For the 2022/2023 season we’ve teamed up with some of the top brands in the industry like Weston, Ortovox, Karakoram, Scarpa, ATK and DPS to bring you the Avy Savvy Winter Clinic series. This is the perfect place to start to help to start build a foundation for your backcountry travel, or a great refresher for the seasoned travler. With clinics like our Ski/Splitboard 101, Hut Tripping 101, Avy 101, and Trip Planning 101 we have something for everybody! And the best thing, they are all FREE and 1.5-2 hours in length!
Attend one of our clinics and receive $75 off an Intro to Ski/Splitboard On-snow Course! Clinics take place weekly December through February at a variety of hosting partners spanning from Summit County, to Grand county to the front range. Hosting Partners include Cripple Creek Backcountry, Bentgate, evo, Icebox Mtn Sports, Hideaway Park Brewery, Powder 7, and more…..
Check out our current clinic dates and registration links below and don’t hesitate to call us at 970-893-8007 with questions!
Front Range Splitfest is an annual splitboard-focused backcountry community gathering based out of the amazing Headwaters Event Center in the gorgeous mountain town of Winter Park, CO.
Each evening will feature a variety of activations including happy hours, gear demos, the opportunity to find new touring partners, educational guest speakers, movies, and a massive gear raffle on Saturday. Each day will be spent riding the amazing terrain on Berthoud Pass with the local backcountry crew or learning new uphill skills on the safety of the resort.
The event itself caters to all ability levels and we will have something for everyone – including 2 discounted Intro to Splitboarding Courses with the Winter park Uphill Program and more advanced courses from Colorado Adventure Guides. See below for course booking links.
We’ve even lined up some extra special discounted rates at our lodging partner Gravity Haus Winter Park for attendees. Our friends at Hideaway Park Brewery are providing some tasty beverages and we will have food trucks on site this year.
All proceeds will go directly to our favorite non-profit avalanche education partners – Friends of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (FOCAIC), Friends of Berthoud Pass (FOBP), and the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE).
This discounted course is for those who have the basics of gear and movement down, and are ready to expand their knowledge and ability to travel in the backcountry on a splitboard at the intermediate level. Your guide will give you tips on what the next steps are for your progression, and you will have a chance to meet potential touring partners that are the same ability level as you are. This course is for all those who identify with the woman community.
What We Will Cover:
When: Saturday Evening, April 1st, 2023, 8PM
Where: Higher Minds Loft, Headwater Center, Winter Park, CO
Grab your touring crew for some hands-on, interactive learning with the SAM3D to graphically demonstrate risk management and tour planning. The ORTOVOX educational tool can be used to playfully learn the basics of tour planning, focusing on risk identification and avalanche assessment. Participants can practice a variety of scenarios. Information from an avalanche bulletin can be weighed against factors such as slope steepness, slope aspect, and relevant danger areas plotted by participants on the 3D mountain model. All of our SAM3D clincs were sold out this season, don’t miss this last chance of the season to check the model out!
When: Saturday, April 1st, 10AM -2PM
Where: Berthoud Pass, East Side Parking Lot
Look for the Colorado Adventure Guides and ORTOVOX tents on the Pass where we will have a beacon park setup to hone your search skills along with a transceiver checkpoint for practicing your pre-tour safety skills.
When: Friday Evening, March 1st, 2023
Where: CAG & Ortovox Booth at Splitfest, Headwater Center, Winter Park, CO
Drop by the booth with your touring crew for some avalanche trivia presented by Ortovox Avy Triviamaster Greg Mears. Greg will have his library of avy safety facts ready to challenge the mental mettle of the participants. Swag will be had!
Colorado Adventure Guides is excited to announce a full season of backcountry safety and education programming for the 2022/23 season through our new Avy Savvy Clinic Series. The new series consist of five different clinics that focus on how to successfully prepare for the backcountry, stay safe while you there and get you home at the end of the day. All clinics are presented by members of our staff and the series is sponsored by our valued partners at Weston, Ortovox, ATK, Karakorum, Scarpa and DPS.
Our Backcountry Ski/Splitboarding 101 Clinics will introduce skiers and riders to backcountry equipment and available resources. We will define what the backcountry is and take a look at the specialized equipment that is necessary to use while traveling in the snowy mountains.
In this 1.5 hour clinic you will learn about the resources used to make smart decisions in the backcountry. We will talk about the gear, using the forecast, and avenues for backcountry education. We will also end the clinic with an update of the current state of the snowpack.
Avy 101 & State of the Snowpack Clinics
Join us on a Hut Trip 101 Clinic to learn the basics about using a backcountry hut in the winter. From tour planning to food and gear planning we will be covering a wide array of topics that involve your hut adventures.
As an ORTOVOX Safety Academy Partner we are pleased to introduce our new “Risk Management in Avalanche Terrain and Tour Planning” Clinic, an in-person, interactive snow-safety course.
We will be using the (SAM3D) model, a hands-on, interactive learning tool to graphically demonstrate risk management and tour planning. The SAM3D helps to clearly illustrate and better explain avalanche risk factors and their complex causality to beginners and advanced ski tourers alike. This clever mountain model fills the gap between theory and reality in the mountains and simulates the complexity of risk management and tour planning. The SAM3D educational tool can be used to playfully learn the basics of tour planning, focusing on risk identification and avalanche assessment. Groups of participants can practice a variety of scenarios. Information from an avalanche bulletin can be weighed against factors such as slope steepness, slope aspect, and relevant danger areas plotted by participants on the 3D mountain model.
Our backcountry clinics have limited capacity and tend to book up. Advanced reservations are strongly recommended.