Expand Your Backcountry Knowledge: A Recap of our 2025 Backcountry Beta Series
Spring has sprung and with it comes more stable snow conditions and access to those bigger, dream-worthy backcountry lines! As the season winds down, it's the perfect time to brush up on your avalanche safety with our Backcountry Beta Series.
Free Education for All Skill Levels
Born during the 2020 pandemic when virtual connection was our only option, this collaborative effort between Coalition Snow and TREW Gear is still going strong, delivering accessible education to everyone from curious beginners to seasoned backcountry enthusiasts.
Why Backcountry Education Matters
Venturing beyond resort boundaries (even into what we call "sidecountry") comes with significant responsibility. Unlike resorts with managed terrain and ski patrol on standby, the backcountry offers no safety nets. It's important to understand avalanche risks, weather patterns, terrain selection, and rescue techniques.
While certification programs like AIARE remain the gold standard for comprehensive training, our Backcountry Beta Series offers a valuable starting point and refresher for anyone interested in exploring backcountry terrain safely.
Learn at Your Own Pace
Missed the live sessions? No problem! All workshops are now available as recordings—just follow the links below to dive into any topic that interests you. Each session combines expert knowledge with a low-key, approachable presentation, creating a judgment-free zone where questions are encouraged.
Presenter: Northwest Avalanche Center, Chloe Donlan
Summary: A 90-minute introductory class providing a basic approach to managing risk. Whether you ski, snowshoe, snowboard, or snowmobile, recognition of avalanche danger is an essential and potentially life-saving skill. During this session you will learn how to access avalanche and mountain weather forecasts and recognize basic signs of avalanche danger.
Keep this list of backcountry scholarships for avalanche awareness and safety courses on your radar for the 25/26 season so you can up your skills and knowledge about backcountry skiing and snowboarding.
- VNTR Birds Scholarships
- Voile Backcountry Scholarships
- AMGA Scholarships
- American Avalanche Association Scholarships
Presenter: VNTR Birds, Erin Hennessy
Summary: During this session, our guest speaker Erin Hennesy explored one of the most important topics in backcountry safety: terrain selection. Tune in to learn about basic and advanced features and tools in the CalTopo mapping app like:
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Overlaying your local avalanche problem to the map area you want to ski
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Seeing the elevation profile, estimated travel time and mileage for a route you create
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Setting up the most essential base layers of the map to get a full snapshot of the terrain before adding in more custom features
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Drawing out “no go” or “ski” zones on your map area
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Exploring a wider range of overlay layers like sun exposure, cell coverage, and more
To get straight to mapping and CalTopo features fast forward to minute 38 in the presentation.
Presenter: TREW Ambassador, Erika Phelps
Summary: Don't let imposter syndrome hold you back in the backcountry. In this Backcountry Beta workshop, facilitated by Erika Florian, an AIARE Level 1, Level 2, and Rescue-certified backcountry skier, you'll learn how to confidently lead a backcountry tour, whether it’s skinning up your local mountain or pursuing a big peak.
In this one-hour workshop, Erika lays out the educational path to go from being a member of a group in the backcountry, to a leader - and the avalanche safety, first aid, and navigational skills that will get you there in digestible steps. She breaks different levels of ski tours into tiers of preparation to build from leading a simple tour to a big day in higher consequence terrain.