To help motorized riders manage risk while boondocking, backcountry ‘professor’ Bret Rasmussen has been refining avalanche education programs for nearly a decade. Here are his top snowmobile safety tips.
Avalanche centers and rescue groups have recorded 33 avalanche fatalities nationwide to date this winter. A quarter of those recreationists were snowmobilers and included many multi-rider burials. These tragedies aren’t new. Close to 30% of the deadly incidents over the past 12 years were sledders, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
“When I started, snowmobiles couldn’t reach avalanche terrain — period. Year by year, sleds evolved,” said Bret Rasmussen, 63, a pioneer of backcountry snowmobile ride technique and motorized avalanche safety education.
“Snowmobilers are further and deeper in the backcountry, exposing themselves to more risk without much avalanche education: 25 [of my] close friends have lost their lives to avalanches because they didn’t know better. It’s still happening.”
Rasmussen has worked with The American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE) since 2014 to refine the curriculum for students of the motorized program. Today, national guidelines for motorized courses are provided and certified by both AIARE and the American Avalanche Association (A3).

Rasmussen’s Snowmobile Safety School
Rasmussen’s Ride Rasmussen Style snowmobile school and guide service in West Yellowstone, Mont., offers AIARE-certified motorized safety courses. The center is one of nine in the U.S. that teaches these AIARE-sanctioned motorized courses for snowmobilers.
Across the western U.S. and Alaska, the other facilitators range from The Mountain Riding Lab in Wyoming to Colorado-based Tyler’s Backcountry Awareness.
Recreational riders take three progressive courses:
Workplace professionals such as snowmobile guides and operational safety personnel have further education:
Rasmussen has been off-trail snowmobiling for half a century and polished off his Motorized AIARE Pro 2 course this month. Read on for how backcountry snowmobilers can manage risk in avalanche terrain, according to Rasmussen.

Backcountry Safety Equipment
Group Size
Backcountry Hazards
Risky Terrain

Snowpack and Weather
Situational Awareness
Responding to an Avalanche
Planning and Communication
