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Professional Wilderness Rescue Course
(12 days)
This course is designed to give students a solid technical, theoretical, and experiential background for managing emergency situations
in a wilderness environment. Students will practice emergency scenarios on rivers, oceans, rock faces, and snowy mountain slopes, and receive certifications
in swift water rescue, low and high angle rescue, and avalanche level 1. For individuals looking for comprehensive rescue, emergency response, and risk
management training, this is the course for you.
Course Location
IWLS is based in Haines, Alaska, a small town located near the top of the Inside Passage. Haines borders Glacier Bay National Park. The park
and the adjacent 27 million acres, including Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, comprise the largest protected wilderness area in the world. It is an extremely jagged
and glaciated mountain landscape that includes the world's largest non-polar ice caps, pristine fjords, and wilderness rivers. Peak elevations in this region range up
to 20,000 feet.
At 59 degrees latitude, summer days in Haines have over 20 hours of daylight. The long days make for great alpine starts, late night wildlife viewings, and account
for the remarkable vegetative growth that is the basis for Alaska’s thriving ecosystem. Haines is situated at the northern end of the Tongass National Forest, the
largest temperate rainforest in the world.
The terrain surrounding Haines, Alaska is unique in North America, and offers world class climbing. Our expedition center in Haines is an outstanding gateway for
accessing this unparalleled wilderness area.
Course Goals
 Students will be able to demonstrate the ability to professionally deal with emergency scenarios while in the field.
Students will gain the technical skills to implement rescues on rivers, steep rock, and avalanche terrain.
They will be able to recognize their own leadership abilities and limitations within the context of emergency scenarios.
Course Itinerary
This is a flexible trip itinerary that shows the general progression of the trip.
Day 1: We'll spend the first day learning risk management and overall emergency response philosophy in a classroom setting.
Day 2: After additional risk management and emergency response scenarios in the morning, we’ll transport over to Skagway, Alaska to get ready for high and low angle rescue.
Day 3-5: Three days of high and low angle rescue training in Skagway, Alaska.
Day 5: In the evening, we'll drive up to the Blanchard and Tatshenshini rivers for the swift water rescue portion of the course.
Day 6-8: Swift Water Rescue training outside of Haines, Alaska. The Blanchard and Tatshenshini rivers have continuous class III, and some class IV rapids that make for a great learning environment.
Day 9-11: Avalanche 1 certification and mountain emergency response training on Flower Mountain outside of Haines, Alaska.
Day 12: Return to Haines, Alaska
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The IWLS General Curriculum outlines the essential components for effective outdoor leadership. Here are a few points that the course will focus on.
Decision Making and Problem Solving: Over the course of 12 days, we'll discover ways to assess problems, explore solutions and evaluate options in order to make effective and safe decisions in the field.
Leadership: Opportunities to lead the group will be abundant and you'll have the time to learn and practice multiple styles of leadership.
Safety and Risk Management: Safety is always the #1 consideration. As the course progresses, you'll develop an awareness to appropriately asses risk and make safe decisions.
Communication Skills: Speaking in public, managing a personal conflict, or leading a group in the wilderness, all of these situations require effective communication. You'll gain confidence in your communication abilities as you develop your personal leadership style over the length of this course.
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photo: Ted Roxbury |
IWLS Avalanche Curriculum is a nationally recognized progression of material. Here are a few points that the course will focus on.
Avalanche Characteristics: We'll examine loose snow, wet snow, soft slab, and hard slab avalanches along with some potential triggers. You'll learn the definition of terms such as stauchwall, alpha angle, and bed surface.
Safe Winter Travel: As a group, we will travel safely through avalanche terrain. Considerations will include cornices, equipment selection, route finding, campsite selection, and effective communication.
Avalanche Rescue: Someone buried in an avalanche has an 87% chance of survival if found within the first fifteen minutes. We'll practice using probes, beacons, and effective search patterns in order to quickly and efficiently find a buried person.
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IWLS Swift Water Rescue Curriculum is designed for river guides, field researchers and expedition leaders.
River Equipment - Care/Use/Maintenance
Boat-based Rescue
Swimming Rescue
Basic Mechanical Advantage
Shore Rescue and Rope Rescue
An independently verified practical skills examination on final day requires the student to demonstrate: swimming rescue, throw bag rescue and mechanical advantage system.
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Rope Rescue Level I (Low Angle) covers basic rope rescue as it applies to the mountain environment. We will focus on the following technical skills:
Knots
Anchors (trees, large objects, snow, and rock)
Patient Packaging
Rappelling
Belay System Construction
Anchor System Set-up and Orientation
Raising Systems
Litter Attendant Considerations
Ascending Fixed Ropes
Mechanical Advantage Systems
Safety Considerations
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Rope Rescue Level II (High Angle) instructs advanced rope rescue techniques as they apply to the mountain environment. Whereas level 1 focuses on less steep terrain, level 2 focuses on specific considerations that apply to rescue techniques in the vertical realm. Students will practice and participate in numerous high angle rescue scenarios.
Passing Knots
Operating in Vertical Terrain
Load Distributions
Rock / Snow / Ice Anchors
Anchor Equalization
Scene Safety / Management
Litter Attendant Considerations
Rigging Fixed Ropes
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Certifications upon completion of the 12-day course participants may qualify for the following certifications:
Level 1 Avalanche Certification*
International Wilderness Leadership School
Swift Water Rescue certificate of completion
Rescue 3 International
High and Low Angle Rescue certificate of completion
International Wilderness Leadership School
IWLS Certificate of Completion
*Dependent on weather and season
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