We introduce a lot of people to the back country both in winter and in summer. Whether it is an Avalanche Skills Training One, a Mountain Skills Course, an Introduction to Rock Climbing or any of or many introductory courses and trips, we are very happy to play the role of giving you a solid start in the mountains by building a good foundation of skills. On many of our introductory courses the question that gets asked is “what next?”. The answer inevitably is “go and gain experience”. The business of learning about the mountains be it navigation, understanding the avalanche phenomenon, building good anchors, or whatever it is, is much more an experiential process than a book learning or classroom process. So the answer is always to go and get experience. So what form does that experience take? We recommend a range of activities. At one end of the spectrum is trips with friends who have the same skill level as you. The big plus for your learning on these trips is that in the absence of more experienced people on the trip you are forced to participate actively in decisions making. Ultimately that is what this game is all about: decision making. You can’t get good at it if you don’t engage in making decisions and living with the consequences of them. Next on the spectrum of learning opportunities is to do trips with more experienced friends. The advantage here of course is that you get to learn from those more experienced than yourself. The disadvantage is that people tend to defer to the more experienced members of the group. Our advice to you here is resist this and contribute to the decision making. Your point of view is of value and your learning will increase if you are actively involved. It is also worth noting that we have accident statistics that show that recreational groups of inexperienced people making decisions by consensus are safer than recreational groups that contain a de facto leader who is more experienced. Finally getting out on trips with professional guides is also a great way to learn. Don’t be fooled by the moniker “guided trip”. Our guides (and guides in this country in general) are accustomed to teaching as well as guiding and are typically very keen to make guided trips a fully educational experience. In fact the line between the two is so blurred at times that it would be hard to distinguish between a trip and a course. We encourage you to “pick your guide’s brain” on any trip you do. You’ll have a great learning experience that sets you up well for doing more trips on your own and ultimately leads you to your goals in the mountains.

Speaking of guided trips and courses, we still have a bunch of things happening this winter. Here are a few of them:

Glacier Skiing Course 25-26 February. With lift access at Whistler to start the trip we’ll get you into heavily glaciated terrain quickly to get straight to learning the skills needed to take your ski touring to the next level.

Avalanche Skills Training Two at Mount Cain 23-26 March. Takes your avalanche training to the next level at a legendary island location.

Ski Tour/Introduction to Winter Mountain Travel March 31/01 April. An island based ski tour for first time ski tourers or those with experience wanting to learn more from a professional guide.

Avalanche Skills Training One. Our last AST1’s of the season are running 3/4 March at Mount Cain (a bit of a drive but our favourite place to do these courses); and 10/11, 17/18 and 24/25 March at Mount Washington.

There is much more to tell you about but rather than list them all here we’ll suggest that you cruise around the site and see what interests you. Then get in touch and ask us questions. We’ll help steer you toward the trip or course that is best for you.

Hope to see you out in the mountains soon!

Jan