Course Descriptions & Cost Custom Courses Handouts & Resources Quality & Credentials Read This Before Your Course Registration Schedules, Level 1 Schedules, Level 2 Schedules, Observers' Sources, Gear & Texts Units for the Metrically Impaired
HOME
About Us
Advisory
Annual Report (7.1 MB PDF)
Budget
Contact Us
Danger Scale
Education
Fieldbooks
Handouts, Presentations, & Resources
How You Can Help
Juneau Urban Avalanche Information
News
Research
Weather & Avalanche Links
Gear

* If there is any way they can do it, most shops will give a price break on avalanche gear if you order with a group of friends and prepay. We urge you to support your local shops.

* In Juneau, Foggy Mountain Shop has always stocked at least some avalanche gear and can order items they don't stock. The other board and outdoor shops come and go a bit more, but most do try to carry some avalanche gear.

* If you are looking for inexpensive snowshoes, Little Bear snowshoes are hard to find locally but can be ordered online. They are small for heavy people in very soft snow, but work well in medium density snow or for lighter people. The ones with the aluminum pegs have the best traction.

* Foggy Mountain will check their copy of the video "Winning the Avalanche Game" out for home viewing. Other shops may do the same.

* In Haines, Dan Egolf's Alaska Backcountry Outfitter (766-2876) rents and sells avalanche, ski, and snowboard gear, does our course signups, and can advise you on gear for the courses.

* The Alaska Avalanche School in Anchorage, 907-345-0878, carries a full range of avalanche gear and textbooks at good prices, and offers very good courses based out of Southcentral Alaska.

* The Alaska Mountain Safety Center in Anchorage, 907-345-3566, also carries avalanche gear and textbooks at good prices, is the bulk source for the text Snow Sense, and does avalanche hazard management consulting and custom training of very good quality.

* Books can be ordered from your local bookstore, and there is a list of avalanche videos and sources on the National Avalanche Center website. Most of the books listed here are available from local libraries as well.

* A number of out-of-state online sources now have avalanche gear, but prices are often as good in-state. We encourage you to support your local businesses and nonprofits.

Texts

* Snow Sense, by Fesler and Fredston; Alaska Mountain Safety Center (AMSC), Anchorage, AK, 1999. Read it before class if you can. It's the best short reference book, based on our experience with the Alaska Avalanche School (AAS). It is perfectly boiled-down to include everything you really need to know. You can order it from bookstores or the AMSC (907-345-3566) or AAS in Anchorage (907-345-0878). A copy is included with the course fee for Level 1 and 2 courses.

* Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain; by Bruce Tremper, The Mountaineers Books, Seattle, WA 2001 - An excellent text, lots of additional information without being overly technical or irrelevant, very readable and well-presented. You can order it from bookstores or the AAS in Anchorage (907-345-0878). We include a copy with the course fee for Level 1 and 2 courses.

* Snow, Weather, and Avalanches: Observational Guidelines for Avalanche Programs in the United States; by the American Avalanche Association and the USDA Forest Service National Avalanche Center, The American Avalanche Association, PO Box 2831, Pagosa Springs, CO 81147. This is the most-current and best observations handbook available anywhere. A copy is included with the course fee for Level 2 courses.

Additional References

* The ABCs of Avalanche Safety; by Sue Ferguson and Ed LaChapelle, the Mountaineers, 2003 - The longtime standard quick reference, recently updated.

* The Avalanche Handbook; by McClung and Schaerer, the Mountaineers, 2006 - The best technical overview, readable and full of photos and graphics.

* Riding Safely in Avalanche Country; Friends of the Sun Valley Avalanche Center, 1998, PO Box 819, Ketchum, ID 83340 - A good snowmachine-oriented avalanche video.

* Secrets of the Snow; by Ed LaChapelle, University of Washington Press, 2001 - A great collection of photos and text focusing on the sort of clues and field observations that are most important.

* The Snowflake, Winter's secret Beauty; by Ken Libbrecht, Voyageur Press, October 2003 - The most gorgeous snowflake book. Nothing on snow metamorphism, but the best source on snow in the atmosphere.

* Snowstruck, In the Grip of Avalanches; by Jill Fredston, Harcourt, Inc., 2005 - Great Alaska avalanche stories and thoughts on how people interact with and think about avalanches, and what that tells us about ourselves.

* The Snowy Torrents; by Williams and others; 4 volumes available (some may be out of print); Colorado Geological Survey - Case histories of avalanche accidents in the U.S., the best way to learn from others' experience.

* Winning the Avalanche Game; Wasatch Interpretive Association, Salt Lake City, 1993 - A bit dated now, but still technically correct, still the best avalanche video for backcountry travelers. Echoes the course format we use.