Learn from the best. Enviro-Tech International offers high-quality safe snowcat operator training for those who travel in snowcats and all-terrain snow vehicles in remote locations. Our standard 3 or 4-day curriculum is a combination of snow vehicle instruction and cold-weather survival training. The courses teach safe operating skills, such as recognizing safe slope angles, safe uphill and downhill operating techniques, avoiding slides, safe route selection, blading skills, avalanche recognition, and rescue, how to deal with common mechanical breakdowns in the field, and many others. The courses also explore the most important aspects of survival. Beginning with what happens during a survival emergency, the short-term psychological stresses that play a role in decision-making and panic, individual and group dynamics, injuries and how they affect survival planning, hypothermia and cold injuries, and essential survival equipment and kits. The training emphasizes an organized approach to safety and survival, teaching important priorities such as shelter, fire and heat, water, food, signaling, staying where you are, and when to go for help.
Our courses are taught using a fast-moving, interactive approach using discussions, demonstrations, and hands-on participation. The training is packed with vital information and skills that all snow vehicle operators will find valuable.
We specialize in on-site training programs throughout the U.S. and abroad. We travel to your location, which reduces travel and training budgets and provides a training experience that’s more relevant to participants. All of our training programs are tailored to meet your specific requirements.
Course Format
Snowcat training can be presented in standard formats of 3 and 4 days. Refresher courses are generally 2 days in length.
SNOWCAT OPERATING SKILLS
HOW SNOWCAT ACCIDENTS HAPPEN
Poor planning
Poor judgment and skills
Poor weather conditions
Equipment failure
No survival gear
CHECK OUT PROCEDURES
Preventative maintenance
Pre-flight checklist
The essential tool kit
Survival gear (never leave home without it)
COMMON HAZARDS
loading/Unloading
Securing and hauling snowcats
Seat belts
Carbon monoxide poisoning
OPERATING SKILLS
Route selection
Terrain
Slope angle
Uphill and downhill driving
Sidehill driving
Drop-offs
Blading techniques
HAZARD SKILLS
Avoiding snowcat slides
Recovering from uphill/downhill slides
Operating in icy conditions
Mud and water hazards
Changing snow conditions
Avalanche survival and rescue
NAVIGATION
Map and compass
GPS skills
Whiteout conditions
Operating in darkness
SNOWCAT SURVIVAL SKILLS
Stuck
Digging out
Tools to carry
Throwing or breaking a track
Emergency track installation and repair
DEVELOPING SAFETY PLANS
Dispatch, tracking, and communications
Know your resources
Activating an emergency response
Personal locator beacons
SPOT system
Consistent training and review
COLD WEATHER SURVIVAL SKILLS FOR SNOWCAT OPERATORS
THE ANATOMY OF A SURVIVAL SITUATION
Fears and anxiety
Skills vs.will to survive
Panic
COLD ENVIRONMENTS
Heat loss
The layering system
Hypothermia
Frostbite
Water and food in a cold environment
LOST
How to avoid becoming lost
How to be found
SHELTER
Principles of shelter making
Lean to
Natural shelters
Snow shelters
Vehicles and aircraft as shelter
FIRE and HEAT
Principles of fire making
Primitive methods
High-tech heat
TRAVEL
When to leave the vehicle
Direction finding methods
GPS and compass review
High-tech communication in a remote area
Emergency locator devices
Contact us today for a cost quote for a Snowcat Training Program for your organization
Call: (970) 209-1489
Enviro-Tech International
P.O. Box 2135
Montrose, CO 81402
SIGNALING
General concepts
Primitive methods
Modern methods and pyrotechnics
SURVIVAL KITS
Personal kit
Vehicle kit
Aircraft kit
LEARNING TO IMPROVISE
Thinking like a modern caveman
Salvage, Scavenge, and Simplify
Putting it all together and staying alive
© Copyright Enviro-Tech International 1996-2023