AMGA ANNOUNCES ALEX KOSSEFF AS NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BOULDER, COLO. The American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) announced Alex Kosseff as its new Executive Director. Kosseff begins his post this week at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market show in Salt Lake City, Utah. Kosseff—an experienced outdoor educator and bestselling author of the AMC Guide to Outdoor Leadership—cut his teeth in entrepreneurship when he founded the Outdoor Safety Institute five […]
BC Banter: Colorado Avalanche Information Center seeks forecasters, snow falls in Montana and New Zealand avalanche kills two
Colorado Avalanche Information Center Seeks Forecaster BOULDER, COLO. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) is hiring. Posted this week on avalanche.org, CAIC is seeking a permanent, part-time forecaster to work alongside their statewide team of weather and avalanche forecasters. Eligible applicants must have two years professional forecasting experience, web experience and a college degree in […]
BC Banter: Verb Cabin Releases “Places To Go” Trailer, American Alpine Institute Announces Guide Like Liz Scholarship Recipients, Flylow Drops Lifestyle Line and DPS Partners with POW
Last November, Backcountry contributor Jim Harris fractured several vertebrae while practicing with a kite to cross the Southern Patagonia Ice Cap, an accident that left him with a loss of movement in his lower body. Now, VerbCabin, a Tahoe-based multimedia group, is telling Jim’s story of strength, courage and perseverance. The short documentary is due out this fall, and the trailer dropped this week.
BC Banter: Patagonia Debuts Responsibly Sourced Merino Layers, Silverton Proposes Terrain Modification, DPS Launches Dreamtime Preorder and RASTA Kicks off Fundraiser
Patagonia Debuts New, Responsibly Sourced Merino Layers VENTURA, CALIF. Patagonia announced yesterday the launch of their new, Merino Air Baselayer that combines sustainably sourced merino wool with a new manufacturing technology. The apparel brand says the merino wool is sourced directly from the Patagonian grasslands, where ranchers use regenerative agricultural practices to promote ecosystem health. The wool is then treated with Patagonia’s proprietary air-jet process to […]
BC Banter: RECCO Announces Year-Round Search and Rescue System, Marolt Bros Deliver Solar Chargers to Nepal, Black Diamond Issues JetForce Recall and Serious Storms Hit Chile
RECCO ANNOUNCES YEAR-ROUND SEARCH AND RESCUE SYSTEM LIDINGO, SWEDEN Swedish safety company RECCO has announced plans to launch their RECCO Helicopter and Search and Rescue detector, -SAR 1, in the summer of 2016 in key geographic regions of Europe. For more than 30 years, professionals have used RECCO’s handheld rescue system to locate people caught in avalanches. Now, […]
BC Banter: Meeting to Discuss Park City Ridgeline, Winter Wildlands Grassroots Advocacy Conference and a five-hour Rescue Mission
Utahns Meet to Discuss Park City Ridgline Development PARK CITY, UTAH. The Summit County Council met this past Wednesday to discuss the fate of 600 acres of Forest Service land along the Park City ridgeline. The meeting focused on the question of whether the roughly 600 acres of Forest Service land should be included in the Mountain […]
BC Banter: White, Hinchcliffe and Soderquist Ski Capitol Peak’s North Face, Avalanche Explosive Triggers Bomb Scare, Utah Avalanche Center’s Annual Report and an Avalanche Rabbit Goes Viral
White, Hinchcliffe and Soderquist claim first descent of the north face off Capitol Peak ELK MOUNTAINS, COLO. On Thursday, June 4, Aspen locals Jordan White, Colter Hinchcliffe and Riley Soderquist claimed the first descent of the north face off Capitol Peak in Colorado’s Elk Mountains. The trio ascended the 14,130 ft. peak and then skied 2,530 vertical ft. […]
BC BANTER: Black Diamond President Resigns, Avatech Expands, Winter Wildlands’ Conference, Patagonia’s Migrant Worker Standards, Colorado’s Wet Slides and a Scottish Ski Film
BLACK DIAMOND INC. PRESIDENT RESIGNS SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH Zeena Freeman resigned Thursday from her post as president of Black Diamond Inc. Freeman, a former executive at Sony and Gap, was named president in August 2014, we reported, and was expected to replace Peter Metcalf as CEO of Black Diamond at the end of June. […]
BC Banter: Avy Closes Independence Pass, Centennial Skiers Complete 100th Descent and Colorado Cancels Summer
Avalanche Temporarily Closes Independence Pass LAKE COUNTY, COLO. An avalanche occurred just east of the Independence Pass summit on Tuesday, May 26, according to 9News. The slide, which resulted from a cornice fall, closed the road in both directions and was cleared by the Colorado Department of Transportation. On Thursday afternoon, another slide closed the Pass […]
BC Banter: AMGA Announces New Guidelines, Second Year of Jones Split Clinics at SASS Argentina, Skier Survives Berthoud Pass Avalanche, Alta Man Injured in Human-Triggered Avalanche and Swiss Cover Glaciers to Prevent Melting
AMGA Announces Terrain and Supervision Guidelines Boulder, Colo. In early May, the American Mountain Guides Association’s Review Team met outside Jackson, Wyo. to discuss and update its Terrain and Supervision Guidelines. The 11 AMGA members who comprise the Review Team developed a framework to assure guides work in terrain for which they are trained, and […]
