Course Objectives

The aim of this course is to provide students with the basic skills and knowledge needed to go on trips in the high mountains during winter. They will also learn how to plan and carry out trips to the high mountains during winter. In the event of a snow avalanche they should be capable of rescuing members of their group.

Course Description

• Skills and knowledge
• How to use the mountains in winter in a teaching context, including knowledge relating to nature and culture, adapted to various student groups, for instance in secondary schools and folk high schools.
• The importance of selecting a trip in accordance with one’s abilities, the ability of the group and the demands of the terrain.
• Preparing and carrying out teaching and trips to the mountains in winter
• Planning trips in groups in the mountains in winter, safety procedures and guidelines
• Trip procedures: didactics, organisation, working methods, management and leadership, learning from one another
• The various roles of the guide
• Safety, responsibility and understanding the consequences of one’s actions in the mountains in winter
• Further development of skills, knowledge and competence at a high professional level in the context of the mountains in winter: skiing skills, clothing and equipment, building and living in snow shelters, food and cooking equipment for winter use, hygiene and first aid, transport of injured group members, weather and weather signs
• Specialisation in orientation and safe choice of routes
• Specialisation in snow avalanche theory: ground and terrain forms which may form the basis for snow avalanches and snow avalanche paths, assessing the degree of injury in the event of a snow avalanche, searching avalanches: methods, system analysis, knowledge of snow, fracture mechanisms and stability tests
• Specialisation in choice of routes in areas prone to avalanches: by using maps and observation of the terrain, trips involving assessment practice
• Specialisation in rescue in the event of an avalanche: the degree of injury, searching avalanches: methods, system analysis, rescuing members of the group (includes principles and strategies, and a trip with avalanche practice)

In terms of content and level the course can be compared to the Norsk Fjellsportforum’s standard for course 2c: ‘Choice of Route in Avalanche-prone Mountains’.

Learning Methods

Instruction is given during the spring semester.
The course includes lectures, group work, independent study and instruction and practical / problem-oriented guidance in connection with trips in the mountains in winter. The trips are obligatory and consist of 8 days with a guide and 6 days on an individual trip.
NB: All introductions to trips and group work concerning planning are obligatory.

Assessment Methods

Approved student portfolio. Before students can submit their portfolio for approval, they must first hand in their trip plan and self-evaluation report, and have carried out a trip with a guide and an individual trip.

Minor adjustments may occur during the academic year, subject to the decision of the Dean