Plan to Manage Avalanche Terrain
How do I manage backcountry hazards?
Each of the steps outlined up to this point have focused on preparation and gathering information to support an effective planning process with your team members. In the next step in the The AIARE Framework, your group will utilize the assembled information to create a Plan To Manage Avalanche Terrain.
This checklist outlines a specific three-part sequence. The first step is to gather and discuss available and relevant information in order to determine options of where to go. Second, informed by the group, weather, snow conditions, avalanche concerns and your knowledge of the local terrain, discuss and adapt to a mindset about today’s avalanche terrain exposure. This terrain mindset is used to further refine the initial options and create a "limiter" of the type of terrain your group is willing to engage with that day. Third, make decisions about terrain prior to engaging with choices in the field.
Teamwork, your group's agreed upon social contract for consensus, is the foundation of The AIARE Framework. Planning to Manage Avalanche Terrain means reaching group consensus on where and how you plan to travel in the backcountry and what terrain and features your group agrees to avoid before you even enter the field
The product of your group’s discussion about terrain will be a plan to follow throughout the day. As a measure of perspective, your group should aim to spend about 80% of your planning discussion talking about terrain affected by the current avalanche conditions.
Your goal is to articulate your group’s plan to Use Terrain To Reduce Your Risk throughout the day. Document your group’s discussion in the space in your Fieldbook (which you received or will receive on your course).
The following pages take you through each step in more detail and provide background information about avalanche terrain. Be sure to check your understanding at the end of this section.
