Promoting Alaska avalanche education and awareness for the last 40 years. The Alaska Avalanche School has been in existence since 1976, when it was founded by Doug Fesler as an avalanche safety center under the State of Alaska. Later, the school became known as the Alaska Mountain Safety Center, where Doug, along with Jill Fredston, began teaching avalanche safety courses. The Alaska Avalanche School has grown steadily in the four decades since its inception, and now a staff of 25 professional instructors reaches hundreds of students, both in the field and in the classroom, each winter season.