An Avalanche Forecaster, a Meteorologist, and an Economist Walk Into a Bar...
Release Date: 01/10/2020
Craig Gordon and the Zen of Solo Touring
Utah Avalanche Center Podcast
More often than not, UAC forecaster Craig Gordon heads into the backcountry alone. He loves it. the solitude. Moving at his own pace. Spending as much time as he wants, as much time as it takes to understand the snowpack. He also understands the risks involved in touring alone. Craig joins us to talk through two of his most memorable solo backcountry tours, what he learned out there, and how he came back a changed man.
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Toby Weed on Sharing the Joys of Powder Snow
Utah Avalanche Center Podcast
If there's one thing we can all agree on, it's snow. In his 20-plus years as a UAC forecaster for the Logan region, Toby Weed has seen snow's uniting effects. The Logan mountains boast an abundance of terrain, and for years, motorized and non-motorized users battled for the best slopes. But, Weed says, these days, things have changed. He joins us to talk about how, by focusing on the snow, and how to travel safely on it, we can all just get along.
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Paige Pagnucco on Effective Messaging in Culturally Complex Terrain
Utah Avalanche Center Podcast
There isn’t any hard data on this, but it seems safe to say that Paige Pagnucco is one of very few people who are both full-time avalanche forecasters and MBAs. In fact, she may well be a group of one. Pagnucco, who forecasts for the Logan region, says that, while it may not seem like it at first, there’s actually some significant overlap between business and forecasting. It comes down to messaging. Marketers and forecasters are both trying to figure out how you inspire certain behaviors by saying the right thing in the right way. Pagnucco joins us to explore the nuances of effective...
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Eric Trenbeath on the Communal Impact of a Tragic Avalanche
Utah Avalanche Center Podcast
The La Sal Mountains of southeastern Utah erupt out of the surrounding red rock desert. They sport steep slopes and big alpine lines that just beg to be skied. But this is expert terrain, says UAC forecaster Eric Trenbeath. It’s highly avalanche prone, especially in the heart of winter, when the coverage is thin. Trenbeath is based in Moab, and he’s been forecasting for the La Sals and nearby Abajos for nearly 15 years. All that time, and for years before he arrived, the shadow of the Gold Basin accident has hung over winter recreation down there. Trenbeath joins us to recount the tragic...
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Greg Gagne on Developing a Conservative Mindset and Cultivating Community
Utah Avalanche Center Podcast
Greg Gagne is a self-described conservative backcountry skier. His greatest satisfaction comes from putting in the work before entering avalanche terrain. He wants to know, as well as he possibly can, that the snow he’s traveling on and around is stable. Greg joins us to explore how we grow our knowledge and experience in avalanche terrain, and we also talk about the ingredients of a healthy backcountry community.
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Nikki Champion on Forecast Accuracy and Finding Your Way
Utah Avalanche Center Podcast
UAC forecaster Nikki Champion knows first-hand the challenge of charting a career path in snow and avalanche science. She joins us to talk about how having role models and mentors that looked like her helped her find her way. We also talk about her recent ISSW paper evaluating the accuracy of the avalanche center’s forecasts in the last few years.
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Drew Hardesty on Stories, Storytelling and Safety Communication
Utah Avalanche Center Podcast
This season, something a little different on the podcast. We want you to get to know the UAC forecasters, so, Drew is handing over the host's mic to producer Benjamin Bombard, and he'll be the one interviewing the crew. Drew's first at bat. He joins us to talk about how relaying valuable information through stories—rather than "just the facts, ma'am"—can help backcountry users get home safely.
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Laura McGladrey on the Keys to a Long and Healthy Career in the Mountains
Utah Avalanche Center Podcast
Laura McGladrey, the founder of the groundbreaking non-profit Responders Alliance, works with front-line teams who witness and experience traumatic events—law enforcement, fire, EMS, Search and Rescue. She crafts language and creates tools to help them foster mental well being and resiliency. As Laura told us, you can spend all the time you want in classes, studying snow science and the human factors, you can spend all the time you want on the snow. But, for a lot of us, when your soul gets raked over the coals of trauma with loss so common to life in the mountains, there isn’t much...
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Snow Monk Jerry Roberts on a Lifetime in the Mountains
Utah Avalanche Center Podcast
Unlike a lot of snow and avalanche professionals, Jerry Roberts spent a fair amount of time hanging out around San Francisco, soaking up the Buddhist-infused literary scene of the '60s. He developed a deep affection for some very old school snow enthusiasts: Basho, Issa, Buson, and other 18th-century Japanese poets. He went on to a lengthy career forecasting for the Colorado Avalance Information Center, the Colorado Department of Transportation, even Quentin Tarantino. Along the way, he's written a number of his own wintry haiku. He joins us to share stories and wisdom from a lifetime in the...
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Chris Lundy on the Four-Letter Word of Decision Making
Utah Avalanche Center Podcast
At the end of nearly every episode of the podcast, Drew asks his guests, "To what do you attribute your longevity?" The answer he hears more than any other: Luck. When he got the question as a guest on the show last season, it got Chris Lundy thinking. He ended up making a presentation at the Bend SAW about what luck has to teach us about winter backcountry travel. Luck, he came he think, is just the other side of risk. They're opposite sides of the same coin. Lundy is an avalanche forecaster at the Sawtooth Avalanche Center and a avalanche specialist with the National Avalanche Center. He...
info_outlineHere's a question: What's the goal of forecasting? Economist Peter Donner and meteorologist Larry Dunn are both retired from their respective careers predicting the future, and they join Drew to share what they know about the intricacies of forecasting. It may sound dry, but the economic concepts of gain and loss, risk and reward shape good decision making in the backcountry. So, what's the goal of forecasting: accuracy or outcomes? How do you impact decision making--not to mention your reputation--with forecasts that overly cautious or not cautious enough? And how do you minimize risk when out on a tour?