Avalanche
Banned of Brothers
Historically, those with authority, guns and money tend to get their way, so when the Utah Department of Transportation starts hinting about closing areas in the Wasatch for backcountry skiing, it is probably worth listening to them. UDOT is responsible for keeping the Little Cottonwood Canyon road open and safe from avalanches, and one of their […]
November 1st – 2014 Utah Snow & Avalanche Workshop Public Session
Avalanche education is one of the best ways to avoid being caught and/or buried by an avalanche while backcountry skiing, or, as the Utah Avalanche Center says “Know Before You Go.” To that end, the UAC is hosting a very concentrated avalanche workshop this Saturday, November 1st at the Southtowne Expo Center in Sandy, Utah. […]
Utah Avalanche Center Mega Party – This Thursday
One of the toughest parts of an Avalanche Forecasters job isn’t assessing the snowpack, it’s figuring out a way to raise money to keep a forecast operation running. Among people who use and appreciate forecast centers, it seems hard to believe that they aren’t funded through some sort of public safety agency, and yet Utah […]
Bunching
It’s hard to say which is worse – bunched up skiing, or bunched up underwear, and although both are unpleasant, bunched up skiing is definitely more dangerous. You usually hear about the dangers of bunching up in two scenarios; either in an avalanche course where the instructors say to avoid it, or when there’s been […]
Wasangeles Silver Lining
The silver lining of touring in a popular area and competing for first tracks is that there are also a lot of potential rescuers around if things should go wrong, as happened yesterday. As we were coming around for a second lap in Silver Fork, we saw a major debris pile and crown line right […]
Enlightening Avalanche Video
Ideally, the first thing you would do in an Avalanche Level One class would be to go out and have everyone get caught & carried in a big slide. Assuming there were any students left alive afterwards, you’d then have their full and undivided attention. If you can live through it, there is no better […]
Avalanche Science Project
I’ve always wanted an excuse to make an avalanche board, and my daughter’s recent school Science Fair seemed like a perfect opportunity to try it out. Avalanche boards are pretty cool as they can show all of the elements of an avalanche (layers, triggers, slope angle, terrain) in a confined space and time, plus you […]
Unique Avalanche Class Next Week
The Utah Avalanche Center, Black Diamond and Snowbird are hosting the “2013 Snowbird Freeride Avalanche Summit” this upcoming Monday and Tuesday (Jan 6-7) with a short evening session/registration Sunday evening. The emphasis is on steep skiing, filming, sidecountry and working with resort resources. I signed up for this course for a number of reasons. First, […]
2011/12 Wasatch in Review Video
If you have 20 minutes, Trent Meisenheimer and Craig Gordon have put together an excellent video review of the 2011-12 Wasatch snow, avalanche and accident season. Not only does it have some great skiing, riding and music, but the avalanche footage is stunning. Last year all you had to do was cross your eyes to […]
Recent Comments