Normally we relate experience with a level of proficiency. The more experience one has, the better qualified they are to make the right decisions. It is proven that humans make decisions more readily if they have made similar decisions beforehand. As we recognize patterns through firsthand experiences we see which decisions lead to favorable outcomes and which ones do not; we develop intuition for future actions. In relation to making decisions in avalanche terrain then, how

It has been well documented that backcountry travelers, even with formal training, still are not impervious to avalanche incidents. In fact, clues of avalanche danger are often blatantly obvious, but somehow information gets overlooked all too often and greater risk is taken than was perhaps initially intended. Is it that if we want to do something enough that we will find a way to rationalize it? If so, then how can we put the odds better in our favor? Gordon Graham, a polic

Merry Christmas, after many dry weeks creating a weak sugary snowpack the time of reckoning is finally here; we have a slab on top of it all. Yesterday (12/23) the upper Cottonwoods received a little over an inch of snow water equivalent with over a foot of snow and moderate winds and tonight (12/24) another storm is expected to bring another round with similar totals. As a consequence to the new load dangerous avalanche conditions will be present in the coming days throughou

Just over ten years ago I went down to New Zealand to work what was then my second season forecasting and guiding in the country. I had taken a new job for a heli-accessed cat-skiing operation called Mt. Potts that operated on the land of an old ski area called Erehwon; a telling name as it is no-where spelled backward. It was quiet, as you would imagine and the mountains were big and steep. We just lacked one thing to get going for the season, snow. Week after week past and

It has been well documented that with knowledge and experience we can better predict the propensity of avalanches. So how is it that so many experienced people still get caught in avalanches? There really isn’t a simple answer but ultimately it does all boil down to an individuals’ decision-making process at crunch time. Knowledge acts as a set of keys in the mountains and often times the more one knows the more comfortable one feels pushing closer to the limit, consequently

Tis the season when we all get excited to ski in the hills once again. Its already gotten cold and this morning folks in Salt Lake woke to traces of snow down to the valley floor, undoubtedly tickling every skiers urge for winter exploits. Historically, Fall in the Mountain West can see a full spectrum of weather conditions, from down right hot and dry (my tomatoes grew last season into mid November) to cold and wet. And it's important to remember that how conditions present

The Following was published in Ascent Backcountry Snow Journal. It was getting late, and I was behind schedule, still high on Mt. Nebo as the sun set over the horizon. As it turns out, traversing the ridge past Nebo’s three summits is quite difficult going; it’s deceptively long, serrated by rock and generally not very conducive to travel with a 60 lb. pack, during winter, solo. Seven thousand feet below, one car after the next sped past on I-15, headlights gleaming through t