Do you know a safe place to drop in?
The dates are out for avalanche safety and training courses in Hakuba for this coming season. If you are wanting to expand your horizons and head out into the vast abyss of the Hakuba backcountry then the AST1 course should be your starting point. It will open up a new world – one that should be treaded on carefully.
Avalanche Skills Training I 2011-2012
January 7-8
February 4-5
March 10-11
Avalanche Skills Training II 2011-2012
January 7-11
February 4-5 & 11-13
March 10-14
Hakuba Blog 
What a worthwhile class. Especially for people interested in snowboarding the backcountry.
I convinced a friend of mine to do it last year. He was not happy when the first day in the classroom was a deep powder day. When he got back to the hotel we found out our other friend who he would have been riding with was caught in a big slide and totally buried. Luckily he got out unscathed but shaken. My friend who did the course was thankful as it was highly likely he would have been caught in the slide as well. More here on the story