Course Objectives

The course aims to provide students with further insight into winter outdoor life and guiding in outdoor activities in the forests and mountains in the winter. Through the various periods students will develop sound skills and knowledge within the sphere of winter outdoor life and guiding.

Course Description

Skills and knowledge

• The importance of having enough energy in store when hiking in the wilderness, planning trips in accordance with one’s ability, choosing area according to ability, safety, responsibility and consequence analysis.
• Planning for longer winter trips: trips in groups, safety procedures and norms for participants.
• Further knowledge regarding orientation and choice of safe route.
• Further knowledge of snow avalanches: ground and terrain forms which can form the basis for avalanches and avalanche pathways, degree of injuries in the event of an avalanche, searching an avalanche: methods, systems analysis, knowledge of snow, fracture mechanisms, and stability tests.
• Further knowledge in choice of routes in areas prone to avalanches: by using maps and observation of the terrain, trips involving assessment practice.
• Further knowledge of 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).
• 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.
• Knowledge of the natural environment and culture.
• Didactics and methodology: Guiding theory, trip norms, procedures, organisation, working methods and leadership in connection to mountains in the winter.

In terms of content and level the course can be compared to the Norsk Fjellsportforum’s standard for avalanche courses (3 days).

Learning Methods

The course is taught in the spring semester.

Teaching and learning methods include independent work, lectures, an excursion (1 day), practice – forests in the winter (5 days), group work, individual trips and practical / problem-orientated guidance in connection with trips in the mountains in the winter. The trips with guide in the mountains in the winter are of 8 days duration. Individual trips are also of 8 days duration. Trips, individual trips, excursions and practice are obligatory. During their practice period, students will adopt an independent and responsible guiding role, and plan, execute and assess outdoor activities in the winter forest with students taking Outdoor Life, Culture & Nature Guiding I or the programme, Further Outdoor Studies. During the practice period students will be followed up by a supervisor who will provide comment and feedback.

Assessment Methods

Portfolio assessment. The students will compile a portfolio for each part of their outdoor period and a practice report which will be assessed as pass / fail. In order to receive a diploma students must have participated actively in the obligatory trips, individual trips and excursions, and successfully completed their practice period.

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