PG: What did you do?
Max: The first day was all about getting to know each other and checking and handing out materials. Then everyone's expectations were clarified and the r'n'f team gave us an initial overview of the course topics.
The main topic of day 2 was "Perceiving". How do I perceive myself, my group and my environment?"
The trainers and mountain guides decided out loud why they do or do not ski where and explained how they organize the descent. They also talked about avalanche prevention and how to "read" the mountain - wind signs in the snow (gulleys, potholes), recognizing exposures, slope inclination - at what point does it become critical - measuring with the ski pole... Due to the snow situation, we were given a short introduction to glaciology, which is not normally on the program. In the evening, we clarified a few alpine terms.
The third day was all about "judging" and group dynamics. What changes when I'm on my own and what changes when I'm in a group? How does information influence my subjective perception of safety? What does the LLB mean in the field? We did various trust exercises in the group. We also explained how the avalanche transceivers work and how to search for them. Throughout the day, we naturally had many decision-making situations and descents. In the evening, we developed our own strategy together in groups using all our knowledge.
We then continued with the day's topic of "Deciding". We practiced an emergency situation in a multi-burial search and discussed strategies for avalanche transceiver searches. In the evening, we revised the strategies we had tested in practice. On the last day, we went into more depth and discussed the topic of group leadership. There was a feedback session at the end.
PG: What was most interesting for you personally?
Max: For me, the topic of group dynamics was the most exciting. The mountain guides went into a lot of detail on the topic of "group" and explained how best to manage certain situations. After a few exercises, the cohesion in the group of participants, who were actually complete strangers, was almost like a close-knit group that has been on the mountain together for a long time! How that worked was really fascinating for me.
