both Avy 1 certification and backcountry travel. Jerry White leads the class and it is very informative and the lecturers have a huge amount of experience and knowledge.

After you take a class, find a group to tour with and start practicing what you have learned. It is amazing how much more you will learn once you get out there and start using the info from the classes.

Good Luck!

You can also check out Mountain Madness's Avalanche level 1 and Intro to Touring 3 day course. Very similar to Pro guiding. It covers the Level 1 with a Friday evening lecture and 2 full field days at Stevens with a Saturday afternoon lecture. Sunday evening they cover tour planning and do another day in the field to cover the ski touring. Not a bad option if you are looking to kill two birds with one stone. www.mountainmadness.com.

Thanks for the feedback re: Mountain Madness. I've actually been looking very closely at their intro to touring course you referenced below. It seems like a great way to cover a lot of information which you could obviously build from through experience and additional sessions like a dedicated avalanche class.

Thanks,
Chris

i've taken both, and found both extremely useful. there will be some overlap btw the wac class and avy 1, but not that much.

gotta say though that after taking gary brill's avy 1 class, i got so spooked, i had to take the avy 2 class at crystal to recover

Now, ema. I assume what scared you were the case studies. After all, they are, er....case studies. In the long run, pretty much anything that can happen will happen....with enough exposure.

Notice that old "Neverslides" near Granite on I 90 did slide this week.