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Avalanche Education

AMERICAN AVALANCHE ASSOCIATION

PRO TRAINING: PROGRESS REPORT

BY JAIME MUSNICKI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMERICAN AVALANCHE ASSOCIATION

THIS FALL WILL BE THREE YEARS since the American Avalanche to help our industry continue to improve on our collective
Association (AAA) hosted an informal avalanche education professionalism. The AAA’s program complements in-house
summit in Alta, Utah, on Halloween 2013 (see The Avalanche training opportunities, specific on-the-job experience, ongo-
Review 32.2, December 2013, p. 6). This meeting brought ing professional mentorship, and other sources of continuing
together representatives from across the avalanche industry professional development. It is important to note that the Pro
to discuss the state of avalanche education opportunities for Training Program does not seek to replace these other integral
both professionals and recreationists in the United States. As pieces of the professional avalanche training puzzle but to work
a direct response to this initial meeting, the AAA has invested in a collaborative, complementary manner to increase the over-
countless hours and tens of thousands of dollars into develop- all effectiveness of all training for avalanche professionals.
ing the AAA Pro Training Program. The collaborative effort The coming winter will be a season of preparation and
to develop and refine the Pro Training Program has engaged transition. The new pro courses will be offered for the first
avalanche course providers, their instructors, and myriad time in the 2017-18 season. We have finalized nearly all the
other avalanche professionals details of the Pro Training
from across the industry and Program—course skills and
around the country. THE PRO TRAINING PROGRAM proficiencies, overall program
In facilitating the devel- DOES NOT SEEK TO REPLACE structure and oversight, and
opment of this program, the THESE OTHER INTEGRAL PIECES OF a clear matrix for recognizing
AAA has taken a dramatic THE PROFESSIONAL AVALANCHE prior learning and experience.
step forward in being an TRAINING PUZZLE BUT TO WORK IN A These details were released
actively unifying force within COLLABORATIVE, COMPLEMENTARY to the AAA membership at
the avalanche education com- MANNER TO INCREASE THE OVERALL the beginning of August.
munity. Throughout this EFFECTIVENESS OF ALL TRAINING FOR Ultimately, we wanted our
process the AAA has been members—avalanche pro-
committed to creating a pro- AVALANCHE PROFESSIONALS. fessionals—to have sufficient
gram that provides more time to digest the final details
consistent professional training opportunities for avalanche of this new program and start to figure out how their current
workers in the US, striving to keep the big picture of what is and/or future training may fit into the new paradigm. (See
best for the entire avalanche industry at the forefront. Today, chart on page 56 for a look at the current progression of ava-
we stand on the brink of launching this new program. lanche education offered as a result of these efforts.)
We firmly believe that more consistent professional ava- Current AAA members can access the detailed Pro
lanche training opportunities will benefit avalanche work- Training documents online by logging into their profile in the
ers, their employers, the entire avalanche industry in the US, AAA database (aaa19.wildapricot.org). Once logged in, they
and mountain recreationists at large. When avalanche work- can go to the “MEMBERS” tab in the menu across the top of
ers have a consistent core set of skills entering a job, transi- the page and select “AAA PRO TRAINING PROGRAM.”
tioning to a new employer, or moving into a leadership role This winter the AAA will be hosting three Pro Trainer
within their program, everyone benefits from the consistency Workshops at three different locations around the coun-
and demonstrated proficiency with those baseline skills. try (Araphahoe Basin, Colo., Jackson Hole, Wyo., and
The AAA Pro Training Program is an industry-designed Alpental, Wash.). These workshops—which are fully enrolled
program that will be an important piece in the training puzzle for the season—are “train the trainer” opportunities for

54 | NSAA JOURNAL | WINTER 2017