| Summary: | The purpose of this thesis was to develop an avalanche and winter safety course for winter hikers. In this thesis, the winter hikers are defined as anyone who is travelling in the backcountry without avalanche safety gear. The development consisted of literature on avalanche and winter safety and a research to define the needs for winter hikers. The thesis was commissioned by Pyhä Ski School snow safety department. It aims to improve safety in the area by doing the avalanche safety forecasts and educating the visitors and local organizations concerning the avalanche safety. It is working around Pyhätunturi in Pyhä-Luosto National Park at Pelkosenniemi. The area offers great possibilities for any nature-based activity during winter and is popular within backcountry skiers that are seeking for steeper slopes to ride that are usually aware of avalanche hazards. But with the increase of snowshoers, fell skiers and other hikers it has been noted that they can also be at avalanche risk in some cases. The development project was a practice-based that utilized some qualitative research methods. Theme-based interviews provided qualitative data that was used to define the course goals. The interviews were conducted with different organizations in the area to receive a wider perspective on the educational needs. The basics adventure education was also investigated to be used as a a pedagogical method for the course. The results showed that there is a demand for this basic course. It should be focused on avalanche safety without avalanche safety gear which involves terrain management to avoid the risks. In addition, there will be some relevant information on other winter safety hazards and good procedures on risk management for any trip. Experiential learning is widely used pedagogical method in adventure education, that will be used during this course. During the process we developed a product that should be sold in the upcoming years by Pyhä Ski School. It consists of indoor and outdoor lesson that can be run by their instructors. It provides the participants relevant knowledge to be able to explore in the area more safely even independently. The results of this thesis are meant for Pyhä Ski School, but can also benefit many organisations working in similar environment.
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