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Oregon Mountaineering Association oma@i-world.net - Guestbook - - Join the OMA - |
OMA Basic Avalanche Class
Upcoming Field Days:
- February 27-28, 2010 - Bend area (1)
(1) Field sessions are offered free to anyone meeting the prerequisites. The prerequisite modules can be taken as part of a complete course, taken individually, or challenged if you've had a course and know the material. Field days are also free to anyone currently certified in the interest of a review, a refresher, or an update.
We are not offering classes directly through the OMA at this time, but we have arranged for a discount of $100 on the new Avalanche Institute online course, with field days available as needed. (Field days are actually free to anyone meeting the prerequisites from the online course, having a current certification, or having successfully challenged the necessary online modules.) Feedback on this new course taught online has been overwhelmingly positive so far.
Unlike past classes that were run directly through the OMA this arrangement does not include OMA membership. You need to be an OMA member to get the discount. A years membership in Avalanche-Center.org is included in the course fee since the online facility is hosted there. (So for $225 you get the full course, OMA membership, and Avalanche Center membership. A value of $360.)
The class includes a true certification (based on successful completion of all material online, not just on showing up and being physically present). There is a great deal of information available on the Avalanche Institute - including a flowchart with module objectives, extensive FAQ's, and the regular costs for the course and for each module if it were taken alone.
- Read all the details at the Avalanche Institute
- Join the OMA online if you are not yet a member
- Register on our site to pay the discounted price
The OMA, AlpenPro, and the Avalanche Institute course -
Some Background and History
The OMA has a long history in the development of the AlpenPro avalanche education program. Prior to 1999 we offered regularly scheduled weekend classes a few times a season. These were very popular and very effective - nobody who has ever taken such a class has shown up in any avalanche incident reports in the extensive archive on avalanche-center.org. (This has been true of all AlpenPro students over all time.)
Our classes were small and often had almost as many co-instructors and they did students. The instructors rotated the topics they covered and contributed to the workbook later used in AlpenPro courses. The students tended to be climbing oriented, young, and enthusiastic. They were able to remain engaged in course work well into the evening even after being in the field part of the day. This led to the intensive weekend schedule that was used in most AlpenPro courses since that time, until the development of the current online course. Beginning in the 2009-10 season the online course is offered through the Avalanche Institute, with AlpenPro continuing to offer field days and oversight.
The OMA courses were terminated in 1999 when a US Forest Service ranger set up his own business on Mt Hood. (When his for-profit business permit was issued every other program was run off the mountain. Interestingly enough the only other program in OR, opening since then, is also operated by a former USFS employee.) We have offered a few classes since that time, but they have been quietly done for members and not widely promoted.
During the 2007-2008 season the new online approach was developed. In order to run a full "beta" version it was offered through only a few select groups at a greatly reduced price. Seven OMA members enrolled, and field sessions were run for groups of 1 to 4 students. Thus much of the feedback and testing leading to the current program was done by OMA members. (A group from the MIT Outing Club also tested the program in addition to their weekend course in NH. The same low price was offered to student groups at OSU and OIT but no students enrolled. The OIT groups were not all that well organized or motivated, and the OSU group actually had a member or two complain about the offer!) In 2008 two more students tested the program, including one highly experienced climber/skier from Europe who travelled to Oregon for the course. A former (currently inactive) OMA member who took a class a long time ago is now testing the challenge system.
It is because of this long history of involvement in the course development that the OMA is able to offer a discount to members on an individual basis. We hope this will be more useful to serious students than the previous weekend formats, which usually suffered from a lack of enrollment. After a steady stream of emails asking when we were offering a course we would set a date, only to find most of these people did not register anyway. Which left the serious students without a class. The new online approach should not suffer from this problem, and members who are serious can register at a discount and be certain the course will be available.