In the past couple of years the structure of the NSP avalanche courses has changed because of pressure from the western divisions to make all of the courses interchangeable with those of the American Avalanche Association. As a result in this Region we are allowed only to teach Avalanche Fundamentals & Rescue, which is no longer acceptable as a prerequisite for any of the more advanced courses. Anyone wishing to take additional courses must start with Level 1 Avalanche, which cannot be taught in this region due to lack of suitable avalanche terrain. Last spring we attempted to teach an Avalanche F & R course for the Region. We had to cancel the course because we had only four applicants.

Mountain Travel & Rescue:

Last November John Caron conducted an MTR Level 1 course at the Bradford Ski Area. It was a successful course both in terms of the number of students and reviews given by the students after the course. John has also done an excellent job in recruiting new candidate instructors.

Another MTR 1 course will be held at the Yawgoo Valley Ski Area on the weekend of November 21-22 this year. John Caron will be the IOR. Although the course is listed on both the EMARI and Division web sites, it would be helpful if all patrol directors can publicize the course within their patrols. Also an MTR 2 course is planned for February-March 2010 timeframe in North Conway, NH. John Caron will be the IOR.

Finances:

Following the arrangement made last year we intend for these courses to be revenue neutral in the sense that we will not charge the Region for any equipment purchases, travel, etc. provided that there are no Regional fees on courses. However, we do request that we have a line of credit from the Region for $400 to cover any unforeseen course expenses with the understanding that the money will be repaid with the revenue from future courses.

The process of getting new full instructors who are able to run courses on their own has been a problem for a long time. Although there are currently several candidate instructors, over the past 10 years there have been only two people who became full instructors (John Caron and Ed Couillard) within the Region. One obstacle is the cost. In order to become a full instructor a patroller must complete the relevant advanced course (avalanche Level 2 or MTR Level 2). These courses are usually 4 or 5 days in duration, cost at least $100, and are conducted at a distant location. In addition, expensive equipment such as -20° F sleeping bags must be purchased. Two years ago a resolution was passed to reimburse candidate instructors for the fee of the advanced course provided that they became instructors. That resolution was in effect for only one year. The MTR 2 course that year was cancelled and nobody was able to take it.

Accordingly I plan to introduce a motion to reimburse any candidate instructor who becomes a full instructor and subsequently teaches in an EMARI course for up to $100 of the relevant advanced course fee.