Utah Avalanche Center Podcast

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 car...

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 Park West, Wolf Mountain, and The Canyons. He's also lead-avalanche instructor for the American Avalanche Institute. 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 s...

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

Dave Richards, director of snow safety at Alta Ski Resort, 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 ava...

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 long time Utah Avalanche Center pro observer Mark White. Mark grew up in the Wasatch Range and is one of the last true self-described "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...

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 va...

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 discussed his thinking about a lifetime of risk exposure, what it's like now seeing his only son climbing and skiing at the highest levels, and what role Buddhism has played in his life as a climber, as a skier, and as...

In December, 2008, Matt Clevenger was caught in an avalanche in the Wasatch Mountains and buried him 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 r...

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; terrai...

In this episode, we talk with Bill Nalli, Utah Department of Transportation Avalanche Program supervisor, about keeping the Greatest Snow on Earth from avalanching over the open roads. Topics discussed: managing avalanche potential in Little Cottonwood Canyon; avalanche mitigation tools (105mm Howitzers) from WWII to the Wasatch backcountry; Avalanche Hazard Index; avalanche problems across Utah;...

Special guest, Jim Steenburgh AKA Professor Powder, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Utah and author of the book THE GREATEST SNOW ON EARTH. 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...

Utah Avalanche Center 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. It was an early-season powder day in the Wasatch, and people's lust for epic snow encountered the dangerous realities of considerable avalanche danger, with deadly results. Discussed: human factors that compound ...