Safety First! – Avalanche Safety Camps

In the Alpine region, every winter people die from avalanches. Most of the victims trigger the avalanche, in which they get trapped, themselves. Above all, slab avalanches are a fatal disaster for winter sports enthusiasts … If you want to draw the first lines in fresh powder and to conquer the steepest slopes in the backcountry of the Alps, you should also be aware of the downside: Within a fraction of a second, an avalanche can decide between life and death. In these cases of emergency, experience is not enough to act properly. Every freerider must actively deal with avalanche safety through avalanche workshops or camps.

 

 

 

 

Why are avalanche safety workshops crucial?

If you want to go freeriding with your friends, good preparation is essential, as you need to act fast and proper in the case of an avalanche. Acting under shock only works, if you respond quickly and without hesitation – each move must be on spot. To be able to do so, the things you learn in an avalanche safety camp need to become routine.  Avalanche safety training is therefore not only important for freeriding newbies but also for “old hands”: Constant repetition is crucial and can save lives!

If someone is caught and buried by an avalanche, the chances of survival decrease drastically. Managing to build a respiratory cavity under the snow masses, usually gives the victim about 15 to 35 minutes until the oxygen runs dry and leads to suffocation. Therefore, the two factors speed and coordination are the most important ones during the rescue. The victim only has a chance of survival if the rescuers are perfectly familiar with the probe, the shovel, as well as the tracker beacon and if the rescue chain is mastered quickly and as a team.

 

However, not only your skills are important, but also the ones of your friends. In the end, everything can happen – you never know whether you are the victim or the rescuer. In an avalanche safety course, you learn exactly what to do in case of an emergency and which steps you need to follow. At best, do such a training with your freeride friends, in order to directly practice your skills as a team. Even the most up-to-date and best equipment is only as good as its user. 

 

 


How effective is an avalanche backpack?

Besides experience, know-how and continuous training, also the right safety equipment is essential. The most important equipment for all freeriders are probe, shovel, tracker beacon, and an airbag backpack as an individual “add-on”.

The question whether avalanche backpacks are effective or not  is still highly discussed. But studies show, that they can make a big difference.

Take a look at the avalanche safety section in our shop, to discover more equipment such as cartridges and additional accessories. For more info about avalanche safety read our blog posts → Avalanche Safety Equipment and → How Avalanche Backpacks Work: An Overview of Diverse Avalanche Airbag Systems.

 

 

 

 


Increase your safety through avalanche workshops & camps

Those who are well prepared and feel safe on the snow-covered slopes minimize the risk of an avalanche and can thus enjoy their descent to the fullest. There are no excuses! EVERYONE – not only skiers but also snowboarders – can participate in avalanche safety camps and courses. Without adequate training and necessary knowledge of what to do in the event of an avalanche, you have nothing to do off the pistes. You would not only bring yourself and others unnecessarily in dangerous situations but also cannot help properly in an emergency!

Various manufacturers in the sports industry offer appropriate avalanche safety courses or work with organizations and associations to increase the awareness of winter sports enthusiasts about the dangers of avalanches. We have put together an overview for you in which you can find different providers and course types as well as all relevant information. 

 

 

Avalanche Safety At Sport Conrad

Knowing how important – and sometimes even lifesaving – the right behavior in case of an avalanche is, we organize a free avalanche course and workshops each year. 

More information about the workshop and the registration you will find here soon.

In case you cannot participate at the workshop, we have put together an overview for you of other avalanche safety workshops and camps in the Alps – we want you to be safe on the mountain!

 

 

Overview: avalanche safety courses in the Alps

        • Ortovox Safety Academy
        • Mammut Alpine School
        • SnowHow
        • DAV
        • Austrian Alpine Club
        • SAAC – Snow &  Avalanche Awareness Camp
        • Pieps LVS Training Stations

       

Ortovox Safety Academy

The SAFETY ACADEMY is considered the world’s largest avalanche prevention training initiative. The goals of the various avalanche courses are safety and risk management for ski touring and freeriding in unsecured terrain. The Safety Academy offers three different course types in Germany, France, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland. Depending on your skiing skills and previous knowledge you can choose between three types of courses: Training Basic (1 day), Tour & Training Basic (2 days) and Tour & Training Advanced (2.5 days).

In addition, the Safety Academy offers every year so-called Safety Nights. These two-hour crash courses take place on weekday evenings during winter. You learn the most important basics of avalanche safety and how to rescue avalanche victims. Participation in the Safety Nights is free, therefore, you have to be fast: First come, first serve! The best way to stay up-to-date and to get all the dates is to check the Ortovox website.

→ Click here for all avalanche courses and Safety Nights of the Ortovox Safety Academy.

 

Mammut Alpine School

Once founded by extreme alpinist Alex Clapasson, the Mammut Sports Group AG took over the alpine mountain school in 2015. The Mammut Alpine School team consists of passionate mountaineering enthusiasts and experienced mountain guides. In the winter, avalanche safety workshops are of course part of the program. Depending on your skills and experience you can choose between basic courses and intensive courses. 

The basic course is aimed at inexperienced ski mountaineers, usually lasts for two days and takes place in the Rofan Mountains, in Andermatt or in the Bregenz Forest. The number of participants is limited to 3-8 people per guide.

→ Click here for all avalanche safety courses of the Mammut Alpine School. 

 

 

 

German Alpine Club

The German Alpine Club (DAV) offers a variety of courses around the topic avalanche safety. The “avalanche skills training basic” is intended to convey the basic knowledge and skills of searching and rescuing avalanche victims with tracker beacon, probe, and shovel. In the course “avalanche skills training advanced” the participants learn, among other things, how to handle their own avalanche transceiver and how to deal with more complex and multiple burials. Both courses are available in German and in English.

Further safety courses are specially designed for ski mountaineers, snowboarders and freeriders. Participants have again the option to choose between basic and advanced training. Section members and junior member (up to 25 years) of the German Alpine Association can participate in all courses at a reduced price.

→ Click here to get an overview of all avalanche safety courses of the German Alpine Club.

 

 

Austrian Alpine Club

The Austrian Alpine Club also offers avalanche safety courses and ski touring courses as part of its extensive program range. On the one hand, freeride beginners can improve their skiing skills in so-called technique and terrain courses. On the other hand, those courses also offer insights into terrain characteristics and circumstances that require increased attention. 

In addition, the Austrian Alpine Club offers various avalanche seminars, in which theory plays quite an important part. Further avalanche safety workshops can be found on the website of the Alpine Club.

In addition to these theoretical and practical workshops, the Austrian Alpine Club organizes a series of lectures on accident prevention and rescue techniques in the event of an avalanche. All lectures are under the motto “Avalanche Update – learn from avalanche accidents” and are held by Michael Larcher, a mountain guide and leader of the mountain sports department in the Alpine Club.

→ Click here for all avalanche courses and seminars of the Austrian Alpine Club.

 

 

 

SAAC – Snow & Alpine Awareness Camp

It is never too early to deal with alpine dangers. At the SAAC camps, young people from the age of 14 are already welcome and learn to take personal responsibility and to act properly in emergency situations. Since 1998, more than 19,000 snowboarders and skiers have participated in the SAAC winter camps. There are about 20 – 30 camps per winter in Austria, taking place from November until April.

Since the participation in the so-called “Basic Camp” is free, the courses are usually pretty quickly fully booked. If you want to take part in those camps, you have to be fast! The camps are held in Austria’s most beautiful winter ski resorts, such as Saalbach, Galtür or St. Anton. The different course types are all led by experienced guides, ski and snowboard experts: 

 

SAAC Basic Camps

    • 2 days, always Saturday and Sunday
    • 3 hour theoretical part
    • free rental equipment
    • practical exercises
    • free participation

 

SAACnd Step

    • advanced course to deepen knowledge from the Basic Camp
    • 3.5 to 5.5 days
    • free rental equipment
    • maximum of 7 people
    • participation fee between 270€ and 460€ (depending on are and duration)

 

→ Click here for all SAAC winter courses.

 

Pieps LVS Training Stations

Thanks to a cooperation with the manufacturer Pieps, you can find special training opportunities in many winter sports resorts: computer-controlled high-tech areas, so-called Pieps LVS Training Stations. At these stations, you can practice the search for avalanche victims independently. 

The Pieps LVS Training Stations are fully automated search stations that are accessible to everybody, free and easy to use. In the test area, transmitters are hidden in three different levels of difficulty, which must be found within a predetermined time limit. At the end, you have the opportunity to directly analyze your results. Such Pieps LVS test areas can be found, for example, in Sportgastein, in the Allgäu Mountain Guide Office in Hindelang, on the Kitzsteinhorn or on the Stubai Glacier.

 

ONLINE LEARNING PLATFORM FOR AVALANCE SEFETY

ONLINE LEARNING PLATFORM FOR AVALANCHE SAFETY

Be prepared with the Ortovox SAFETY ACADEMY LAB SNOW.
Avalanche courses are often very well attended and it is not always easy to get a place. To help you prepare or improve your knowledge, Ortovox has teamed up with a number of experts to create a digital learning platform on avalanche awareness.
Various aspects of ski touring and freeriding are interactively taught in connection with safety on the mountain. The content is suitable for snow lovers of all experience levels.
Click here to go directly to the “SAFETY ACADEMY LAB SNOW”.

 

Basically, the contents of all courses – regardless of organization or manufacturer – are similar. Depending on the basic or advanced course, important questions about avalanche safety are answered, correct behavior is practiced and potential accident scenarios are played through. Whether one or three-day courses – in case of an emergency you are better prepared and can save lives.  Always remember Safety First! Not only for you but also for your friends.