Colin Zacharias
Noah Howell
Episode 1
In our first episode of The Avalanche Hour, we hear from professional backcountry skier Noah Howell about his history with avalanche education and a close call he dealt with in Alaska. Colin Zacharias shares some risk management strategies that can be used by both recreational backcountry users as well as the professional community. Finally, Scott Savage of the Sawtooth Avalanche Center talks to us about the season's snowpack up in his neck of the woods.
Roger Strong
Drew Hardesty
Episode 2
Our second episode of The Avalanche Hour highlights a story of an avalanche accident on Snoqualmie Pass from Roger Strong. We talk to Utah Avalanche Center's Drew Hardesty about shared responsibility amongst users in areas of high use backcountry avalanche terrain. We round out the show with a seasonal snowpack roundup from Alex Marienthal of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center.
Gallatin Avalanche Center
Kevin Grove
Episode 3
Our third podcast highlights some thoughts and reflections from Kevin Grove of Bend, Oregon. Kevin talks about his experiences skiing in the Central Oregon mountains and how his risk tolerance has shifted since bringing a daughter into his life. Caleb rounds out the show by reflecting on some complacent decision making in low consequence terrain.
Kirk Bachman
Jonathon Spitzer
Episode 4
This episode will be broken down into two separate episodes, and will talk about some of the details of how avalanche education within the United States will be changing in the next year. We sit down with Kirk Bachman of Stanley Idaho. Kirk wears many hats and one of them is that of the Chair of the Education Committee for the American Avalanche Association. Kirk Explains some of the reasoning for the upcoming Professional/Recreational split and how it can benefit different user groups. In part 2 of the episode, we finish our conversation with Kirk about how you may fit into the new paradigm of avalanche education. We then talk to IFMGA and heli ski guide Jonathon Spitzer. Jonathon also works as an instructor for AIARE and the AMGA, and brings some perspective about how the upcoming Pro/Rec split may benefit the professional guiding community.
Nick Meyers
Episode 5
In this episode, we talk to Nick Meyers. Nick is the Director of the Mt. Shasta Avalanche Center as well as the lead climbing ranger for the area. We talk to Nick about springtime avalanche concerns all over the western US. He also lets us know some things to think about when planning a climbing or skiing trip to Mt. Shasta. Enjoy!