Courses listed on this page or through the Silverton Avalanche School are not C-RAD hosted courses. All course information, questions and applications should go through the host organization.

The January, Silverton-based course, February, Crested Butte Resort-based course and the end of March Santa Fe-based course all have strong requests for avy dog involvement – these are great opportunities for C-RAD Handlers and Techs.
Silverton, CO – January 24th – 27th
Crested Butte, CO – February 7th – 10th
Grand Mesa, CO – March 9th – 12th – Strong motorized background required
Silverton, CO – March 20th – 23rd
Santa Fe, NM – March 27th – 30th

SAS facilitates the ProAvSAR as a 4-day course; this includes:

three days of instruction, practical skills application and training scenarios coupled with a Final Technical Exercise (FTX) field evaluation and written exam on Day Four.

SAS ProAvSAR Prerequisites for Enrollment:

1. Course applicants must have completed at minimum the following prior to enrollment:

• • Avalanche Rescue Training (8 hours minimum)

  • Avalanche Awareness Training (8 hours minimum)

  • Online ICS 100* and 200* completion certificates https://training.fema.gov

  • Current BLS/ CPR certification

Applicants who believe they have the educational equivalent of the prerequisites listed above, can apply for a training equivalency from SAS.

2. In addition to the education prerequisites, preferred experience includes any one, or more of the following:

• • Recreational Level 1/ Level 2 and/or PRO 1 Avalanche Training

  • Member of volunteer rescue team or professional rescue team

  • Ski patroller and/or C-RAD Dog Handler/Avalanche Tech

  • Internship—>Experienced Rescuer in the SAR industry

The ProAvSAR will focus on twelve critical competency areas:

• • Avalanche Rescue Theory
  • Avalanche Incident Management
  • Avalanche Incident Scene Safety, Size-up and Risk Management
  • Avalanche Site Management
  • Witness Interviews
  • Transceivers- Tools, Technology and Tactics
  • Probe Lines
  • Recco Utilization
  • Avalanche Dog Teams
  • Avalanche Patient Management
  • Transportation Operations
  • Communications

Why take a ProAvSAR with Silverton Avalanche School?

• Our Roots are Rescue; SAS is the oldest, continuously operating avalanche training and snow safety program in the US.

• Where the Snow Pros Go; SAS worked closely with A3 to bring this professional training to the US and is one of only three providers of this certification program in the country.

• International Best Practice; SAS has been a member of the International Commission for Alpine Rescue (ICAR) since 2016 and is an inaugural member of the mountainsafety.info workgroup consisting of 26 countries, NATO Center for Mountain Warfare Excellence, UIAA, IFMGA, SLF

• Educational Excellence; SAS’s ProAvSAR Faculty is composed of seasoned professionals with diverse experience embodying decades of firsthand field response, rescue, recovery and critical incident management and leadership.

• Innovative Instruction; Experiential approaches and student led field exercises incorporate diverse travel and response modalities utilizing human, canine, mechanized and air assets whilst challenging participants to facilitate collaborative, multi-agency technical responses to rescue scenarios in frontcountry, resort-based and backcountry environments

• A Pioneering Vision for Professional Avalanche Rescue Training; Leveraging the best instructors in the industry and unmatched course areas, the school that defined US snow safety training in the 20th century continues to lead what that education looks like in the 21st!