Utah Avalanche Center Podcast

We can all agree that traveling in the backcountry is dangerous. Out in the mountains, we take risks and we push the odds. So, if the mountains are dangerous and risky, what does that make you?

Alex Hamlin is a partner at the marketing firm 7D8, and the former creative director at Black Diamond. Alex says that he works to create meaning, not content. He joins Drew to discuss: the power of stories; the critical importance of messaging; influencing behavior; honesty; the messenger's credibility; democratizing avalanche information; riding on red days; riding sans beacon; the stories we carry into the backcountry; communicating with a growing and changing population of backcountry users.

Experts aren't always right. Oftentimes, groups are smarter than even the smartest people in them. We all have a role to play in the backcountry and observations to share.

Jake Hutchinson was a long-time patroller and snow safety director at the Park City resort formerly known as The Canyons. He's also lead-avalanche instructor for AAI. He joins Drew to talk about the risks and rewards of managing avalanche risk for the resort-skiing public. Discussed in this episode: mitigation practices; the evolution of ski patrol culture; the pressures to open terrain; the story of a fatal in-bounds avalanche in 2007 and the ensuing legal battle; the lasting pain of bad consequences.

Special guest Tom Kimbrough, emeritus forecaster for the Utah Avalanche Center, recites "The Metamorphism Parable," penned, according some accounts, by Bill Glude of Alaska Avalanche Specialists.

Alta Director of Snow Safety Dave Richards joins us to kick off another season of UAC podcast interviews. This time, he and host Drew Hardesty discuss the stigma of trauma--"PTSD"--in the avalanche and mountain communities. Discussed in this episode: the message and the messenger; facing off with death; traumatic stress injuries; coping mechanisms; PTSD or PTSI?; EMDR; PTSM and avalanche rescue training; the emotional burdens of backcountry first response.

Something new to kick off Season 2 of the UAC Podcast. Throughout the season, host Drew Hardesty is delving into his deep catalog of UAC blog entries for stories and words of wisdom to keep in mind when you light out for the backcountry. For starters, a story about one backcountry skier forced to cope with the guilt of multiple avalanche involvements. 

In this podcast, we talk with longtime Utah Avalanche Center pro observer Mark White. Mark grew up in the Wasatch Range and is one of the last true "ski bums". We talked about a 2002 avalanche when Mark and his girlfriend Marla rescued and recovered a lone and fully buried skier in a debris pile near the Cardiac Ridge; the intricacies of route selection and terrain management; why Mark seldom digs snowpits; getting to know the snow throughout the season; and being Instagram famous for skiing sick lines

Don Sharaf has the run the gauntlet of a 30-year career on snow. He's a co-owner of American Avalanche Institute and has taught avalanche and mountaineering courses for the past 25 years. He's also worked as a heli-ski guide and avalanche forecaster in Alaska for more than a decade. In other words, he's got enough mileage in the mountains to have learned a thing or two, including the profound value of humility when staring into the face of the dragon.

Retired UAC forecaster and Jenny Lake climbing ranger Tom Kimbrough has spent a lifetime in the mountains. He attributes his ability to survive his adventures to one thing: Luck. We explore his ideas about a lifetime of risk exposure, what it's like seeing his only son climbing and skiing at the highest levels, mentorship in the snow sciences, what role Buddhism has played in his life as a climber, as a skier, and as a soon-to-be octogenarian, and what has changed over the years in the forecasting world.

In December, 2008, Matt Clevenger was caught in an avalanche in the Wasatch Mountains and buried six feet under. Luckily, one of his partners that day, Tom Diegel, reacted quickly, led decisively, and helped save Clevenger's life. Discussed in the podcast: the life-and-death risks of backcountry skiing; mentoring and finding a mentor; moving forward after being buried and rescued; making the right decisions and communicating well during a rescue; practice rescues; practice rescues; PRACTICE RESCUES!

Anna Keeling has been a fully certified IFMGA guide since 2002. She is a highly sought after educator and trainer for aspiring mountain guides. Discussed in this episode: the "systems approach" of risk management to backcountry ski guiding; managing avalanche risk; what it takes to become a ski guide; detailed preparation for a backcountry tour, including "run sheets"; risk vs loss vs love; terrain management; decision making by intuition and the facts; and good communication.

In this episode we talk with Bill Nalli, Utah Department of Transportation Avalanche Program supervisor, about keeping the roads safe in avalanche territory. Topics discussed: avalanche potential in Cottonwood Canyons; avalanche mitigation tools (105mm Howitzers) from WWII to the Wasatch backcountry; Avalanche Hazard Index; avalanche problems across Utah; precarious existence and importance of artillery as avalanche tool; Craig Patterson; managing more and more winters recreators. 

Special guest - Jim Steenburgh, atmospheric sciences at the University of Utah. Discussed in the podcast: The weather triangle of precipitation, wind, and temperature/solar radiation; weather is the architect of the snowpack; seasonal variations in weather patterns; local effects that impact Wasatch winter storms; "atmospheric rivers"; "Lake Effect" myths, brine shrimp included; decision making by consensus and outliers; why Alta does indeed have the Greatest Snow on Earth.

UAC forecaster Drew Hardesty and Alta Snow Safety Director Dave Richards revisit the fateful events of November 13, 2011, the Day of Madness in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Discussed: human factors that compound snow problems; typical hazards of early-season snow; Jamie Pierre; the science, challenges, and potentially deadly results of depth hoar; tips for backcountry recreationists to improve their margins of safety and make smart choices in the early season.