avalanche safety course

We're excited to announce the return of our highly popular Avalanche Safety Course at Wide Open Wisconsin. With only 75 spots available, this essential training is sure to fill up quickly. Brought to you by AIARE, Altitude Sickness, and A+ Powersports, our course is designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to stay safe in avalanche-prone areas.

Course Highlights:

• Comprehensive avalanche safety training
• Practical and theoretical sessions
• Expert instruction from Rich Shircel

Raffle Prizes: Coming Soon!

Meet Your Instructor: Rick Shircel

Rick Shircel brings a unique blend of real-world emergency response experience and deep backcountry knowledge to his role as an AIARE-certified avalanche instructor. As the owner of Altitude Sickness, Rick is dedicated to educating and equipping riders with the skills they need to stay safe in unpredictable terrain.

A professional firefighter/paramedic and Tactical EMS provider for a regional SWAT team, Rick operates at the intersection of high-stakes decision-making and technical rescue. He’s also an A.L.E.R.T. and S.A.F.E.R. instructor, and holds Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certification, ensuring his approach to avalanche safety is rooted in both prevention and real-world readiness.

Whether he's leading a classroom session or standing beside sleds in the snow, Rick's passion for rider education, mountain safety, and practical risk management make him an exceptional guide for this year’s course.

The Germantown Sno Drifters and Plat 5 Snowmobile Club have teamed up with the WI Department of Natural Resources to offer a snowmobile safety course to help reduce the potential for accidents, injuries and fatalities; to reduce the potential for conflict between participants, landowners and other resource users; and to promote safe, responsible and ethical use of the environment and our resources. Sign up on the DNR Go Wild website.