Jim Frankenfield

Avalanche Safety Courses and Services

1338 Foothill Dr. #170; Salt Lake City, UT 84108
1-877-604-0166; jim@mountain-guiding.com

Hosting a Course

The majority of the classes I teach are arranged at the request of a group. Often this is a group of friends who ski/climb/sled/etc together. The small size limits for my classes make it relatively easy to arrange such a class, and there are many benefits to taking it with people you recreate with in an area you frequent.

Organizing a class is not difficult. There is little responsibility for logistics. The primary responsibility of the organizer is to make sure there are enough people for the class and to make the financial commitment to reserve the class. I may ask for some advice on a suitable location locally for classroom and/or field work and on group accommodations, if necessary.

The first step is finding other interested people. The standard class size is six people, I expect you to have at least four to arrange a class. (See the additional note at the bottom for information on clubs and organizations.) It is suggested that a financial commitment be obtained from the others planning to attend in order to minimize your own risk. I sometimes have a list of interested people who are not part of a group, so if you have less than four people please inquire as to whether I can give you referrals to interested people in your area.

If you have four or five I reserve the right to fill the remaining class opening(s) with people who may contact me or be on an interest list waiting for such an opportunity. If you would prefer to avoid this possibility then it is necessary to either fill the class or to pay for the unfilled openings. While the standard class size on arranged courses is six and I will reserve the right to fill a class to this number (unless the vacancies are paid for) it is possible to accommodate up to eight students if your group is that large.

Please note that for an advanced course all participants must have the prerequisite skills and training. This has worked well when the organizer has screened their group appropriately but has not always worked so well when that has not happened. While I attempt to screen people filling vacancies in a class it is definitely best for a Level II course if the group can fill the class with people at the same level. Such classes are highly successful compared to almost any other option you will find anywhere since a scheduled class run by a program will inevitably have one or more students who are poorly prepared, and that always has some impact on the level of instruction possible.

The earlier you contact me and the sooner you can make a commitment to holding the course the more options you will have for dates. So plan early.

Hopefully this will give you an idea of what is required to get started. I have offered courses in numerous different places and worked under various agreements, so contact me if you have questions or a proposal for a particular arrangement.

Clubs and Organizations

I have made some exceptions on class size and price for student clubs and other organizations. In such cases I have accepted larger numbers of students, all from the organization, and charged a fixed price which comes to less per person. I have done this for standard Level 1 classes, one-day leadership workshops, and specialized courses. Among the groups I have taught are the RPI Outing Club, the MIT Outing Club, the Clarkson University Outing Club, Paul Smiths College, Chemeketan Climb Leaders, and the US Army Northern Warfare Training Center instructor corp.