Avalanche Deaths in Europe Top 75 To date this season, avalanches have caused 75 skier deaths throughout Europe—a five-year high. Twenty-four of these occurred in France, 20 in Switzerland, 15 in Italy, 14 in Austria and two in Germany, reports wepowder.com. The latest victim, a British skier—one of three skiers killed over the weekend—died in […]
BC Banter: Avalanche Canada Adds Crowdsourcing Feature to App, SCARPA Issues Voluntary F1 Evo Recall, Eight Die in Swiss Avalanches, Slide Suspends Freeride World Tour in Austria
Avalanche Canada Adds Crowdsourcing Feature to App Revelstoke, B.C. Avalanche Canada—previously known as the Canadian Avalanche Centre—added a significant update to their free avalanche app, available for Android and iPhone. The upgrade allows users to post real-time observations, photos and comments via the crowdsourced Mountain Information Network (MIN). These geo-tagged MIN postings display on both […]
BC Banter: Avalanche in French Alps Kills Six, Vertfest Backcountry Festival, The East’s Epic Weather, SIA Snow Show
Six experienced French skiers—four men and two women, between ages 50 and 70—were killed in a massive avalanche while traversing alpine terrain on the border of Italy and France on January 24. “When they set off, the sky was clear and the risk of avalanche estimated at 3 out of 5,” Haute-Alpes chief officer Pierre Besnard told the British news outlet, Mirror. Their bodies were recovered early the following morning at 8,000 feet, reports International Business Times.
BC Banter: Snowboarder Narrowly Avoids Hatcher Pass Slide, Avalanche Centers Release Forecasting Apps, Upcoming Trade Shows
He heard the slope pop, let out a brief squeal and continued. The slope cracked again, and with snow breaking apart under his boots, 30-year-old snowboarder Greg Hugunin—with his helmet cam capturing the moment—made a 45-degree turn to safety.
BC Banter: Avalanche Accidents from Austria to Colorado, Winter Storm Gorgan Dumps Snow Across U.S.
U.S. Ski Team Athletes Die in Avalanche Soelden, Austria U.S. Ski Team development athletes Ronnie Berlack, 20, of Franconia, N.H., and Bryce Astle, 19, of Sandy, Utah, died in an avalanche on January 6. They were skiing off piste down 3,058-meter Gaislachkogl, in Soelden, Austria, when the slide occurred. The four other skiers in their party […]
Hogback Throwback: Conservation and Skiing at an Abandoned Vermont Mountain
Since 1986, Hogback Ski Area’s abandoned southern-Vermont slopes have become overgrown, making skiing unpleasant, if not impossible. Now an organization is maintaining the area with a dual purpose: habitat conservation and skiability. Hogback Ski Area, located in southern Vermont’s Green Mountains near the town of Marlboro, began operation in 1946 and closed its slopes in […]
The Splitty Guiding Fund: Rick Gaukel Splitboard Scholarship
When splitboarder Rick Gaukel and four friends were killed in an avalanche on Loveland Pass, Colo. on April 20, 2013, he had recently completed a 12-day ski-guide course with the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA). Splitboarding was his preferred method of backcountry travel, and he was an advocate for getting it accepted by the AMGA. […]
The Wasatch Backcountry Voice: Tom Diegel on protecting Salt Lake City’s Mountain Landscape
When we published an article in the November 2013 issue on Wasatch Backcountry Alliance (WBA), the organization that provides a voice to backcountry users in and around Salt Lake City, Utah was just in its inception. The WBA, a volunteer nonprofit, has experienced tremendous growth since then. Today it aims to reach members beyond SLC and the […]
BC Banter: AIARE Hires New Executive Director, Jim Harris’s Recovery, December Issue Hits Newsstands, PoleClinometer Launches Kickstarter
The American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE) has hired Tim Bennet as their new executive director. Bennet’s position replaces the roles of both Brian Lazar and Tom Murphy as they transitioned to AIARE’s board of directors. “I saw a fantastic chance to blend my personal passion for skiing and safe, outdoor adventure with my skills in nonprofit management,” Bennet said in a press release.
Adventure Photographer Jason Hummel’s Alpine State of Mind
Ski photographer and writer Jason Hummel wears a bright, broad smile. And he certainly has something to be happy about. As of the first week of December, he’s raised more than $7,000 through his Kickstarter campaign, successfully surpassing its goal. This means he’ll be printing 500 copies of the first issue of his brainchild, the […]
