Teaching Avalanche Skills Training (AST) Courses

Teaching Avalanche Skills Training (AST) Courses

We often field inquiries on how to become an AST instructor. Below is some important information. 

The Avalanche Skills Training (AST) program is administered by the CAC. The AST curriculum was created and continues to be updated by the CAC. The CAC takes care of licensing AST instructors, communicating with AST instructors (via newsletters and emails) and shipping AST materials to instructors. The CAC licenses only CAA "Active" or "Professional" members, not organizations, to instruct AST.

The instructor will meet the following minimum requirements:

Avalanche Skills Training Level 1 course:

1. Be an “Active” member of the CAA
2. Successful completion of the CAA Industry Training Program (ITP) Avalanche Operations level 1 course (Ski, Snowmobile or Educators)

 Avalanche Skills Training Level 2 course:

1. Be a “Professional” member of the CAA
2. Successful completion of the CAA Industry Training Program (ITP) Avalanche Operations level 2 course (Ski  or Snowmobile)
3. Experience in teaching the Avalanche Skills Training Level 1 or the Introductory Recreational Avalanche Course curriculum, or an equivalent course
4. The instructor must have suitable training in instructional techniques and the knowledge, skill and experience to safely lead a group in terrain suitable for the Avalanche Skills Training Level 1 or Avalanche Skills Training Level 2 courses.

New requirements for AST instructors (2012-13) include:

1. New licensees to the AST program must have shadowed a minimum of one AST course with an experienced AST instructor. A referral letter/email from the mentor should accompany the license agreement.
2. All AST instructors must have liability insurance. To find out more about this, go to this link.

To learn more about CAA membership and access the application, go to: http://www.avalanche.ca/caa/members/join-the-caa.

Once you meet the pre-requisites, you will need to sign two (2) licenses. The AST license to use proprietary materials is a one-time license which stipulates use of the CAC materials. This license clarifies what the required materials are for AST 1 and 2 courses and clarifies how the materials are to be used. Anyone licensing to teach AST must have this license on file.

The other license is the AST license agreement which is signed annually. By signing this annually, the CAC is able to keep track of how many AST instructors are licensed for any given year.

 Required materials:

There are required materials to teach AST. These include:

1. Instructor Manual and companion CD (available for both AST 1 and AST 2).
2. Required student material includes certificates, waivers, Backcountry Avalanche Awareness book and Avaluator (for AST 1). There is no required student handbook for AST 2, however, Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain is highly recommended, as is the Decision Making in Avalanche Terrain fieldbook.

For more information, or to license, please contact Nancy Geismar at ngeismar@avalanche.ca.