AIARE Certification

Has anyone here taken an AIARE course in NH or New England? According to the AIARE website there only appear to be a few outfits that do in NH and their website makes it a point to state that they do not certify instructor performance so I'm guessing the quality of instruction varies from company to company. I'd like to take the AIARE 1 and Avalanche Rescue courses but given the fairly steep cost it would be nice to get a referral or two. I've read some stuff on the subject but this seems like the kind of thing where hands on application with an expert is the way to go.

If anyone has any personal experiences with any of the NH companies and can make a positive referral it would be appreciated. Thanks.