Aiare professional vs. recreational

I've heard rumors that aiarre courses are soon going to be split into recreational courses and professional courses. A quick web search showed nothing and a quick glance at the aiare website showed nothing either. Anyone have any info?

John

The move to a new avalanche educational system in the US is bigger than just AIARE- it will be all course providers. The American Avalanche Association and the educational providers are trying to improve the level of education and meet the specific needs of avalanche professionals, as well as meet the needs of recreationalists.
The current level 2 class is oriented towards learning how to make professional level observations (SWAG) and then use that information to create a better understanding of how the problem is distributed (across the slope/range/state..). The level 3 refines this observation skill and leads into forecasting (as well as lots of other stuff).
Most recreators don't need this. They take a level 2 and spend hours in a snow pit practicing skills they will not use. They need to get better at understanding how the avalanche problem is distributed and changing within their home turf. Practice creating travel plans and using observations made during the day to make good terrain choices. Get really good at creating options and implementing them based on observations and tests made "on the move". Advanced application of topics introduced in a level 1.

I might catch some flack for answering this, as I am not directly involved in creating the new setup. I have participated in surveys the AAA and AIARE have done related to this topic, but I am not on the committee or anything. I have been an avalanche professional for over 10 seasons, and an AIARE 1 instructor for 3. I teach a class similar to the proposed Rec 2, and it really works better than a level 2 for most users.

Daryl