Avalanches are an ever-present risk in the backcountry and anyone who ventures outside a resort should have at least basic training in the form of an AIARE level 1 certification. Avalanche danger might not seem serious to riders and skiers who have spent there lives within resort boundaries, but when there isn’t any ski patrol to perform avalanche mitigation, the risk becomes very real.

In a level 1 course, you will learn the basics of avalanches, what causes them, how to asses avalanche danger, how to safely travel in the backcountry, and how to rescue avalanche victims before it’s too late. There’s no digging yourself out of an avalanche if you are fully buried—your only chance is for your buddy to rescue you before you run out of oxygen.

To learn more about avalanche courses, check out this website.

In addition to taking a course (or three), you should research avalanche danger on your own to fully cement your knowledge. If you are waiting to take your first course or just need a refresher, check out Bruce Tremper’s book Staying Alive In Avalanche Terrain. It’s a good idea to brush up on your knowledge every fall before heading back out into the backcountry.

It’s vital to have the right equipment to perform a rescue in the event that a member of your party gets buried. This means having a beacon, shovel, probe, and knowing how to use them. Practice regularly with your beacon, they don’t point you in a straight line to the buried party member and are harder to use than you might think.

• Beacon

• Metal shovel

• Probe

Never go alone. If you are injured or buried in an avalanche and there is nobody to rescue you, then all that expensive safety gear you bought won’t mean anything. There is about a 10 minute time window before you run out of oxygen, and if you aren’t rescued before then, you’re a goner.

It’s also a good idea to not travel in large groups, as this can make safety more challenging. Large groups tend to feel safer, take more risks, and put more weight on the snowpack. Statistics show that large groups experience more burials and fatalities than small groups, with groups of 3-4 being most ideal.

Most areas that see frequent backcountry travel have an avalanche forecast service. This is one of your best resources for understanding daily risk and knowing if you should go or not. Most people read the report DAILY during the winter to better understand the snowpack, and you should too.

Avalanche.org has an interactive map for the western half of the United States and will direct you to your local forecasting agency. The following are localized resources for some of the most popular areas:

• Utah Avalanche Center

• Sierra Avalanche Center (California)

• Mt. Shasta Avalanche Center (California)

• Colorado Avalanche Center

• Bridger Teton Avalanche Center (Wyoming)

• Sawtooth Avalanche Center (Idaho)

• Northwest Avalanche Center (Washington State)

Additional safety gear beyond the basic shovel, probe, and beacon is readily available and strongly recommended. Avalanche airbags, such as the Mammut Ride, are terrific pieces of potentially life-saving equipment that help you float to the surface of an avalanche due to an effect known as particle segregation. Many airbag designs also protect your head and neck, reducing the risk of a life-threatening traumatic injury.

In addition to wearing an airbag, it’s not a bad idea to take a standard first aid course or a wilderness first aid course. Traumatic injuries are responsible for over a ¼ of avalanche fatalities. If your buddy gets caught in a nasty one, especially below tree line, there is a very real chance that he will need immediate first aid.

You will constantly need to make decisions about whether or not a line or approach route is safe, and it’s very easy to become desensitized to risk when it never catches up to you. Then one day it does. It’s vital to always remain humble in the mountains and err of the side of safety, knowing that there will be a thousand more chances to drop your dream line if you live to ride another day.