The Avalanche Hour Podcast

Welcome to the first Third Thursday with Wes Gregg. In this episode I talk with Kyle Lamothe who is a park rat from the icy slopes of northern Ontario, Canada turned Ski Mountaineer. He packed up and relocated to the Canadian rockies before finally settling into a little ski town called Revelstoke, British Columbia. After gaining an education and establishing a career in hospitality, Kyle took a s...

We sit done sit down to talk with Wesley Gregg of Williams Lake, BC. Wes reached out to me this spring, and told me how he wanted to start a podcast related to snow avalanches and then he found The Avalanche Hour. He also has a background in audio engineering! We had a quarantine video chat, and he told me about some of his backcountry ventures. Wes and his ski partners often will sled into remote...

We sit down to chat with Henry Munter and Rich Peterson from Chugach Powder Guides. We discuss what some of the aspects of their jobs look like from the guide meetings to the logistics of having multiple aircraft throughout the Chugach range. We talk strategy to deal with uncertainty and get a couple of great stories out of da boys. I know you'll dig it. www.chugachpowderguides.com Music by Ketsa...

We start out episode 5.2 by hearing an update from the A3 Executive Director, Dan Kaveney. Dan talks about what is new for A3 in the 20/21 season. We then dive into a great talk with Laura McGladrey. Laura is a family and psychiatric Nurse Practitioner who specializes in emergency medicine, mental health, and traumatic stress. She is a veteran NOLS instructor, is embedded on a couple ski patrols,...

In the season opener of Season 5, we chat with a pioneer of mechanized avalanche education. Mike Duffy has been teaching mechanized specific avalanche education for over 25 years. Mike is also a product developer and ambassador for Backcountry Access. We review the proper way to do a trailhead beacon check, talk about how COVID may impact the backcountry, and some ways mechanized users can impleme...

In the final episode of Season 4, I chat with Susan Purvis. Susan is an explorer, educator and author of the bestselling adventure memoir, Go Find: My Journey to Find the Lost—And Myself. I talk with Susan about the book, and her experience as an avalanche dog handler in Crested Butte Colorado. She explains the process she went through to certify her canine, Tasha....But even more, she talks about...

Episode 4.21 features Andrew Schauer. Andrew completed the undergraduate and graduate degrees in the Snow Science Program of the Earth Science Department at Montana State University. Andrew talks to us about how his research could help the snow and avalanche community better understand what climatic patterns are leading to destructive deep slab cycles. He talks about an efficient way to process la...

It's episode 4.20, man. This episode features Alex Marienthal. Alex obtained both BS and MS degrees in the Snow Science Program at Montana State University. We chat with Alex about his graduate research regarding better forecasting for deep slab avalanches. Alex shares with us some of the ways he tries to communicate complex problems in a concise way within his forecasts. He also recounts some exp...

This episode highlights Kevin Hammonds. Kevin is a professor at Montana State University in the Civil Engineering department. He is also the current director of the Sub Zero Lab at MSU. Kevin is a great example of someone who is dedicated to merging theory and practice within our field of interest and curiosity. Kevin dives into what is involved in the lab, and some of the interesting research tha...

In this episode, we highlight an interview with Dr. Jerry Johnson, a political science professor at Montana State University. We talk about some of the factors that Jerry feels like are contributing to good decision making in backcountry winter sports. He talks about his involvement with the White Heat Project, and how we can learn about making decisions from other professions, and much more. Musi...

In this episode, we chat with Dr. Jordy Hendrikx- Director of the Snow and Avalanche Lab at Montana State University. Jordy talks about the path that led him to his current role at MSU. He talks about what a potential applicant might want to focus on before starting an application to the program. We also chat about some of the current research going on in the program as well as the high caliber em...

In this episode, we hear from Doug Richmond. Doug is a career ski patroller who started out at Sugarbowl in Lake Tahoe and skipped around a bit before settling in to his home at Bridger Bowl. Doug talks about the fundamentals of working in the avalanche environment, what has kept him and his team safe during avalanche mitigation mornings, and what makes a good ski patroller. Doug shares a couple o...

In this episode, we hear the story of Don Bachman's career in the snow and avalanche world. From ski patrolling to avalanche forecasting for highways, infrastructure, and athletic events, Don recounts lessons learned, mentorships, and a few stories along the way. We hope you enjoy. Music by Ketsa and Lobo Loco.

This episode features Doug Workman- Jackson, WY based ski and alpine guide. Doug is also the North American Technical Snow Safety Rep for Mammut. We chat about ski guiding in the far reaches of the Earth, some of the ways guide meetings might play out for different operations, as well as some of the current snow safety product offerings Mammut has. Don't forget to check out www.mammutavalanchesafe...

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic....Crazy times. Take a timeout to listen to this great episode featuring Eric Knoff. Eric has been a pro patroller, public avalanche forecaster, as well as an educator. We talk to Eric about his career, his new education company: Six Points Avalanche Education, as well as some of his thoughts (and research) on large column tests. Musical tracks by Ketsa. Missi...

In this episode, I chat with Greg Epstein. Greg grew up in Jackson Wyoming, and is proud to call it home. He has been an extreme skier, film producer for TGR, and is currently one of the Teton County Commissioner. Greg talks about his career and recounts an avalanche he was involved in outside of JHMR. Enjoy! Music provided by Broke for Free via www.freemusicarchive.org

This episode highlights two avalanche centers that may be smaller in budget and forecast area of other larger centers, but certainly don't lack in professionalism as well as community support. We chat with Gabe Coler and Aaron Hartz of the Central Oregon Avalanche Center as well as Victor Mcneil of the Wallowa Avalanche Centers. We chat about the evolution and growth of these organizations, as wel...

In Episode 4.10, I sit down with Don Carpenter- Guide, Educator, and owner of The American Avalanche Institute. We chat about some of the programs that AAI offers for some of the special operations teams of the US Military. We chat about teamwork, partners, travel techniques in avalanche terrain, and of course Don shares some stories of his experience throughout his career

We sit down with Ed Adams- recently retired professor from Montana State University. Ed was instrumental in the development and success of the SubZero lab at MSU. We chat about his career path, some of the research that he has worked on, and a few stories that happened along the way. Tune in. Music on this episode by Ketsa. Tracks: Night Fly and Greener Grass.

Episode 4.8 highlights Guide, Educator, Patroller, Professional Expedition Skier Jamie Laidlaw. Jamie shares some of the lessons he has learned in the mountains, and what has caught him off guard in the snowpack. He details some strategy about going into areas where there is no readily accessed information to historical snowpack data. I know you'll enjoy this one. Cheers.

In this episode, we first chat with CJ Svela who is the Vice President of the Association of Professional Patrollers. He shares with us what the APP is all about, and some of the educational offerings of this winter for Patrollers across the West. We then chat with Laura Maguire, who shares some of her research concerning decision making and cognitive systems in high risk environments. Check out a...

Danny Holland recounts his perspective of being part of the group that was involved in a fatal avalanche on December 26, 2013 on Cody Peak, WY. This is not meant to be an exhaustive analysis of the avalanche, but more a conversational piece about how the events of that fateful day unfolded. Thank you to Danny for sharing his story. This is not easy. For more information on this event, see the belo...

Hopefully you all are stuffed from the recent Thanksgiving holiday. More importantly, I hope you were able to spend some quality time with those people you care about. This episode features a great interview with Doug Chabot who is the current director of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center in Bozeman, MT. We chat about some of the strategies the GNAFC utilizes to get their message acros...

We sit down and have a good ol time with BrendEn Cronin. Currently a highway forecaster for Wyoming DOT, BrendEn has been a guide, forecaster, ski patroller, and all around badass kayaker. We cover lots in this episode, and I think we had a pretty good time doing it. Hope you enjoy. Music in this episode: Funk it VIP by Gramatik and DeFunk as well as So Far by Anitek.

I travelled to Jackson WY last week and sat down with Don Sharaf. Don has spent the better part of the past 3 decades working in the snow and avalanche realm while forecasting, guiding, and educating others in this high risk environment. We break down what we can do given all of our awareness of human factors, talk about how to measure success and failure in avalanche education, whether confidence...