Considering Colorado’s Estes Park is located on the front range of the mighty Rocky Mountains, it’s no surprise that the area boasts an endless amount of backcountry opportunities. The top-notch terrain on these serene off-piste playgrounds allow you to bolster your backcountry knowledge and become a more confident skier. However, it is also important to keep in mind that avalanches can occur out of nowhere and that they shouldn’t be taken lightly! This is why you need to be armed with a basic understanding of decision making in the field and valuable avalanche rescue techniques. No matter if you’re a skier, snowboarder, or you prefer strapping on a pair of snowshoes, let an expert guide show you what entails a safe backcountry trip—Estes Park is a perfect training ground to achieve just that. Your trips out of bounds will not only be safer, but also more enjoyable.
Build up your fundamental avalanche safety skills with this guided AIARE Level 1 Course in Estes Park! Learn all you need to know about hazard management in two online video conferences followed by two days in Estes Park’s true backcountry. Gain insight into what constitutes a safe backcountry trip and acquire a basic understanding of decision making in the field, as well as avalanche rescue techniques to locate and dig up a buried person.
57hours is committed to providing safe outdoor adventure experiences. We require all guides using our platform to have a COVID-19 safety plan and to make the details of that plan accessible to travelers. In most cases, group sizes will be reduced, guides will avoid overcrowded locations, and other safety measures will be met depending on the location and activity.
We also expect clients to respect local regulations and take measures to protect themselves, guides and the communities they’re traveling to. For more information on COVID-19 measures in Estes Park, Colorado, please refer to Colorado’s COVID-19 Travel Guidelines and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Please contact us if you have any questions or require further information. We are happy to provide you with the most up-to-date information!
What you get in this adventure:
What’s not included:
In order to get the most of this adventure, you need to have a moderate level of fitness. You will be on your feet for about 6 hours on both days while in the field. You will need to manage controlled descents in variable conditions. All participants should feel comfortable on challenging blue or black level resort runs and be able to carry a loaded daypack while skinning up variable degrees of terrain.
If you’re planning on taking the course on snowshoes, you don’t need any prior experience. If you’re joining this course on a ski or splitboard touring setup, you’ll need to be skiing or riding at an intermediate to advanced level and you have to have prior experience with ski touring so that you can focus on getting the most out of your avalanche training and not on your gear or movement.
For technical backcountry ski touring gear, you will need to bring:
For personal items, we recommend bringing:
All mandatory gear can be rented if you don’t have your own. You can rent:
Ski rental locations are in Boulder, CO, and should be picked up the night prior to your outing. If you need to rent gear, let us know and we can help make arrangements.
Group sizes and pricing:
AIARE Level 1 courses in Estes Park can be arranged for larger groups. Contact us to make arrangements.
Min. age requirements:
To get to Estes Park, most people fly into Denver International Airport 1.5 hours from Estes Park. From there, you can rent a car or take a shuttle service and a taxi.
Once you and your guide agree on the details of your itinerary, your guide will suggest the best place to meet, whether that’s at the guide shop or a predetermined location. The guide will choose the appropriate terrain dependent on conditions and the ability of the group.
For the online courses, your Colorado Mountain School account will be automatically created during registration. Video calls are held every Monday and Wednesday night the week prior to your field days.
Cancel within 48 hours of booking your trip for free, no questions asked. If you need to change your plans up to 31 days ahead of your scheduled adventure, we offer a full refund on most trips. Within 31 days we offer free date changes or the option to convert your booking to credit to use on any 57hours adventure at a later date.
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Took the hybrid AIARE 1 course with the field day being this past weekend. The online portion of the class was informative and thorough. I really enjoyed the ability to go at my own pace. Jason Antin was my guide. He taught us everything we needed to know to be empowered while exploring the backcountry. He kept our group empowered, but humble. Which let to a lot of learning and some great turns in some beautiful trees.