The San Juan Snowcast

Well folks, this is the final episode of the 2023-2024 winter season! On this week’s episode, I reflect on this past winter and provide a seasonal snowfall history and a recap of this year’s avalanche statistics. But the heart of this episode is a conversation I have with Ryan and Isaiah about an avalanche that happened on King Solomon Mountain, outside of Silverton, just about one year ago last S...

Hey everyone, I’m back after taking last week off… the skiing was just too good!!! It’s a beautiful time in the San Juans and the backcountry is currently FIRING. On this week’s show, I recap the storms, provide an update on the State of the Snowpack, and take a look at the recent avalanche activity before jumping into a conversation with my friend and fellow Snowcaster, Nick McEachern, who is the...

Man, the last week was pretty epic in the San Juan backcountry! The snowpack is finally trending in the right direction and we’re getting to ski and ride some steep lines in the alpine! On this week’s show, I present to you the HOT TAKES EPISODE where I invite four friends over for some libations and lively conversation about backcountry ski/split culture. Enjoy!  THINK SNOW! Instagram: @sanjuansn...

Hey folks, I’m back after taking last week off! In this episode I catch up on the State of the Snowpack and the latest backcountry conditions, before sharing my own personal avalanche story. 7 years ago this May, I triggered an avalanche that could have ended it all… and I’ve been wanting to share this story for some time. There’s a lot to learn from it, because I made pretty much every “human fac...

Spring’s around the corner, there a storm in the forecast, and the kids are alright… the future is bright! In this week’s episode I discuss the state of the snowpack, stepping out, recent avalanches,  El Niño, the pole penetrometer, and much much more. I also share some events from the Community Calendar and we hear from the Outdoor Ed class at Telluride High about what they think of the backcount...

Episode 10! We’re trucking through winter and the high pressure is back. In this week’s episode, I provide an update on the State of the Snowpack, dig into our weekly Avalanche Report, and then share a conversation that I had with the Executive Director of the San Miguel Watershed Coalition, Adrian Bergere. We talk about the impacts of our snowpack on spring runoff, the limitations of Snotel stati...

February is here and so is the pow! Huge totals from this last storm have buoyed our snowpack and brought it back to average. In this episode, I do a deep dive on the Storm Recap and the State of the Snowpack, before I nerd out on “crust-facet-combos” and your Word of the Day (it’s German!).  I also offer a brief “Chairlift Chat” on why I chose to ride the resort during this recent storm cycle, an...

It’s been a HOT ONE! Warm temps and strong sunshine prompted a natural avalanche cycle this past week across the Juans. In this week’s episode, I recap the natural and human-triggered avalanche activity we had this past week, before diving into a chat with my buddy Karl Welter, a ski patroller with the Telluride Ski Resort. Hot Karl walks us through the nuances of ski cutting and when it’s appropr...

This episode was a tough one.  We’ve had a number of avalanche incidents that should serve as a wake up call to us all, culminating in the first fatal avalanche in Colorado this season, right here in the San Juans. In this episode, I give a quick recap of the weather, the snowpack, and the sheer amount of avalanches that have occurred so far in January.  Then, I jump into a conversation with my fr...

What a week of weather it has been across the Juans! I’ll kick things off this week with a storm recap and an investigation as to why Sunday’s storm caught so many of us off guard. Then we’ll dive into a super informative conversation about public land management and some of the local issues facing the San Juans, with Hilary Eisen of the Winter Wildlands Alliance and Mason Osgood of the Sheep Moun...

Happy New Year! On this week’s show we discuss the current State of the Snowpack and how it will hopefully change soon, highlight some local events in the Community Calendar, and then sit down for a chat with Maddie Crowell, local ski guide, avalanche educator, and couloir hunter. Maddie gives us an update on the variability of snow conditions above treeline and why the couloirs of the San Juans m...

Happy Winter Solstice!  In this episode, we lament our slow start to the season, and the shallow and weak snowpack… but then see a glimmer of hope in the form of a Santa Slammer Holiday Snowstorm that arrives on Saturday! The main focus of this episode, however, is RADIOS. We’ll talk about the new channels for the Telluride Radio Program, and I’ll share some tips for proper radio etiquette so we c...

It’s December, and its finally looking like Winter! On this week’s episode, I recap last week’s storm and take a peak and the weather before taking a DEEP DIVE into electromagnetic interference and it’s effect on our avalanche transceivers. It’s time to get technical and make sure we’re tuned up and tuned in for the Winter to come.  THINK SNOW!  Instagram: @sanjuansnowcast Email: sanjuansnowcast@g...

Coming atcha with a quick bonus episode this week! This one highlights some Community Calendar events before diving into some gear talk with Kyle Siegel of Raide. I’ll be back next week with a proper Snowcast episode all about PRE-SEASON PREP, the  State of the Snowpack, and, of course, a look at the weather!  Music on the show:  “Ghetto Funk” by Queens Community Show Band “Cool Reggae Party” by J...

IT SNOWED! Finally. In Episode 2, we dig into a recap of this past weekend’s storm before exploring the TOP TEN COOLEST THINGS I learned while attending 3 different Snow and Avalanche Workshops this past October. Thanks for tuning in and THINK SNOW! Our next storm arrives on Friday of this week. Instagram: @sanjuansnowcast Email: sanjuansnowcast@gmail.com Venmo: @Chris-Dickson Thanks as always to...

Welcome to Season 3 of the San Juan Snowcast! On Episode 1, we take the Snowcast pledge (raise your right hand…) before recapping just how good last winter truly was, and we why should probably temper our expectations for this year. Also, we discuss why most “season outlooks” don’t actually mean much, before diving into, you guessed it, a season outlook and what the impending El Niño could mean fo...

We are breaking records with this storm! Yet another blizzard is dumping snow on the San Juan Mountains, and this winter has officially crossed the threshold into uncharted territory for our 30-year average snowpack! We dive into the State of the Snowpack before sinking our teeth into this year’s HOT TAKES segment. Four friends join me on the pod to chat about what we love and what we hate in our...

Hello everyone and welcome to Episode 15!  It’s currently dumping snow across the Juan’s and the powder stoke is HIGH. On this week’s show, I break down the State of our Snowpack, this current storm, and then dive into a conversation with two local avalanche forecasters: Jeff Davis, with Helitrax, and Elyse Parcell, with the Telluride Ski Patrol. We go deep in to the perilous world of “Moderate” d...

Well, I’m back after a week off from the pod. And a lot has happened in the last week, including several fatal avalanche incidents in our mountains. In this week’s show I discuss the wind, the dust, and the snow we’ve been getting, before I unpack the sad avalanche accidents that occurred this past Saturday.  This is a somber episode but sometimes we need to remember what’s at stake when we travel...

What a storm!!! Man, this winter is just… AWESOME and I am loving it. On this week’s show, we’ll dive into a recap of our latest storm, check out the state of the snowpack, talk Hand Shears and other on-the-fly snowpack obs, and then discuss the dangers around President’s Day Weekend in Colorado (spoiler alert: this is the most dangerous week of the entire winter in terms of avalanche accidents in...

For the 1st time this season, a majority of the San Juan Mountains have a Low avalanche danger rating. On this week’s episode, I dig into why that is, what’s up with the current State of the Snowpack, a look at some upcoming events on the Community Calendar, and finally a Nugget on the “Stepping Out” mindset and how I applied it on my tours in the backcountry last week.  Thanks for listening! And...

And… we’re back! I’m currently rebounding from COVID (Round 2) but I’m ready to dive back into the San Juan snowpack! On this week’s show, I welcome a new sponsor, take a look at the state of the snowpack, and then sit down for a chat with Matt Steen and Jeff Davis, Director and Assistant Director of HeliTrax’s Snow Safety Team to discuss all the ins and outs of dropping bombs out of helicopters t...

On this week’s episode, I’m trapped in my hometown by a very large natural avalanche over the road! Literally as I was writing this episode, a natural avalanche knocked out my power and internet and trapped myself and my neighbors in by covering the only access road in 20 feet of debris. So, I adapted, and this week’s episode became covering the widespread avalanche cycle that occurred just outsid...

If you or someone you know has experienced a traumatic incident, or is struggling with grief, please reach out to someone for help. Survivors of Outdoor Adventures and Recovery has a great website with some resources to check out: http://soar4life.org/ .  In this episode, I provide an update on the last two weeks of snow and avalanche activity, before diving into a debrief of a full burial avalanc...

Happy holidays, folks! This is the last episode of the year, so it’s a bit of a long(er) one. We’ve got a huge multi-day storm barreling down on the San Juans! The snow is stacking up, the avalanche danger is rising, and our snowpack may just bounce back to “average” from this storm. In this episode, I dive into the current storm before sitting down for a nice conversation with my friend and house...