Ski Patrol Course

Welcome to Fernie, your home for the next two months. You’ll meet the crew over welcome drinks and get prepped with an equipment workshop. Then it’s straight into the Non-Urban Emergency Care (NUEC) course – 10 days of hands-on first aid training focused on mountain and wilderness environments. Expect a mix of classroom theory and practical scenarios – indoors and outdoors. You’ll come away with universal outdoor first aid skills, ready to help people in the mountains and in life.

Time to get on snow and start learning what ski patrol is all about. We’ll guide you across Fernie’s five legendary bowls while our weekly coaching helps sharpen your skiing. You’ll begin core patrol training: handling toboggans and stretchers, coordinating mountain rescues via radio, and managing emergency scenarios. You’ll also get a feel for dispatch operations – how calls come in, how responses are launched, and how helicopters or sleds are brought in when things get serious.

This week is all about avalanche awareness and backcountry travel. You’ll complete your Avalanche Skills Training Level 1 (AST 1) – learning to read terrain, assess conditions, and carry out a companion rescue. You’ll also take your first steps into ski touring: using skins and touring skis to access untouched powder. It’s a whole new way to experience the mountains, and a must-have skill for any future patroller.

Enter the world of professional avalanche response with the Avalanche Search and Rescue Level 1 course – part of the Canadian Avalanche Association’s Industry Training Program. This cert builds the core knowledge and techniques required for patrollers responding to real-world avalanche incidents.

This one’s action-packed. You’ll learn to operate a snowmobile, a key patrol tool for accessing remote terrain and transporting gear or casualties. Training continues on risk management and trail checks – spotting hazards, marking danger zones, and preventing injuries before they happen. Plus, we’ll introduce rope rescue systems – think anchors, knots, and pulley basics – giving you a taste of vertical rescue in patrol settings.

With AST 1 and AvSAR under your belt, it’s time to dig deeper into avalanche forecasting and mitigation. Fernie’s heavy snowfall and steep terrain make it one of Canada’s top locations to learn. You’ll run weather observations, assess snowpack layers, simulate control work, and explore organised avalanche rescue protocols used by professional patrol teams.

Your final week is all about bringing it together and preparing for any future industry certifications you may have in your sigts, such as the CAA Operations Level 1. You’ll hone your snow science, practice full patrol scenarios, and reinforce all the technical skills you’ve built. By now, you’ll think and move like a patroller – confident, capable, and ready for the real deal.