AIARE requires that potential instructors meet certain qualifications, experience and training pre-requisites before they will be considered for instructor status. These pre-requisites increase as the course level an instructor intends to teach goes up. In general, the pre-requisites include:

• Personal experience
• Having taken AIARE standard avalanche courses
• Practical decision making skills.

Those who have the pre-requisites are required to meet specific requirements before qualifying for instructor status. The specific requirements increase as the level of the course an instructor wishes to teach goes up. In addition, course leader requirements are higher than instructor requirements.

In general, requirements include the following:

• Attendance of appropriate AIARE course(s)
• Attendance of appropriate AIARE Instructor Training Course(s)
• Refreshing knowledge and skills on a regular basis
• Valid First Aid Training
• Teaching experience.

AIARE believes instructors need a combination of field experience, technical training, and teaching skills as well as ongoing upgrading in all of these areas. We feel it is important to include young, new instructors in our corps as well as older experienced ones; this ensures that the instructor pool is constantly renewed, encourages the development of new ideas, and promotes growth in the program as a whole as well as in the individuals who teach the program.

Following are current requirements for various categories of instructors and course leaders.