6-Week 'Master the Mountain' Course
Backcountry Snowboarding
The course includes several components which ensure you leave Canada not only comfortable on the resort terrain but also competent in the off-piste powder. Many of these activities are designed to ensure that you are able to tackle the backcountry and really enjoy the four day adventure at the end of your course.
The Boulder Hut - the base for our epic backcountry trip
Backcourntry Training
During the third and fourth week you'll experience two days touring with professional mountain guides so that you know how to use the touring equipment used in the touring experience. This will provide a great chance to not only put the skills you learnt on the avalanche course to the test, but also to concentrate on your powder riding. Using touring split boards we head into the backcountry and travel uphill using skins and then enjoying the descent down making fresh tracks in the untouched powder.
4 Day Backcountry Experience
After 5-weeks of coaching your snowboarding will be much improved and you'll be pushing yourself on terrain you perhaps previously avoided! The group will head towards Kimberley where you will take a helicopter ride, see video below to the Boulder Hut.
This region is famous for being one of North America's best powder destinations and one of Canada's best areas for touring.
You will spend the four days in a remote but lovely mountain cabin surrounded by stunning mountain scenery. The term ‘Hut' is an overly modest name for this comfortable and spacious cabin, which can sleep 15 people. It is well furnished and equipped with cooking facilities, stoves, gas lanterns and wood burning fire and an outdoor hot tub! All your meals are provided for you and they are fantastic.
Staying in a touring cabin of this type will provide a true Canadian mountain experience and we'll be able to access some of the best off-piste snowboarding straight from the front door.
The Boulder Hut where you will stay
The inside of the hut
Backcountry touring using split boards
Avalanche Course
Close to the start of the course you'll take an Avalanche Course which provides essential knowledge, skills and confidence for off-piste riding. You'll learn about avalanche theory, stability assessment, route finding, and search and rescue techniques. The course includes an indoor day of theory involving slides shows, video presentations and demonstrations on how to use transceivers and other safety equipment. The second part is a field day putting this knowledge to use. You'll learn how to dig snow pits, check snow layers, effectively use transceivers and probes and have your skills tested in a search and rescue avalanche scenario.
This course will not only make you aware of the potential dangers of off-piste riding but will also provide the knowledge and skills required to confidently enjoy the pleasures of backcountry touring.
Learning to search with tranceivers
Checking snow layers
