February 5, 2019
UAC Podcast - The Message and the Messengers - A Conversation with Alex Hamlin
Drew Hardesty
In this podcast, we sit down with Alex Hamlin. For over fifteen years, Alex Hamlin has worked at the intersection of storytelling and outdoor sport, with experience at magazines, global retail brands and creative agencies. He is currently a partner at Salt Lake City-based brand agency 7D8 (7D8.co), but before that, Alex was the Creative Director at Black Diamond Equipment. In our conversation, we talk about the psychology behind marketing (and influencing behavior change), with a particular eye toward marketing safety. Alex talks about what storytelling means as a way of establishing …
Read more January 30, 2019
The Risks and Rewards of Ski Patrol - A Conversation with Jake Hutchinson
Drew Hardesty
In this podcast, we talk with long time and now retired Canyons ski patrol director and head of snow safety Jake Hutchinson. Jake has also been chief instructor for AAI (American Avalanche Institute) and is now general manager at Gym Jones. Jake has been a long term member of Wasatch Backcountry Rescue and along with Dave Weber, run AAI's multi-day professional rescue seminar. In this conversation, Jake details what it requires to be in snow safety at a ski area, particularly as it relates to personal risk while out on the slopes. Jake was the head of snow safety during an in-bounds …
Read more January 24, 2019
I AM Dangerous
Drew Hardesty
With permission, we are reprinting Molly Absolon's opinion piece from the Jan 23, 2019 edition of the Jackson Hole News and Guide. A link to the article is HERE.
Danger, dangerous, stupid: Not all the same
Mountainside / By Molly Absolon
Jan 23, 2019 Updated Jan 24, 2019
Friday the snow was deep and creamy. It was also sensitive.
My husband dug a test pit on a slope we hoped to ski. A soft slab roughly 70 centimeters thick propagated across the wall of snow on the 17th tap of his extended column test. Not a good …
Read more January 21, 2019
Week in Review: Jan 25 - 31, 2019
Greg Gagne
Drew Hardesty
Our Week in Review highlights significant snowfall, weather, and avalanche events of the previous week. (Click here to review the archived forecasts for the Salt Lake mountains.)
The danger roses for the Salt Lake mountains from Friday Jan 25 through Thursday Jan 31:
Summary: ... A ridge of high pressure builds to the west, keeping northern Utah under a breezy but warming northwest flow. The snowpack trends toward stabilization and by Tuesday the overall danger in the central Wasatch is dropped to LOW.
Friday January 25 - Gusty northwest winds up high …
Read more January 21, 2019
Week in Review: Jan 18-24, 2019
Greg Gagne
Our Week in Review highlights significant snowfall, weather, and avalanche events of the previous week. (Click here to review the archived forecasts for the Salt Lake mountains.)
The danger roses for the Salt Lake mountains from Friday Jan 18 through Thursday Jan 24:
Summary: A significant storm late the previous week raises the avalanche hazard, and the UAC issues an avalanche warning for the Martin Luther King holiday weekend. A second storm early in the week with heavy snow and strong winds. Sadly, the first avalanche fatality of the year occurs on the Manti Skyline over the …
Read more January 17, 2019
Week in Review: Jan 11-17, 2019.
Greg Gagne
Our Week in Review highlights significant snowfall, weather, and avalanche events of the previous week. (Click here to review the archived forecasts for the Salt Lake mountains.)
The danger roses for the Salt Lake mountains from Friday Jan 11 through Thursday Jan 17:
Summary: Increasing stability early in the week, with rising hazard towards week's end. Avalanche warning issued by the UAC on Thursday January 17.
Friday January 11 - Quiet with no backcountry avalanches reported. Indications of increasing stability, but persistent weaknesses remain throughout the mountains in …
Read more January 15, 2019
UAC Podcast - Breaking the Stigma with Traumatic Stress - Another Conversation with Dave Richards
Drew Hardesty
In this podcast, we talk again with Dave Richards, head of Alta Snow Safety. In the fall of 2017, Dave gave a presentation at the Utah Snow and Avalanche Workshop to a packed house of 600 people on the real dangers of traumatic stress with public safety personnel, particularly in avalanche rescue. This was ground breaking for our industry because it wasn't just the message, it was the messenger that made it so impactful.
Last season we talked with Dave about The Day of Madness.
Read more