Ridge Explorations, Llc

We attended an intro to ski touring and avalanche level 1 course. The classroom learning, physical exercise and in-​the-​field training made for a great combination. We completed the course feeling much more confident in a variety of areas including gear selection, uphill travel, terrain selection, search techniques, assessing weather factors, evaluating snow conditions, and the role of human factors.
Along with the expected course material, we gained invaluable insight resulting from the decades of experience our guide had.
Location was also a factor since our field course took place at Crystal Mountain which has a few benefits including a reputation for more sun than Steven’s or Snoqualmie, decent lodging options and great backcountry options.
This course provided a great introduction to the factors to consider when traveling in the backcountry and sidecountry. We highly recommend this course or a similar one from Ridge Explorations.

Ridge Explorations offers Avalanche Awareness and Certification courses as well as back country ski tours. I attended their Level 1 avalanche course with field trips at Steven’s Pass this winter.
Its a small outfit with a few instructor/​guides, so the same people you see at the lectures will be in the field with you. Their website is well organized with schedule information, packing lists and a forum to coordinate car-​pooling to the field trip. You schedule and pay for your course on-​line, which worked out really well.
They had lots of course sessions at local outdoor businesses (Marmot, REIs) over the course of a few weeks. There were many field trip options, though all were offered at Steven’s Pass.
The instructors have a lot of experience and do a great job of sharing their knowledge with you. If you plan on spending time in the backcountry during winter, become avalanche savvy — it could save your life.