Avalanche Canada has launched a new online Tutorial for Backcountry Beginners.
Avy Savvy is aimed at new users of the winter backcountry providing an introduction to avalanche safety.
Gillies Valade, Avalanche Canada’s Executive Director said they’ve had online tutorials for many years but with the pandemic increasing backcountry use, we recognized an opportunity to improve this program.
“It’s not a replacement for an avalanche skills training course, it’s basically an introduction to the avalanche phenomenon,” Valade said, “It talks about all sorts of things, how avalanches form and what to look for, what kind of terrain, what to avoid, what to and what not to do”.
The online tutorial includes videos, images, animations, and interactive quizzes to help with the learning process.
“In addition to introducing beginners to avalanche safety, we are also hoping that this tutorial is going to help people decide on taking a proper avalanche course and to make sure that they don’t go in the backcountry without any training and they go with the appropriate gear which is a transceiver, a probe and a shovel,” Valade said.
Valade added, “Traveling in avalanche terrain demands awareness and preparation. Avvy Savvy provides a great first step in avalanche safety education”.