YOUTH AVALANCHE EDUCATION IN JACKSON, WY

With an ever-growing number of open boundaries, backcountry gates and the increased popularity of backcountry travel, more young skiers, riders, and snowmobilers are accessing the back- country. For the past eight years, the American Avalanche Institute has been working with the Jackson Hole High School, through their mountaineering club and the physics department, to provide avalanche education for the youth of Jackson, Wyoming. In the past four years, AAI's youth avalanche education program has expanded to include the Jackson Hole Middle School, the Jackson Hole Community School, the Journeys School, and a youth program (ages 10-18) for the Jackson Hole Ski Club. AAI's youth edu- cation programs work with local teachers and educators to build an educational progression from ava- lanche awareness at age 10-12, through advanced avalanche awareness in middle school, and on to a Level 1 avalanche course in high school. AAI has modified its standard curriculum to reach the younger audience. These kids are phenomenal skiers, snowboarders and snowmobilers and we have worked hard to help students build their knowledge of snow and avalanches while their travel skills advance. Emphasis has been placed on understanding the difference between in-bounds and out-of-bounds snow- packs; teaching students how to understand the avalanche hazard forecast; recognizing obvious signs of instability; and avalanche terrain recognition. A strength of the program is the built-in progression, where students receive a consistent message throughout their pre-teen and teenage years. They review infor- mation each year and then build on this knowledge and their previously acquired skills.